startup-costs, idea, startup-weekendI am an employee now.
1) Do I need to quit my job to create a startup?
2) Or should I do both: working on startup things in my free time?
Could you please share your experience?
You have to live with your own decisions far longer than anyone else will, and you are the best to answer your question. Answering difficult questions does not become easier.
I fell into contracting/consulting in 1994 when I was out of work and got offered a 9month contract. Others followed. I’ve had grand ambitions and there were times I had plenty of cash too. Its now 2016 and up until 18months ago, I was still a contractor. I’m about 95% finished my own idea - I started it 18months ago and thought it would take me 6months to complete. It is totally self sponsored from my own savings.
I’m sharing this with you because all best made plans have side winds - you’ll never know. Your idea might make you rich, or famous, or both. It could make you homeless too if you don’t have the right help and support from friends and family. Are you prepared for this?
Do you have a product or service that you think will have a demand? What makes your product or service any more different than the competition? Have you worked out how to do it profitably? Do you have enough funds to help pay for the roof over your head for the next 6-12months? What risks do you have going forward? If they happen, what is the impact?
I’m not trying to talk you out of it - the opposite - starting your business is a hard long hike. If you start the journey in soft shoe’s and an energy bar in your back pocket, you might reach your destination. Might.
I suggest you both work and put some time/effort into your business idea over the comming months. It reduces risk and even if you don’t achieve all your goals, you’ll win knowledge based on the experience itself. Set yourself an achieveable goal before you leave your fulltime job. That will be a better deciding factor than anything you can read in the best books or online forums like stackexchange.
Whatever you decide, some other food for your thoughts that I wrote in another post is offered here (read points 1,2,3,6 and 7 - you don’t have to follow the advice, but when you begin to trade your product/service for cold hard cash, having considered (and possibly acted on) some of the points would be recommended) https://startups.stackexchange.com/questions/8576/how-to-build-a-startup-freelance-software-qa-in-the-us/8585#8585
If business is a dream, a goal, never give up.
Best of luck!
I can only speak for my startup phase.
Equity keeps you going - if you dry up not just your dream gets at risk but your mental stability will suffer big time - plan in advance and at least have a back up plan to fail scenarios. I would not suggest to quit your job if 6 months without income get you out of business - make it 18 months to have peace of mind.
Consider worst case scenarios that will drag you mentally down for considerable time. For me it was a loss of a loved one - i wasn’t able to work at 100% productivity for 4 months.
Dont rely 100% on 1 person or entity, expect that people will disappoint you. For example for me it was a tax advisor who just let me down - there we are back to excess equity which got me out of that pity situation. Another thing that has cost me lots of time and nerves was a freelancer i hired - huge disappointment and 2 months of time that where simply gone - in this case it wasn’t about money but simply the lost time. Last but not least, simple things like getting a bank account can become difficult (for me it was because i formatted as venture of a german and uk based company for legal reason) - the banks simply had no experience with that constellation - a legal advisor lead me in the right direction - finally - my mistake was i didnt went to a “big bank” but to my hometown bank with no international business experience.
Things break just when you need them - May it be your car, pc or the fridge that goes busto.
I don’t regret to have taken this path but it turned my life upside down.
Take care for your health - its the motor (beside cash) that keeps you going.
Now the sweet cherries at the end - its by far the most fulfilling thing i ever pursued with the view that i and nobody else are responsible and im the major profiteer - its a great feeling to know that all the hard work you put in is solely for you - nobody except your business partners profit from your work - you make the rules and set the times.
If you get lazy you will pay the price, if you have extraordinary success you take the cake - ALL OF IT :)
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