So, you want to quit your job and turn into an entrepreneur...! Better remember these points!!!

After quitting my almost 10 years job in 2013, I am leading the life of an entrepreneur for the last three years. In these three years, my company (Humac Lab Ltd., where I am a co-founder and CEO) has created two award winning applications and have been identified among one of the top 10 IT startups of Bangladesh by the country's government. Even with the financial limitations and far from considering myself a 'success', these three years have been greatly rewarding for me in terms of mental satisfaction, seeing the world in a new perspective, and finding new friends... It helped me to get more self confidence and learn how to survive outside the corporate cushion... and apparent social security! Now I'm even a better follower of God!!!

The satisfaction you get from small successes as an entrepreneur are comparable to nothing; the independence and freedom you get as an entrepreneur is not even comprehensible by a regular 9 to 5 job holder.

With the cool stories floating in the social media of raising millions of dollars as investment, and hearing about the charming stories of young billionaires, entrepreneurship is the new buzz word...

Being motivated with the notion of 'being your own boss' and 'create something for myself', a good lot of people are quitting their job and starting their own businesses. Unfortunately, many of these neo-entrepreneurs are doing so without a holistic evaluation of the days ahead... and in many cases, after some time, quitting their dreams of becoming an entrepreneur and getting back to jobs by facing some hard realities... losing very crucial time of their career and may be their lifelong savings!

In this article, I will try to bring in a few of the learning that I had to go through during the entrepreneurial journey so far... just from my perspective and of course not comprehensive...

1. Every rose has its thorn: We hear the stories of successful entrepreneurs and their world changing efforts. However, little we know about how many failures and pains they had to endure to reach this point. Digesting these failures or going through this journey is not for the faint hearts, to say the least...

2. Entrepreneurship is still not well accepted in many cultures: Even though dropping a college degree/ quitting a job and becoming an entrepreneur might seem meaningful in the developed economies; yet, it is not much appreciated in the developing and under-developed economies where financial security in present situation is regarded much higher priority comparing with taking risk to gain something much bigger in future. If you belong to such an economy, you have to tackle your family members first and get their buy-in before taking such a huge decision! Even then your social circle might consider you crazy and keep a keen eye on your performance.

3. Plan hard: Don't just decide on turning into an entrepreneur on a bad day at work, and quit right away... rather take your time to find the right idea that has clear potential in the market. Preferably, do the dry run while you are still on the job, and if you find the idea potent enough, then and only then, quit the job... it might help to save at least six months of your valuable entrepreneurial time that you would have to run without any fixed income. However, also never think that you will quit when the new venture's income will come somewhat near to your current income, it will never happen! It has to be a calculated risk at the end...

4. Leave the first 15 days for family only: Now, if you have actually decided to quit, submitted your resignation, and passed the last day at work; my strong suggestion will be to unwind yourself, and pass some quality time with your family. Once you start your new entrepreneurial journey, you will cherish this small vacation!

5. Don’t go for every opportunity… Prioritize!: After quitting the job, once you really start working on the opportunities, a whole horizon of them will open up to you, virtually from every direction... some friend might call you up to drive his 'great idea', or some news of opportunity arrives while having a chat with someone else.... Don't go for every money making idea you come across. Yes, it is logical that you will keep a short list of opportunities at the initial stage (I had 8, to start with); however you need to shorten the list to 1 or 2 within a few weeks time upon proper analysis.

6. Capitalize on your strength areas first: Before venturing into a complete unknown field, just because people are making money in it... try to see if you can create some opportunities within your knowledge domain (e.g. if you are a banker, consider creating a banking process automation tool that is not available in the market right now and market it in the relevant segment where you know the decision makers to make some quick breakthrough). The best part is that you know what you are getting into and you are the subject matter expert in it. Otherwise, you run the risk to make some costly mistakes that might break your morale and financial backbone.

7. Budgeting is extremely crucial: Even the seemingly best revenue generating ideas also have their investment and OPEX requirements. It's OK to dream big, but you need to provide the necessary cash flow to make it work up till it generates sustainable revenue. A good budgeting will save you from the uncertainty of standing in the middle of the road with no hard cash in hand.

8. Plan ahead with family expenditure: With no fixed monthly income in hand, you need to have a clear forecasting of how much you can spend on family matters. Remember, if you cut too much on your family expenses that too much impacts your standard of living, you might lose a very critical support of your spouse, kids, and other important family members! Preferably, you should have at least the next one year's (if possible, even more) family expense in reserve!

9. Revenue targets will fail, but cost will overshoot: No matter how much you plan, it is almost certain that your cost will overshoot the budget as you could never forecast all the trivial costing factors that will arise (e.g. that unexpected major breakdown in machine, or that coder of your software who just stopped showing up one fine morning resulting in a major timeline failure, or your critical supplier who failed to provide your necessary shipment by two weeks resulting in a cancellation of order by your client). On the other hand, revenue targets will prove to be just numbers without a proper product or service in hand.

