I WANT TO QUIT - A ROUGH GUIDE. Ten Questions to assess your readiness to quit your corporate job.

The start-up fever seems to be endemic. Everyone wants to either be a start-up or work for a startup. Nothing seems to be more common than corporate folks taking the plunge into training.

I am often asked how should I get into training? Some want to be consultants, free-lancers, coaches, or mentors. So here is an attempt.

My goal is not not not to be a wet-blanket. It is to equip you so that you are geared for success on Day One.

The idea is how you can re-craft your work today to prepare a runway for your entrepreneurial dream.

Here are some questions that you need to ask.

0. Did you have a fabulous year at work? Are you a great negotiator?

Was your performance appraisal absolutely outstanding? Are you at the top of your game? If the answer is a "meh" performance appraisal. Well...take time to work on the feedback that you just received. Escapism from strong feedback will not work. Training seems to be this swimming pool that you will land in after you jump out of the corporate frying pan. The jump into entrepreneurship should not be an avoidance route to work on your skills. If it is mid-life crisis then hire a coach.

Second, are you a great negotiator? If yes, great read on. If no...well your clients will eat you alive. They are master negotiators.

1. Are you rich enough to leave your job?

Thumb rule: Make sure you have enough money for the next three-five years. You will need money to buy a good Mac, Software, Certifications, Networking; besides the normal day-to-day expenses. START THE JOURNEY TOWARDS FINANCIAL SECURITY RIGHT AWAY.

2. Why do you want to leave your job?

Sick of corporate politics is not a good reason. Learn to deal with it. It will help you in more ways than one. Be passionate about what you want to train someone about. Training should be just the media with which you want to solve the problem. For ex. I realised that if a person is positive he is more productive and that you can increase a leader's positivity. to become more productive. Do not wait for the time where you will start doing what you love. LOVE WHAT YOU DO. ALREADY!

3. Are you a brand?

When people meet you what is the first impression that they get? Is it a brand that people aspire to work with? If not start thinking of what your brand should stand for? Take the brand for a test drive. Take guest lectures in colleges. Start practising there. The digital space helps you fine-tune. Start researching the latest trends and use the digital space to build your brand. If you are an expert in Risk start building your risk credentials. If you think your fintech can impact the world, then start talking about fintech. Be the brand. TELL YOUR STORY.

4. Is the problem worth a premium?

Please please please do not be one of those countless and faceless trainers who charge Rs 20,000 a day. If the problem is big enough, write a book about it. You will get a fair idea. Write columns. Blog about it. I wrote 92 columns in the DNA. If you take pride in your work. Define the problem that you wish to solve. PURPOSE MATTERS.

5. Are you great at networking and market mapping?

Beware the false-well-wishers who tell you "wow what an idea". Talk to the real decision makers.

• Potential: How many trainings do you do every month?
• Product: What types of training. What is the qualification of the trainer?
• Problem & Positioning: What is the key challenge that you are facing in your current training process? What is the problem you wish you could solve?
• Price: How much do you pay for the trainers?

Set your standards high.

Why wait till you leave your job to start networking. Start going to networking events after 6 pm and on Weekends. Kareem Querieshi gave me the best ever goal-setting exercise. He mentioned that the toughest client to get is the FIRST ONE. Keep a list of qualified clients

Even if it means working your networks on weekends and after office hours. Put in the midnight oil before rather than after you leave. Your objective should be to have a list of twenty qualified prospects and perhaps two or three prospects very near to closing out on the day you serve your last day at work. WORK YOUR ROLODEX.

6. Are you great at handling rejection and sales and love routine?

You might think you have a great network, people like you, you are famous. Suddenly when you tell someone you are pretty much jobless, the number of people taking your calls will decrease with every passing week. So you need to get used to rejection. Being an entrepreneur also means doing your bookings, running photo-copies, sending invoices, paying GST taxes on-line, following up for payments and even worse vendor registration. So. HARDEN UP - EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Image courtesy: Salesforce.com

7. Do you have the correct certifications?

Being an orator is not a qualification. Being "passionate" is hardly a qualifier. Gagan Adlakha gave me the best advise ever. The first certification I got for myself was on Instructional Design. Greg Chapman does a fantastic course on ID. So yeah invest in it. Even better, if you are already in a corporate job, get your company to pay for it and then make it worth their while and implement the learning. Start reading on the latest trends. Maybe even ask to be moved into a training role. Why not? MOVE INTO HYPER KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION MODE.

8. Do you have a portfolio of training courses?

Your clients want to see how you conduct your training. Have a single slider and at the very least a dozen of them to showcase your portfolio of the problem that you solved with training. Thumb rule: If you work every weekend for the next year, you will have 52 courses ready to roll out. A RICH PORTFOLIO COUNTS. And gives you confidence.

9. Do you have your family's 100% support?

Naaah. Not support.

Are they urging you to take the leap?

Do they understand the financial implications (slightly lesser exotic holidays and birthday parties)?

Bounce of the scenarios of the family being on a variable income for very many years.

Are they excited about your new venture? Can they see both the social meaning and financial security? Do not sell the concept to them. Let them buy into the venture.

Start learning networking skills too, your clients will negotiate hard. FAMILY SUPPORT MATTERS.

10. Do you have a long-range action plan?

Consider yourself an entrepreneur and not a part-time employee. When will you reach the stage when you have completed the above nine points. Do you have a Plan B, a Plan C, and A Plan D. Why? Because very soon you will need a Plan E. Nothing will go as per plan. If you can spend some time visualising the obstacles, when you actually face them, life will be easier.

Pc: Ross Simmonds.

Listen guys, training is akin to teaching.

Rita Pierson said it so well, "teaching should bring joy". Become a trainer if you want to give joy. If you derive joy in seeing someone improve, even if they have nothing to do with your success. So go out on a limb. Conduct training for a rival team or team leader.

Training can pay well. Really well. Just treat it like a business. It needs a mindset shift.

By the way, If you can implement these ten shifts in your day-to-day work, you might find yourself becoming a bit more indispensable to your organisation.

The author has been through the hard knocks of entrepreneurship and is the founder of THE POSITIVITY COMPANY.