- Hey Nealey have you ever wanted to stop being an employee,
and start being an entrepreneur?
- I've thought about it.
- Well that's what we're gonna talk about to day
on The Journey.
- So small businesses have always
been the backbone of America, right.
- Absolutely.
- They actually make up 99.7% of all U.S. businesses.
That's crazy.
- That's absolutely crazy.
That's literally almost all of them.
- So this is a huge decision. So before you...
- Absolutely.
- Submit your letter of resignation, right,
ask yourself a few critical questions
about whether or not this is the right fit for you.
- So we're gonna go over some of those questions
to really ask yourself
to see if you're ready to dive right in.
What's the first question we need to ask ourselves?
- Honestly, can you live without a paycheck?
- Yeah, and with that.
We'd definitely recommend having like at least three to six
months in your savings to live off of
because going from employee to entrepreneur
if you're not making money right away,
you're not gonna be able to pay your bills.
You're not gonna be able to pay
for your Netflix subscription.
You're not gonna to pay for anything right?
So you want to make sure
you're not stressed out about money.
You can focus on really growing your business,
and taking the time to do that.
- Right this isn't just some spontaneous decision.
There's a lot of work and preparation
that should go into it.
And if you have to, take a part-time job, right.
Then you have half the time
to at least dedicate towards becoming an entrepreneur,
but you're still getting that consistent paycheck.
- Yeah. You have that little bit of a safety net.
And if you don't wanna go just super all in,
or even get a part-time job,
lots of people still start to grow their business
while working their full-time job.
It's called a side hustle,
and if that's right for you,
while you still have that safety net.
If you don't have that savings,
you don't wanna go part-time,
that's absolutely a great step for you.
- So the next question you need to ask yourself,
is are you truly passionate about this.
So Nealey what do you love?
- I really love helping people figure out
what their personal brand is,
and how to elevate that online. Love that.
- Exactly, you have to love
your passion as much as you love watching Netflix,
or hanging out on the weekend. Right, because...
- If not more.
- Exactly, this is,
you're gonna be working until 2 a.m. every single night.
You know it's gotta be something that you love,
and you're passionate about
so that you don't throw in the towel.
- I know there are some days when I'm doing some
of the not so fun work of building a business,
like doing accounting or taxes, or anything else.
There's always gonna be some part of any job,
or any business that's not gonna be as fun.
And you really need to remember your why,
and why you're doing this, and that passion,
so you get over those, honestly,
crappy parts of running a business,
and focus on what you love.
- Yeah everyone loves to be an entrepreneur.
But it's what...
It's that passion that's gonna set you apart.
- So speaking of some of the not so fun parts
of the business, another thing you need
to think about is just insurance for your business.
We get so focused on the branding and marketing,
and selling your services that we forget about some
of the liability that we have to face,
and protect our business with.
- So without getting too deep into the technical,
boring aspects of everything,
here's some types of insurance that you should look into,
if you're gonna start a business.
General liability insurance,
as well as professional liability insurance.
- Yeah and commercial auto insurance,
especially if you're driving your car for work.
If you're working, and you get into an accident,
your personal insurance may not cover it.
Also workman's comp, even if you just have one employee,
you are required by law in all 50 states
to have workman's comp.
- And last but not least, excess liability insurance.
- All right, so after we've answered all these questions,
are we ready to start a business?
- Not quite yet.
You need to look into what startup costs you need.
How much money do you need set aside
to get your business going?
- That makes sense.
Money is kind of important.
- Yeah.
- Do we need to buy like computers?
Do we need a office space?
Do we need equipment?
What do we actually need to get our business
up on the ground running?
Or do we need to take out a small business loan,
possibly get some investors in?
'Cause we need to make that money, money, money.
- Right. Hey.
- Ah, so yeah speaking of money.
- So getting back on track.
You know all this sounds like a lot of pressure,
but really one thing to ask yourself,
is what's the worst that could happen.
- That's true. I know when I coached people
with their personal brand,
they're trying to basically build a profit from it,
and start services, and really make
that the full time thing.
I actually go through an exercise
of what it the worst that happens.
Have them start mentally preparing
for all the things that could happen.
Cool, I can't go out to the restaurants every week,
or I can't do this.
Or maybe I have to go back and get a job.
The worst that happens is really not that bad.
So you might be ready to take the leap,
just letting fear prevent you from starting.
Right, think of your life as a GPS,
if you make the wrong turn,
you just reroute and it's all gonna work out.
So use these questions to ask yourself,
are you ready to start your own business.
And if you are let us know in the comments down below.
- Yeah, just type a simple yes,
and while you're there go ahead and smash
that like button, hit subscribe,
and ring that bell,
so you can get these episodes first.
This is The Journey, and we'll see you next time.