10. Let go of your ego: You might have been the head of this or that in your previous job, but right now you are nothing! the sooner you acknowledge this hard reality, the better. That colleague who was always so nice with you, might not find you interesting to talk to anymore as you are calling him or her to ask for a 'favor'. Get rid of that 'need for recognition' (at least in the short run) and set your mind to rebuild it from scratch!

11. Don’t hesitate to ask for help: The difference between a fresh graduate entrepreneur and you is the network and experience that you have gathered across your job life. You have to utilize this network to the fullest. Having mentioned point 10, despite face-changes from a few of your near and dear ones, you might actually find some great help from many as well; even from people whom you did not consider value adding at first. Becoming an entrepreneur is a good way to know who your true friends are!

12. Try to get involved in short term cash generation: Don't lose the chance to earn some quick cash from part time professional involvements as long as you do not lose your focus. Even though it might be meager compared to what you got in your previous job, but when you look back at the end of the year, you might find that you have covered a quarter's family expenses from those small involvements that has given you extra three months' time to develop your product. A critical support at that moment.

13. Take good partners: You might have the best idea in the world, you can be the best coder or business development guy, or the best strategist in your bracket; but one thing is for sure, you cannot do everything by yourself. Considering that you cannot hire the best resources in your cash crunch stage, it is best to take trustworthy and value adding partner(s), with whom you can share the critical responsibilities and run the business efficiently.

14. Beware of opportunists inside your close circle: The biggest setback comes from the closest of persons upon whom your expectations were highest. Its a common phenomena, to be double crossed by a partner or taken for a ride by that long known professional service provider. Keep an eye on the whole business and try to pick up early signs of irregularities, it might prove to be crucial in catching an opportunist off-guard and before s/he makes a good dent on your business and morale.

15. Trust everyone with necessary caution: You have to take all the help you can get from your network, and need to trust with many things in the process (some with information, some with money and others). However, do not forget to apply your due diligence in doing so; and again keep your eyes and ears open for information and news circling around you.

16. You are the whole value chain of your office: Forget those days when you called your IT support if the printer is not working, and the admin guys if the paper is not there. You have to play everyone's part starting from procurement to operations to clean up service. Again, let go of your ego... you are starting from the scratch... just remember that!

17. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes; however don’t repeat the mistakes: If you are afraid to make mistakes, you are in the wrong path dude! Entrepreneurship is all about making mistakes, and getting over it to try a new way until you are successful. However, repeating a mistake means that you are not learning, and you are paying from your own pocket for it!

18. Don't wait for anyone to point out what should be done: It is your business, and you should be proactively finding out works that is required now and will be needed in future. If you do not find enough works to do, you are not thinking properly or you do not have the right attitude to become an entrepreneur.

19. Develop resources: Considering that you have not already raised a million dollars from angel or seed investors or VCs, you might be in a cash crunch situation now. Your focus should be on finding good potential resources, and turn them to good resources ASAP so that you can delegate the operational tasks to them and start focusing on higher priorities.

20. Patience is critical: Entrepreneurship might not be the field for you if you are too much of a veni vidi vici type person. There will be unforeseen difficulties, showstoppers, unfair competitions, last minute deal breaks, and many more to dampen your spirit. You have to be patient if you want to be successful.

21. Make sure to keep your commitment: Remember, you are nothing compared to what you used to be. All you have is your 'face-value' and trustworthiness to make people remember the old you and get you back on track of success. Keeping commitment is the most important part of your business, that's what will make your customers to consider repurchase from you.

22. Don’t waste resources… its too scarce for a startup: When you are in a penny pinching situation, the worst thing that can happen is inefficiency and wastage in your value chain. This might turn out to be critical at the end, and might result in that 'only a few thousand dollars short' situation. Put strong emphasis on choosing the right people in your team, training them up ASAP, and equipping them with the right tools. If any investment required, consider to invest as spending a few hundred dollars here might save that few thousand dollars afterwards.

23. 'Done' is better than perfect: Remembering the above point, you must also keep in mind that efficiency does not count without effectiveness. Without a functioning software in hand, it does not matter how quickly you developed it (but missed out to make it bug free). Focus on efficiency, only after achieving efficiency.

24. Legal documentation is boring, but very critical for growth: One of the most critical mistake areas for startups is that they ignore the legal documentation and compliance issues at the starting. However, as things start to work, this lack in compliance causes a lot of friction and at some point become a critical bottleneck (and sometimes even a showstopper) to growth. You need to incur some cost to keep everything up to date so that you can grab any immediate opportunity (i.e. that large order from the XYZ company, however need to submit full legal documentation including tax papers by today for the necessary enlistment as a supplier) and get on your way of growth.

