I was 22 years old, wearing black dress pants and a red polo with my corporate company’s logo, I was clocking ten hour days selling streamline solutions and products to big industrial companies. It was my first salary job and at the time, I was grateful for it. But… I was tired, anxious, and questioning if this really was my “dream.” I get a lot of messages daily but the most frequent one seems to be “how did you start your business?” 

Perhaps you’re starting to see others who have had success in their online business and you start to believe it’s possible for you too. Maybe you just know the corporate ladder climb isn’t for you. Or it’s possible that you landed what you thought would be your “dream” job and it’s turned out to be more of a nightmare.

True freedom? The ability to create your own schedule? To take a trip whenever you want without having to ask anyone? It’s all you dream about but you’re stuck on how to actually make this a reality, how to actually quit your day job. I’ve been there and looking back on my journey of quitting my day job, I realized I took a few major steps that I’m sharing with you to encourage and empower you to be able to make this decision, if it’s right for you, too.

MAKE SURE YOUR BUSINESS IS LEGIT

This is one of the first modules of my Purpose to Profit Accelerator. You want to make sure you’re set up for legal and financial success from day 1. Repeat after me: this is NOT a hobby. Think of corporate gyms, are they asking people to Venmo them money? NO. And you shouldn’t either. If this is going to be your income and future, let’s make sure you do all that you can now to set yourself up for success later. 

Actionable steps include;

• file your business with your state or set up an LLC. I personally have an LLC.
• hire an accountant to get professional advice on your options.
• set up a business bank account. 
• choose a credit card processing system – I recommend Square Up or Stripe.
• as a personal trainer/coach, you want to make sure you have a solid contract that has you covered (something I provide to my students)
• consider a client management system to get your workflows and processes streamlined from the start, I recommend Dubsado.

Take these steps seriously, they require an investment up front but if you’re ready to go full time, you should be willing to invest in doing things right! I promise you’ll be so glad you did.

GET CLEAR ON YOUR FINANCES 

Getting clear on what you actually need to quit your job gives you a goal and provides clarity. The first number I figured out is how much I needed to make per month to cover my bills/expenses? Got that number down? Good. For me, it was around $3,000 USD. Define what “enough” looks like for you, because maybe you’re willing to make sacrifices to take the leap or you are comfortable with a lower projected income at the beginning. 

I knew I had a strategy and sales process (from my business mentor) to get people to invest $1200 USD in me/my service at the time. So that meant I needed to get 3 clients to pay in full or 8 clients on a payment plan. That alone built so much confidence in me to really go after this dream 100%. 

My point is that I don’t recommend making the leap without having a financial plan and goal for your business. I wanted to protect myself from having to take any kind of work to make ends meet and be able to pursue the work I loved the most. Do everything in your power to secure clients before making the leap to give you that extra boost of confidence when making this decision.

BURN THE BOATS

Tony Robbins says – “if you want to take the island you need to burn the boats.”

Which basically means you have to get rid of the other options, as long as you have other options you aren’t taking as much action as you would otherwise. This is why I push my students to take the leap and quit their jobs as soon as they can once they get a few clients under their belt. I know once they have another 40 hours/week, they’ll be able to get even more clients. 

We live in a day where it is incredibly easy to make extra money doing a number of jobs through apps like Uber, Shipt, Postmates, Handy etc. I don’t want fear to have a grip on you, so I want you to think through what you would do if you needed to make extra money if absolutely necessary. Even if it’s not your ideal situation, sometimes having a clear vision of what would happen, what your next steps would be, can make things less intimidating.

I am not an extraordinary case! I had zero connections, no website, from a tiny town in Kansas and was burning the candles from both ends working the corporate job by day and building an empire by night. There will be a lot of “fake it ’til you make it” moments (heck, there still are!) and a lot of days of uncertainty, but when you feel unsure of your call, remember the one who called you in the first place! You can do this, you deserve to chase your dreams, pour into yourself, invest in your business, and create this freedom for you and your family.

When you’re ready, I’d love to support you on your journey – feel free to send me a message on Instagram or apply to the Purpose to Profit Accelerator if you’re ready to take this leap with me!