Before i leave my job

[BlueMac]

Hi all ,

I was self employed for around 5 years. I was living with my parents at the time and doing odds and ends but I made it work . I had no accounts and therefore in 2014 had to get a full time job as i needed a mortgage.

Ive been working for an IT company offering business IT solutions and im planning on leaving and starting my own LTD IT solutions company. Im planning on handing my notice in the beginning of december. Ive managed to get myself into a position where I could sustain myself for around 2 year with no income. My mortgage is locked in for 5 year and my fiance also works. We have discussed everything money-related down to the last detail but that the less doesnt make it any less scary!

Ive got my online presence and a few other things setup for when I leave. i booked off a day and did a bit of cold calling which i did aquire around 2-3 leads. Im limited to what i can do in the forms of advertising until i leave my current job .. Im not sure really what im asking for other than someone telling me im doing the right thing. Any maybe some important advice of what I should be doing before i leave my current job?

I look forward to being a valid member of the forum and helping anybody who is willing to help me : )

Thanks!

 

[Chris Ashdown]

what does your contract say about non competing when you leave

Doing sales as well as your full time real job is very time consuming and expensive, people often think sales are simple until they try it

Make a realistic business plan and first year cashflow forecast and then see how it works with only 50% of the forecasted sales

 

[RedEvo]

I probably don't need to tell you how competitive the IT support market is. Not only flooded with small businesses and freelancers it's also hit hard from above by the Big Boys. It will, in my view, be tough but that's not to suggest it won't be possible.

One thing I'd be wary of is using up your savings, kidding yourself the business is viable. So many people burn through their hard-earned pot of gold propping up a business that's going nowhere.

d

 

[BlueMac]

Thanks for the replies , Im going to be specializing in Mac support rather than just another generalist. I need to have a look into the none-compete clause however I believe its none-existent. I have started on a business plan would you say this is 100% essential?

 

[The Byre]

I suggest that you prepare the groundwork fully, before you take the plunge. You cannot know everything and indeed, nobody does, but you can learn a great deal in advance.

Start with the book 'Starting a Business for Dummies' by Colin Barrow and work from there. It covers all the basics.

Also read some of the threads right here.

 

[Mr D]

And plan for what happens if you get to the end of your savings and not making enough.
Killing a business is bad, trying to keep it afloat can be worse.
Even with a great plan the business revolves around you. A mishap, an accident, simply being stranded somewhere (volcanic ash cloud perhaps) can impact on your ability to earn.
Plan for it.

 

[Paula Cohen]

How clear are you about who your target customer is and where you're likely to find them? That's one of the most important things you can map out at the start.

A business plan is very useful but right at the beginning of your business it's a bit chicken and egg - until you get out into your market place your business plan may just be guesswork. A bit of experience will help you create a much better informed plan.

2 things I'd suggest you do early on is get out networking. Get mingling with the local business community and listen for feedback about what people think of your offering. Start with local groups that don't demand membership and test out quite a few groups before you commit to membership anywhere. The other things is to contact your local newspaper. Local papers love a 'good news' news story and a startup is always viewed by them as a piece of good news so you may well be able to grab some local press coverage for yourself - not an advert as such but great PR at no cost.

And get yourself a copy of The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. I've given it to hundreds of clients growing business and all have thought it provided great guidance.

Good luck with it!

 

[Kev2017]

We have a system that can help you, but I don't think financially you would be able to afford it yet. I am not a hard seller, I don't like it and don't do it. The advice I can give you is.... if your cold calling worked, that's great, do not buy a list of companies etc as you will just waste your time and money. If you got 3 leads in a day of cold calling that's an amazing conversion figure (I know you haven't converted them yet). You need to identify your Target Market not randomly call.

 

[Kev2017]

How clear are you about who your target customer is and where you're likely to find them? That's one of the most important things you can map out at the start.

A business plan is very useful but right at the beginning of your business it's a bit chicken and egg - until you get out into your market place your business plan may just be guesswork. A bit of experience will help you create a much better informed plan.

2 things I'd suggest you do early on is get out networking. Get mingling with the local business community and listen for feedback about what people think of your offering. Start with local groups that don't demand membership and test out quite a few groups before you commit to membership anywhere. The other things is to contact your local newspaper. Local papers love a 'good news' news story and a startup is always viewed by them as a piece of good news so you may well be able to grab some local press coverage for yourself - not an advert as such but great PR at no cost.

And get yourself a copy of The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. I've given it to hundreds of clients growing business and all have thought it provided great guidance.

Good luck with it!

Paula, I was just typing about the Target Market/Target Customer as you posted!

 

[Kev2017]

And get yourself a copy of The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber. I've given it to hundreds of clients growing business and all have thought it provided great guidance.

Good luck with it![/QUOTE]

The E myth is amazing, it made me hungry though!

 

[DontAsk]

Do it now before it's too late and whilst you can afford to make mistakes. Wait until you have kids and it's a lot harder to give up the security of full time employment, unless you can carry in accumulating a survival fund.

Think carefully about benefits you will lose such as holiday pay, sick pay, [m|p]aternity leave, pension, private health care, etc. Did you account for funding those?