25. Maintain your business accounts from the very beginning: From day 1 of the new venture, keep track of the accounts in a structured manner. There are free online accounting platforms (I use www.waveapps.com) where you can easily keep track of your accounts. You will be astonished on what benefits this practice will bring you in future. Virtually in every turn you will need to submit your financial information in many places. Getting this information from a single click will save you from huge hassle.

26. Plan well ahead to maintain a positive cash flow: Nothing is worse for morale than a bill to pay without any cash at hand. The employees morale is also shattered if the salary is not paid on time. Successful business is about maintaining a positive cash flow. Sometimes we become so obsessed in generating sales, we lose focus on actually getting the cash into our accounts. At least a quarter's plan has to be there for an entrepreneur to save his or her time for fire fighting for cash.

27. Invest in good HR: Don't just hire cheap resources because they are available, rather hire appropriate resources at the lowest possible cost. A cheap and unskilled hire will ultimately cost you more considering the inefficiency, delay, and rework in the production process.

28. You can’t do everything in-house, outsource to able people: In connection with the previous point, it is also a fact that you cannot always hire the appropriate person; which might lead to outsourcing some works in your value chain. At the first sight, it might seem a bit expensive; however, considering the right people with the right attitude are being engaged, the higher cost is well justified through delivery on time and a rework proof solid output.

29. Family is everything… Deprive them within limit: Once you get fully involved in your newly set business, its like a very interesting game. Your full attention is diverted to nurturing your infant 'baby' to sustainability. However, in the process, you have to keep the ultimate priorities right. Family should come first. There should not come a day where you look back and repent on why you have not given more time to your parents, spouse, children, and other family members.

30. Be Positive and Don’t look back: The entrepreneurial journey is most significantly affected by a dampened spirit; and nothing hurts the spirit like looking back and asking yourself "how better I was in the good old days, and where I am in right now". Remember, you yourself chose this path, and looking back is only harming the future. If you decide the cut short your entrepreneurial journey and get back to a more secured job life, just do it. Do not waste time by remaining in between...

31. Don't let the negativity of other people dampen your energy: Just remember, if you fail there will be a good number of people who will happily say, "see! I said so!". These people are either directly or indirectly talking against you, your efforts, and your dreams. Just identify and keep away from them... if they are your close family members, just don't share any information with them, unless its a good and inspiring one!

32. 50% of business is luck: You have to admit that luck also plays a critical role in successful (and unsuccessful) businesses. You may have the best product in the world, however, a sudden political and economic downturn may disrupt your business up to extinction. Nonetheless, The harder and smarter you work, the better fits the luck on your side.

33. Create strategic partnership for value generation: Like I said, you can't do everything alone... and that is applicable for growth and development as well. Take proper value chain partners wherever you feel will add value. There's no problem in sharing some revenue if your partners help you to generate it!

34. Keep praying to the almighty: Entrepreneurship is such a way of work, that you have to deal with uncertainties on a daily basis; and out of which a good portion may be uncontrollable from your side. Taking the pressure of the uncontrollable on your mind will unnecessarily increase tension that might lead to hyper tension and other physical and mental ailments. If you believe in god, then keep praying to him so that everything remains as smooth as possible. Even if anything goes wrong, the sooner you accept that god knows everything and you are given this hard time for a reason (and understanding the reason is beyond comprehension of human capabilities), the sooner you will feel the peace of mind! This is the ultimate happiness.

35. Have a dream so large that won't let you quit: Sometimes dream is the only 'thing' that stands between an entrepreneur and quitting. When all things seem to be going in the wrong direction and nothing is falling in place, then remind yourself of your dream and how good it will become when you achieve it!

36. Keep focus on the big picture: In entrepreneurship, many things will not work as planned and outcomes will not turn out to be in your favor. Even if every two step forward means stepping one back, it is extremely important to focus on your improvement. You need to make sure that you are improving in some way or other and adding value to yourself in the 'big picture'.

Even if you follow all the above steps, there is every possibility that you might fail in your current venture. However, this is all about entrepreneurship and positive attitude where you have to raise your head from the ashes and start moving ahead again. You should keep your priorities intact and work with honest and smart effort to exceed the opportunity cost of leaving the job behind and starting a new life that will lead to better standard of living or a better peace of mind.

Entrepreneurship is life full of determination and dream; where it is said, " Entrepreneurs live a few years of their lives like most people won't, so that they can spend the rest of their lives like most people can't!"

Note: All the pictures used in this article are downloaded from internet. To the best of my knowledge, no copyright issues have been violated.