Startups Stack Exchange Archive

What kind of risks should I consider to quit my job and start a new company?

I’m a Senior Software Developer in a Global Company, I’m ok with my job at the moment, I’m doing what I like and I’m giving the expected results for the company.

BUT (there is always a but), I’m not happy at all, I’m considering to start my own company and I’m kind of afraid about the market and what kind of things I should take care, before even think to quit my job.

Sometimes I do some freelancer job it means that I have some customers already and I also have some projects in mind that I could start.

So, I would like to hear afrom anyone who had the same experience.

Answer 5853

I've made the transition almost 10 years ago when I was in a situation resembling yours - I was IT manager at a company in the life-sciences business.

Brazilian only advice: Brazil is not the best place in the world to quit your job right now: exercise your patience, you will need it (with the current economy and a bit of luck you will be fired and collect some compensation that you will also need later). Sometimes I blog about my experience in Portuguese, you may find the article "3 enganos comuns de quem inicia uma carreira como freelancer" particularly useful. If you are in São Paulo, lets have some coffee.

I made a lot of newbie mistakes. If I had a machine that could message back in time, these are some links I would send to the younger me:

My main mistakes?

  1. positioning myself as a generalist
  2. selling my time
  3. weakened my position in negotiations by becoming too invested in the sale

Entrepreneurship is somewhat counter-intuitive and many of the qualities that make you a good employee at a global company will make you a terrible small business owner.

That said, I'm doing just fine so far.


All content is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.