It’s becoming increasingly popular to talk about “side hustling” but I want to dedicate some time to explaining why I think it’s really important to not quit your job if you want to start your own business… You should start a ‘side hustle’. 

Let me first explain, a ‘side hustle’ is essentially a business that you start in parallel to other work you do. It’s the idea that you don’t let your business become the focus of your work. There are some bad connotations around ‘side hustling’ and a culture of people who just work. You don’t have to adopt this culture & I’m not suggesting that you do, I just suggest you don’t quit your other work/job. 

There are 3 reasons why you shouldn’t quit your job to start your own business, these can be divided into how it impacts money, time & your mindset. You might have seen from other content I’ve shared that these 3 things (money, time & mindset) are the things you need to start a business. It’s really important to consider how quitting your job can affect each of these things. I’m going to talk about each one now based on my own experiences. 

It’s a given that your business needs money as it’s starting and you need money to survive… It’s not a given that your business is going to make any money. I’ve learnt that it takes a lot longer than I anticipated it would for a business to make money. It’s going to take time for your business to be able to support itself financially & even longer for it to support you. This is a huge reason to not quit your job! You will need the additional income to support yourself & your business. 

It might be that you’re considering quitting your job as you have savings which you are prepared to use… It depends how many savings you have but working through your savings can add a huge amount of pressure to you & your business. I’ll come to mention this further but it will affect your mindset. 

Similarly, it will also affect the decisions you make for your business. It’s good to not just ‘throw money at a problem’ when it comes to starting your own business but you do need some money to try different things. You’ll need to experiment with different marketing campaigns as an example. It’s really hard to take these risks and try these things if you’re looking at a shrinking pot of money. Please take some time to really consider your financial situation before you decide to quit your job to start your own business. It will impact you & your business. 

You might think that quitting your job would have a positive impact on your time when it comes to starting your own business.. You’ll have more time to dedicate to your business, right? Wrong. You’ll have a huge expanse of time to dedicate to your business that you won't know what to do with, you’ll spend hours ruminating over tasks that could take you 5 minutes & you’ll find yourself extra work to do instead of cracking on with the essential tasks. 

I have found that working as a Doctor whilst starting my own business has hugely helped me from a productivity point of view. It has forced me to prioritise tasks and work more efficiently. Similarly, I have also found that continuing my job as a Doctor alongside my business has helped me when it comes to making key decisions. It forces me to take time away from my business, which gives me time to reflect on things we are doing or decisions we have made within the business. There have been a number of occasions when this time spent reflecting has resulted in me changing my mind! For example, a logo design that you thought was great can look very different when you come back to it a couple of days later. 

I know I’m at risk of rushing into things with my excitement & I know I need to take a moment to pause… I would really encourage you to do the same when it comes to starting a business, try not to rush decisions in your excitement. It will only waste your time when you come to realise you’ve made a mistake or need to make changes… For these reasons, I have personally found continuing to work in my job has arguably given me more time when it comes to starting my own business. Please consider this for yourself!

There are lots of different ways quitting your job can negatively impact your mindset whilst you start your own business. I’ve been able to witness this impact on my brother; we started our first business together but unlike me he was forced to quit his job (he was made redundant during the pandemic). It’s exceptionally mentally testing starting your own business, there will be great days but there will also be really bad days when you start to question everything you’re doing. I experienced how having a job really helped me through these days & witnessed how not having a job really didn’t help my brother… 

Firstly, not earning any money whilst starting a business can have a huge impact on your mindset. I’ve alluded to this in the above ‘money’ point but I want to explain a bit more now. As much as we don’t like to admit it, we rank ourselves in society based on what we earn & the material things we have. You will likely not be earning any money from your business in its infancy. Similarly, as our peers progress through their careers we will ((sub)consciously be comparing ourselves to them. As you start your own business, this progress isn’t as obvious. It can really help to continue in a job to see that you aren’t completely pressing ‘pause’ on your career progression. 

Secondly, continuing to work whilst you start your own business helps you to get out! It forces you to break your routine which will have a positive impact on your productivity & creativity. 

Thirdly, along the same lines, getting out & engaging with other people whilst you continue to work in your job will help you with your business. You really can’t predict which conversations you have will inspire you, help you create new ideas &/or open doors to new opportunities. It’s very easy for new business owners to stay quiet about their business, usually due to fear of failure, embarrassment or someone else stealing their idea. This isn’t helpful & will just hinder progress! There are so many reasons why continuing to work in your job can really help with your mindset, don’t under-estimate these before making any decisions about quitting your job. 

As I’ve tried to explain, quitting your job to start your own business can have a significant impact on you & your business. It will affect the three things you need (money, time & mindset). I understand it’s not easy continuing to work full-time whilst starting a business but there are ways you can try to optimise the time you have (I’ll share these in another blog). Alternatively, you can try to find a way to reduce the amount of hours you work in your job like I have by going part-time. 

Let me know if you’ve found this blog post helpful. If you’re in a position to start your own business & would like further help on how to go about this please send me an email (elle@gabrielletodd.com). Alternatively, click here to be kept updated with new blog posts!