 

[MartinCivil]

Do it now before it's too late and whilst you can afford to make mistakes. Wait until you have kids and it's a lot harder to give up the security of full time employment, unless you can carry in accumulating a survival fund.

Very true, my attitude towards risk has changed significantly since the arrival of our little one. Not sure we would have taken the jump if we hadn't a few years back

However..... that being said, jumping in without detailed research and planning will be a fatal mistake

 

[webgeek]

If you're not at risk of losing your employment, take an additional 3-6 months to set up your website, collect prospect connection details and build a contact CRM, create a couple dozen high quality posts that you can drip out, plan your offers, etc.

In short, do all your first 2 years of marketing prep in advance, make industry connections, join LinkedIn groups - get your buzz factor going before you jump, so that when you jump you've got some momentum.

With your existing income and savings, you'll be able to do some quality list building/acquisition, get your email service provider setup, your SEO coursework done (like over at Fresh Bananas)....

Most of your time starting out will be marketing/selling, not providing services - so do as much of that as you possibly can in advance.

Many people find they've totally underbudgeted the time, effort and expense for everything that goes into marketing, including flyers, one pagers, case studies, business cards, trade show booths, but mostly things like website, seo, content, email marketing posts, what to talk about on social media, contact lists, influencers that could be influenced and thus tapping into their reach.

 

[BlueMac]

Thanks for the replies all really appriciate it , ive started preparing a business plan and reading the book by colin barrow. very interesting so far!

Ive completed my website and done a few bits of SEO got the email setup and signed up to a few free local services. When i worked for myself i paid for a google ad campaign which worked really well . im planning on the same once i leave.

 

[Chris34]

Just because you have savings to see you through 2 years, it doesn't mean you should use them. There is nothing worse than running a business with your own hard earned money, then that money running out and you then going back to employment with no money in the bank.

You definitely need to make sure you have a cashflow forecast in place before you start. Work on the forecast night and day, tweaking it all the time. It helps focus your mind and gives you a clear idea of how long it will take you to start making money. You can find that if you put in a bit more effort in the first month then the knock on effect can mean that you're breaking even by month 3 rather than month 6 and the difference can be £1,000's.

Also to add to that, when you first start you are full of enthusiasm so you have a lot of energy. Eventually that enthusiasm wears off and it becomes more of a grind. You still prefer it to a full time job but when you are doing it for very little money it can become depressing. This is where money is a great motivator, if you are earning good money then that's what will drive you on. So because of this I would advise you to go at it 110% and make sure you hit your targets in those early months, the quicker you are in a healthy profit the easier it will be for you further down the line.

I'd also put in a review at around month 6, have a look at the big picture, if it doesn't look like you are close to making a reasonable profit then maybe then would be a good time to stop what you are doing and go back to employment before you spend all your hard earned savings. Think of it as not a failure, but a lesson learned, you would still have money to have a crack at another idea. It's the hardest thing to do but it's the right sensible thing to do, carrying on would be just doing what 99% of business owners do.


Chris.

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

..... Ive managed to get myself into a position where I could sustain myself for around 2 year with no income. My mortgage is locked in for 5 year and my fiance also works. .....

What is the worst thing that could happen?

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

What is the worst thing that could happen?

Agree completely. Give it a shot now before you have kids!

 

[Mike_Cartwright]

You are doing a right thing for starting your business while you are able to. It's difficult to take this kind of risk once you have a family of your own to prioritize over businesses. However, even if you are financially supported for the next 2 years if you proceed with this and leave your job, I'd still advice for you to save up money for emergency purposes. You can never tell when and what can go wrong financially especially if you don't have a permanent source of income to rely on. Also, if you can still hang on to that job for a bit more, do so while you set everything up. So basically I'm saying is, yes we are proud of you that you are chasing your dream but just be prepared and be cautious of the possibilities along the way. I wish you all the best!

 

[Gecko001]

If you have doubts then do not do it.

But if you do insist then my advice is to charge enough. Many people in your position think that because you are getting X amount now, all you have to do is change X plus a few per cent an hour more. In reality you probably need to charge at least x times 2.5 what you are presently getting per hour. It is easy to forget all the extra that your present employer has to pay for over an above your salary. There is the employer's National Insurance. There is holiday pay. There is software subscriptions. There is accommodation, electricity, heating, equipment etc. You might answer well I will work from home and I can use my present equipment and I can use the present software I have and I will be able to save a lot of money that way. But what about when you need to upgrade equipment and software? What will happen when you might want to take on an employee and want to rent an office? Putting up your charges just to cope with these things is no

However the biggest factor is staying up to date. You will have no colleagues on which to feed for staying up to date. Any courses that you need to go on, you will have to pay for yourself.

Also, and I think this is the most important of all, when you go on your own, you are exactly that: on your own. You will have no colleagues to discuss things with, only competitors. Industry gossip where you heard things about what was going on within your sector at tea breaks etc. will cease.

You also seem to think that this forum can replace sound professional advice that say your employer gets at the minute. Accountancy advice and legal advice for example. Well it cannot, and you will need to factor in accountancy and legal costs.