And it’s true that building a business requires plenty of time and effort. But the idea that you need to quit your job to do it right is misguided. If you quit your job, you shift everything. You don’t gain time, you lose it. You put a shot clock on your business. You box yourself into a position where you have to profit immediately or the whole thing goes under. You’ve got to make it work now or give up forever.
This is something I’ve been wrestling with.
The only issue with doing two things at a time is attention span. I only find this difficult when I’m juggling a LOT of things though. For instance, my gaming blog suffers when I’m utterly immersed in both my day job and my other hobby. Is this bad? I don’t think so. Gaming is a release – something I involve myself in when I’m feeling stressed or unable to contribute creatively to something.
At the moment I like my day job. It’s not perfect in some ways (after being independent it’s always difficult to do what others say and the innate impatience of someone used to doing their own thing can be very limiting).
One of the things apparent to me is that I’m fascinated with the local tech scene. My wife reckons that even if I had no ties to NI and no need to work, I’d likely be doing much of the same thing as I’m doing now. Whether that’s working on creating conversations, trying to think of different ways to look at things or encouraging others to follow their dreams – I’d still be doing it. After all, I was doing it before (sponsor of BarCamp, OpenCoffeeClub and part of the nonsense on this blog)
Working the day job is not going to get in the way of things. Especially if it’s complementary.
So speculate sensibly. Don’t gamble everything on an idea taking 6 months to exit – if you’ve only funding for six and it takes seven, you lose everything.
I don’t think you lot on the other wide of the Pond are attracted to the kind of book I’m (re-) reading: Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. A shame too. Some practical advice in it (very little is scammy like The Secret), such as this:
Start where you stand, with whatever tools you have at your command, and you will acquire better tools as you go along.
And:
“Brains” are a form of capital that cannot be permanently depreciated by economic depressions.
You can find the book, in early editions, free online (legally, I think).