The Quitting Edition
Yes, I know I'm the person usually encouraging to start a business, but sometimes you need to think about quitting as well. Whether that is quitting your full time employment to become full time entrepreneur, or knowing when it is time to walk away from your business, there are considerations to make that are easier to think of before the pressure is on.
Let's talk about what to quit and when.
When Is It Time To Go 'All In'?
I am not a fan of “hustling” but it is extremely common for people to make the leap into business ownership via a part time activity that begins to pay better than their full time job.
It can be very hard to make the leap from certainty in a job to uncertainty in a business, and it is always better to mitigate the risks as much as possible.
If you are able to find a guaranteed income stream whilst you figure out your business growth, you will make more strategic decisions and less reactive ones.
But there is almost a point where a leap of faith is required.
A point where the future is not completely certain in your business, but it requires more of your time, effort and focus – and so you have to go all in.
Alternatively, life does find a way of nudging you in that direction eventually, whether that is through loss of the job, or other circumstances.
It is always better to jump before being pushed, but sometimes, the push is an easier option to provide a point of no return.
Before you make any decisions to stay or go, ask yourself:
When Is It Time To Quit?
As a company grows and expands, there is typically a moment of realisation for the founder: that they may not be the right person to carry the company forward. Now, that might not be when it is a multi-billion corporation such as Amazon, but when the success has been a little more modest. This is because the decision to step down and bring in another CEO is usually a time-based question. For the first 3-5 years, the company is still embryonic, and typically strategic decisions are made by focusing on what the company was set up to achieve. Decisions and changes to that strategy tend to have to occur rapidly, until eventually it settles down into more robust and calm processes.
Now, if you started your business because of the thrill of set up, and you love the fast pace and passion-filled panics that being an entrepreneur brings, then this calmness and steady pace doesn’t feel as energising and it is usual for founders to want new challenges. They can try to do this by taking the company in other directions, but this can dilute the brand and make decisions at the top of the organisations way too complex. Or it can mean they realise that someone else is better suited to the task at hand.
It never means you absolutely have to leave at this point – but if the thrill of running the business isn’t there and there are other ideas and opportunities you want to explore, transferring the future of the business to someone else can be the most sensible choice for the company’s success and yours.
There is a difference between a founder and a CEO - and not everyone is able to do both.
Adviser In Your Pocket - Live Seminar Series!
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The ethos behind the Adviser In Your Pocket platform is customisation of the advice to fit your business and your ambition. As much as the content of the platform focuses on how you make decisions (and what to keep in mind), there is nothing better than live sessions to help you refine that thinking so you feel in charge of your business choices.
As part of the Interactive subscription, you get access to the Slack community where you can ask me any questions you may have, as well as access to the Adviser YouTube channel, where I will be hosting a series of seminars on the content topics on the platform.
Things such as:
and so many more!
Each month there will be a new seminar that you can join live or watch later when you are able, so if you want to refine your decision making process, come join us at Adviser in Your Pocket
The Founders Retreat - Early Bird Discount for Waitlist!
The Founders' Retreat is moving to November (precise date to be confirmed). The waiting list has been reopened so please register your interest to find out more about the Founders Retreat 2024!
An exclusive Early Bird Discount of 25% off the full price will be available to the wait list only, so register if you want to join and benefit from some savings!
I want to take you away from your business and get you to think about your business in somewhere with only limited wifi.
I'll be taking a small (and I mean small) group of founders away from it all to go deep, deep, deep into their business design for the rest of the year and beyond.
We are talking:
And a 100 day plan that will have you slipping out at the end of the second day because you just can't wait another 24 hours to start it.
Except I would hang around, as the last day is when it all comes together and we strategise a group campaign that means that everyone who was there will be forever tied to one another's success.
I'm taking the first cohort in November to a beautiful country house in Hertfordshire, UK and I want founders who are truly ready to take this to the next level.
If you want more information and to benefit from the Early Bird Discount, then join the waiting list.
But you'd better be ready.