Leave job to start business?

taibhse

Hi,


I'm in the situation now, where I've been in my job now 10 months, and believe me I know I'm lucky to have a job as I've been told many times!!

The job I do though is not specific, so oftentimes there wouldn't be anything to do all day and you are just shuffling papers to make it look like you are working. Our department was a new initiative for the company, and plenty of the other staff have made it clear to us that they don't think we're needed here and the money spent paying our wages would be put to better use in their pension plans!!

We are still required to produce results however, when things are not that simple and it's so frustrating that it's actually become soul destroying now. I get up in the morning dreading coming in to a boss looking for results and pressure that has made me question the whole existence of the department after coming in 10 months ago full of enthuasiasm.

Just yesterday, I worked a 12 hour day, I don't get paid overtime or get time off for this and my boss just rang to say I didn't do a good enough job, no thanks for putting in the extra hours!


Anyway, I digress, I know I can't stay here much longer. For years I've known I'll never be happy working for someone else and wanted to start my own business. For the past couple of months, I've been doing my research on an idea that I think could work, I'm just starting to do a business plan.


The thing is because of the long hours I work, in a job I hate, I'm not able to give the time to starting a business that I know I would be passionate about. The thing is I don't know whether to just quit and give everything to this business idea and to get it up and running or stick out my job and not have enough time because I'm so tired all the time, just an hour here or there. And it's not the kind of job you can just switch off and do and then go home, you end up taking it home with you.


If I did leave would I qualify for back to work social welfare where you aim to become self-employed?


Any advice would be really appreciated!!!

DoMyBooks

If you leave your job voluntarily you wont qualify for social welfare for a while.

I would suggest get as much up and running as you can before you leave employment. An alternative is to try and go on a three day week at work giving you two days a week to develop the business. I started off this way and it allowed me to develop enough revenue to leave my PAYE employement.

Chiorino

It's a big decision I know. I left my job in and started up my own business last January. Having said that I'd spent over a year getting all the backround work done. I lost count of the amount of people asking if I was mad but while it has been tough, so far things are going reasonably well. If you think your idea is a winner go for it just make sure you have your homework done.

killiank

Perhaps you should think about partnership (& wind down working the day job over time) if there is someone that you think you can work with.

thephantom

If you have any annual leave left i suggest you use 10 days of it at once. If you use it over a Bank Holiday weekend it could total about 17 days off work, although this might not seem like much time i think you will be surprised at how much you can get done in 17 days, working 12 hours a day for yourself. In any event it will at least show you whether setting up the business is a realistic goal.

Now is a great time to be setting up a business, you will gain from cheaper rents, an abundance of highly qualified staff to choose from, cheaper advertisment costs, etc..

I wish you the best of luck in your decision

Lloyd Xmas

If you haven't got a mortgage or any other huge responsibilities that require a guaranteed steady income, I'd say get out of that role and give your idea a go.

You could maybe get a part-time role instead (if financially viable), then use your spare time to go about your research.
You've stated you can't stand the job, so realistically, you're going to end up packing it in at some stage.

Just plan everything out before you jump ship!

Best of luck with it also!

Bendycovey

Do your homework before you leave your job so give it another couple of months (or as much as you can). You would be surprised the additional energy you will have to do research out of hours when you can see light at the end of the tunnel.

Get as much advice as you can and ensure your personal finances are such that you can afford your mortgage/rent, basic living costs for the first few months and whatever you need to get up and running.

Plenty of people will tell you that its crazy to leave your job in the current climate...bla bla bla..... but you need to stay positive and live with whatever decision you make. You'll never know unless you try!!!

Good luck