Should I quit the ‘day’ job?
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Socially Responsible Entrepreneurs often share some core values around caring for others (our community, society and our environment) and having impact or making a difference. These values are what drive us, but they can take us to difficult decisions in our entrepreneurial journeys. These decisions are often connected to our finite resources of time and energy.
In my 20’s I was a part of an entrepreneurial collective that put on parties in London, which turned into regular club nights and a small record label. As a business it was organic. There was a core group of us inputting into the direction and decisions of the collective and some significant contributors and supporters helping us as we grew.
We did it for the love of the music and each other - connection. We did it because it aligned with our core values. We all had other jobs. We juggled stuff. We made it work. This felt normal. It was normal, at least in my network of creative entrepreneurial friends. I know it now as a ‘portfolio career’ - but I just thought that was what everyone doing interesting stuff did then. I found ways to balance the finite resources I had with my values and basic needs.
In my 30’s I was involved in other start-ups, some collective with multiple founders, some as a company of one. It felt more ‘serious’. I invested in training, business courses, and learning how to be a ‘proper’ entrepreneur. I wasn’t just doing it for the fun or connection. The stakes were higher. I felt the pressure for these ventures to ‘work’. I needed there to be a viable income in relation to the outgoings of my resources. The connected values of financial security and freedom were growing as my responsibilities in life increased.
Most of this time I was both building the businesses and working in other sectors. Doing things to keep the lights on while I gave it all I had with moving my ideas and dreams into reality. But the question arose, what if I had more time? Was I holding my businesses back because of the work I was doing to pay the bills?
At some point in a start-up journey most founders come up against a question of ‘going all in’.
Going all in. It sounds serious - something ‘proper’ entrepreneurs might do…
But is it true?
It sounds like a challenge to your levels of commitment.
You are asked about giving the business everything you can.
This often looks like “Should I quit the ‘day job’?”
But it can also cover other things you spend that precious resource of time on.
Time with friends, family…
Time on your physical well-being…
Time to recharge…
All difficult decisions to balance.
Difficult decisions
I’ve recently been working with a founder who is juggling these questions.
He describes himself as being at a crossroads in the early stages of his tech based product.
The potential impact of his vision is huge - on a global scale.
It is exciting to be working with him.
But right now his concerns are on a different scale.
A much more individual and personal scale.
He came to a session to sense check his thoughts around that difficult decision of how he uses his resources.
He asked:
Does he gamble the security of his home and the much needed salary of the ‘day job’ (that is not exciting him) to focus entirely on developing the business concept?
He felt if he did this - quit the day job and used all his time on this project it would move forward faster. He’s already reduced his social life and recharging time to near zero, so he has little of the resource of time left to flex within. But what if he quit his job…?
How would you help him decide this?!
Firstly we began with using the tool of sense checking the options against his core values.
'Does the decision match your values?'
Exploring how ‘going all in’ aligned with his values of growth, learning, creativity, being entrepreneurial and connection.
Secondly, we checked in on;
‘What's the worst that could happen?’
Discussing his basic needs - he had plans in place if time and financial resources ran out, an emergency safety net, a personal risk reduction plan in place. Reflecting that even if the project doesn’t work as a viable business idea he will have been honouring lots of what is important to him (like growth & learning) in the process. The worst that could happen for him was - not going for it and regretting it.
Thirdly, we did a check on the question;
'What do you know already?'
Noticing the energy he had from the fun he was already having alongside the connections and relationships he’s building as he navigates recruiting a cofounder, funding and support channels. Reflecting - that having fun, building friendships and connections were some of the main things he first came to coaching to work on.
All sounding good…
But then we checked if the question he was asking was the question he really needed answering?
Perhaps not...
What is the question you really need answering?
The question he really needed answering was: what was the biggest block right now to moving the business idea forward?
The answer: finding a cofounder
Would quitting his job help this happen?
No…
So he’s not quit the day job.
(but plans to once he has partnered with a suitable cofounder).
So what are the takeaways from this story?
Beware of the attractive narrative we often see out there of ‘going all in’.
Your 'all in' may not be the same as the next persons or the same as it might be at a different point in your own journey.
Quitting the day job might not be answering the real problem! Understanding if the real problem is the one you think it is, is an important step in the process. Start with a question like:
What is the biggest block to moving forward right now?
Try to look beyond the trees to see the forest out there.
There isn’t a magic formula for difficult decisions, like quitting the day job as you build a start-up, but here are some questions that might help:
Does the decision move you towards or away from your core values?
What’s the worst that could happen? And what’s the best that could happen?
Do you have a plan for how the basics are covered? (food, shelter, personal risk etc)
What do you know already that is important to this? (do a resources check of both soft and hard skills, resources and supports)
What is the question you really need answering?
You might be past the balancing stage in your entrepreneurial journey and have some helpful advice and experience to share with others earlier on. I'd welcome your comments on how you did this. Or you might be grappling with the 'all in' question and I invite you to share your thoughts on it too in the comments below.