Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

If you could leave your 9-5 job today and had a nest egg of $200,000 built up, what would you do?  It`s not an enormous sum of money but it`s a pretty good start.  How do you overcome the fear of leaving a job you`re successful at to pursue some unknown?

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Juggling is the hard way to do something unnecessary. http://justyouraveragejoggler.com

I left my 9-5 job 2 years ago with only $25000 nest egg. The story didn`t start and stopped there. Prior to leaving, I have been planning my exit for 3 years.  I amped all of my savings to maximum (401k and personal savings).  

Besides the monetary preparations, I had been investing in real estate while I was still working so I can look good on paper for bank financing.  The "salary" and job stability qualified me to take on mortgages as I built a mini real estate empire.

With $200,000- I will buy in a big share of a tech start up who is in the midst of beta testing a sure fire technology that will be big in the next few years.

By carefully planning and applying myself and educating myself thoroughly, it gave me the confidence to leave my 9-5er job and pursued  all the unknowns.


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http://www.face2facevideocard.com
"videos can say it like it is"
09-21-2007

www.senatinproperties.com
real estate investments

I would get all the appropriate intellectual property protection needed on my camping product.  And then I would build the prototype.  The remainder would be held until I found more capital to build the company right.

Plan out a year or two with your budget; first thing is to stop any worry about the $$ side of life (knowing it`s real, but removed from your mind for now).

Go off into the woods/beach/library ... crawl into your head, skim your joy and sorrow, skim current knowledge and revisit old classics on "what`s life" and see again what makes you (and your family smile) ... be "alone" as much as you can at times [prepares you to "invent" as that`s a solo thing and most of your current "buds" can`t afford to do what you`re doing right now].

Plan to fail; plan to revise and try again ... with time you can change your life, but if you jump, rather than ease, then plan to make multiple jumps. Find a "group" (SuN) where you can "share/vent" your emotional side of what`s to come with the unknown; again, this is a "solo" journey for the most part and while you will need some support (and partners are great things in my book) you must be your own rock and board as you`re the one writting the checks.

Give yourself about 6 months of "me time" (it will seem like a lifetime) to figure out what makes you feel good and what you want to be doing; I`ve lived several successful lives, but most came with the overriding "fears" of soft science (design, mkting, things without quarantees) and so I decided that I wanted to have a physical product; something that wasn`t a matter of spin or measurement ... it`s far from easy, but it works for me not having a product that people can "improve" by changing a color.

I guess I could go on forever, but basically I`m saying know that you have the time to cut down the forest of you life as it now exisits and then watch it grow back; only this time treating it more like a garden and landscaping it to match the vision in your mind (naturally you can also stay consulting and connected to your "past life" or go to Mexico too!)

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Chris Miller, a simple taco maker:
The Tiger Taco home in the U.S.A.
Tiger Tacos in Australia
Tiger Tacos in the United Kingdom

I had very little next egg when I left my previous job to start my business. If I`d had $200,000 I would have gotten more training, hired a coach right away and spent more on hired help - a VA, graphic designer, web designer and accountant.

How did I overcome fear? I didn`t. Some days the fear is almost overwhelming.

On the other hand, I`ve been wanting to be self employed since I was in my 20s. I decided if I didn`t do it now, I`d never do it and I didn`t want to regret not taking the chance. I focus on my long term goals for motivation and focus on small, immediate steps I can take to overcome the fear.

In the final analysis, it was making the decision that my success or failure would be a direct result of my actions. I`d have no one to blame either way except for me. That freed me up to take the plunge.



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Andrea J. Stenberg

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