Should you quit your job to work on your side project?

I've always considered that you get the most chances of success on your side when you can dedicate yourself full-time to your project. Firstly because obviously you will have more time, headspace and focus. Secondly because you will have "fire in your belly" as your livelihood is in the balance - this is the risk entrepreneurs take. Thirdly because it will fulfil you if nothing else. Doing it half means you will never know if it doesn't work whether it is because of the project itself or because you never truly gave it 100%. I left everything to create my first startup. Lots of sleepless nights, countless hours of work to make it happen. 5 years after we IPO'ed on the London Stock Exchange. From an investor point of view, I can also tell you that the vast majority of investors will not take you or your venture seriously if you are not committed to it full time (Unless of course you managed to hit mind-blowing KPIs as a side project, but if that was the case, then you probably would switch to full-time, right?). Simply because they will consider that you - as the founder - do not have enough belief in your project. So why should they have any?

Once you left your job, you have enough time to work on your own projects or ideas. In my opinion, all you have to do is push yourself, try harder. After all, money is not everything. Your happiness, your time and your health is everything.

If it begins to make half your salary / shows 7% WoW growth for 8 weeks straight

Lots of personal finance decisions to make, but putting those aside, I typically think that point is when you have iterated the idea a few times (2-3) and you can tangibly feel your conviction about the idea increasing. I know that isn't a hard and fast metric, but conviction is so important, knowing the ups and downs of startups that will follow. Good luck!

I left my job 10 years ago ONLY with dream to build my own start-up. I didn't always have money to pay rent, slept 6 months on the cold floor in my friend's flat, went thru many difficulties but ALWAYS believed in my dream (mission). And it came true, in 5 years! P.S. BE FIGHTER AND NEVER GIVE UP!

I'm all for leaving that job and do it yourself! Why didn't it work out so far for you? Wouldn't it be a good step for you to also work for clients so that you have a nice cashflow, and launch product(s) on the side?

Biggest hazard for self employment is discipline. Procrastination is one big reason, the day you think you can working twice harder than you are working on your job, you can start your solo journey. Money will follow if you do it.

This is such a tough decision to make. I was put in the fortunate position of starting a company while still in college, so my opportunity cost was $0. It was either start a company, or go get a part-time job at the mall. Pretty easy decision. Once you're in an established career with a good salary, a family, and other responsibilities I can only imagine how difficult the decision must be. Based on what I've seen some friends do (i.e. leaving good jobs at Google to pursue their own company) they were well on their way to making stable revenue from their side hustle before leaving. I think you should at minimum prove there is a market and be generating revenue before leaving a stable job. It's too easy to build an MVP these days and test your hypotheses before making a major decision.

It depends. There is no right answer, and every person has their own situation. If you have family and kids to support then, it's not a good idea. But if you have a good project in mind(validated idea) and some savings to live for 3-6 months, then go for it.

I quit my job without enough money, so I started a contract development to pay my rent. I earned better after quit. Now I concentrate on my product development.

Kids and healthcare. Absolute killers. Actually just healthcare. I could juggle my kids if I could have reliable access to healthcare "forever".

Aihausanovels.com

There is no right or wrong answer to this. It all depends on our will and never give up attitude and perseverance to make it happen. Dependent factors in our lives play a good role in taking this decision too. Jut to help few things happen, I believe in a structured way of moving stuff, keep a solid plan of how and what are the activities required, what's the timeline, what's the investment for each of those, will you be able to sustain until then, when will you see your paying customers. Need not be too accurate or anything, but at a high level, it will definitely give you a good sense of direction. Good luck!

I won't say that you should quit your job, but you can, work on your side project wholesome. So this is an option but the wise choice would be to manage both side by side I know it is easier said than done.

In my opinion, these decisions are based on personal instincts which are driven by passion and drive. But in a more realistic approach, working on a side hustle would be better till it gets some shape. Once it's foundations are set, you can quit your job to nurture, build and grow it further.

Great question, really hits home. I tried the side hustle approach for my first start up and I found it very difficult to take myself seriously. Like most highly ambitious people, I didn’t want to sacrifice my performance in my full time job for the start up. It’s really hard to work 10+ hours on one thing, to then spend 3+ hours on a side hustle after. I started to feel like I was moving in quicksand ( even with some interest). Needless to say, the startup just drifted until I lost interest and shut it down. This time around, I took a 3 month leave as a way to test the waters. Using it as a way to dedicate my full energy, feel the sting of no income, and try to validate the idea. I’m hoping that a combination of traction, conviction and optimism will help me decide what to do at the end of the leave.

I would say if your idea or startup product get start make some revenue that can hold your business and your basic needs, then I would say Quit and scale it! Finance decisions and finance capabilities are huge factors.