T R A N S C R I PT I remember years ago when I had a full-time job and I was writing I Will Teach You to Be Rich on the side, I started to wonder if maybe I should go full-time on IWT. And I thought about it, and I talked about it a lot with my friends. And eventually I started to drive myself crazy because I wanted to perform well at my full-time job, but I was getting more and more excited about IWT. So I developed a rule of thumb. I wouldn’t even think about leaving my job until IWT made more income than the job for three months in a row. At least that way I could cross off the financial worry and focus on what I truly wanted to do. Eventually, if you keep applying the material in this program, you’ll start to realize that your business has a ton of potential. Some of you may have a $5,000 month or a $10,000 month or a $20,000 month, and you may do it more than once. And suddenly, you might start to ask, “should I go full-time?” Maybe you should. But I want you to be confident in making that decision, using some of my guidelines. Now before I share those with you, I want to point out that the entrepreneur community has started to popularize this idea that working a 9-to-5 job is for losers. And I have to tell you that I completely disagree. I think that working in a great role at a great company can be incredible. It can allow you to make a huge impact, one together with a team that you would find it hard to do alone. A great job can also teach you new skills and your job can provide security for you and for your family. Now I’ll tell you that many of my teammates here at IWT could go off and create their own companies, but they have consciously chosen to join this team where they can contrib- ute to millions of people like you. So if you decide to stay at your full-time job, don’t ever feel like a failure. Now, if you are wondering how to make the decision to go full-time, I’d like to share five guide- lines to use before you decide. Guideline number one: build a six-month emergency fund. This emergency fund forces you to define your true minimum living expenses, and it encourages you to save like crazy. One thing new entrepreneurs don’t predict is how variable their income can be. So if you’ve got a steady income right now, save it. If you go full-time, you’ll probably need it when business is slow in the early days. Guideline number two: make a gradual transition. In our culture, we love to glorify risk-takers. We love the story of the entrepreneur living off 3-day old takeout, maxing out 10 credit cards, forced to the brink of bankruptcy, only to pull a rabbit out of a hat and make millions at the end. That sounds horrible to me. I don’t wanna live on credit card debt, and I definitely don’t want “I quit!” Make the jump to full-time freelancing to eat ketchup for dinner. You can make the transition from employee to business owner as slowly and deliberately as you want. And I’ll tell you that life is easier when many decisions are small and potentially reversible. As an example, here’s a path you might take. Start as a full-time employee freelancing on the side, negotiate a more flexible schedule with your boss, and use the extra hours to freelance. Take a leave of absence with a plan to return if things don’t work out. Quit. And if you need to, take a part-time job to cover living expenses. Work fewer hours at your part-time job as your freelance business grows. And finally, go full-time on freelancing. Now you can skip any of those steps, but that shows you just how potentially gradual you can make this transition. Don’t make it fast. Make it right. Guideline number three: handle your personal and business logistics. Here are some things you should research and have answers to before you leave. Health insurance, an accountant to help you with small business taxes and investment options, and if you’re really forward thinking, you’ll get recommendations from past bosses and coworkers on LinkedIn. And above all, I got to tell you something that is personally meaningful to me. Don’t burn bridges. I’ve had employees leave to start their own firms. The very best ones gave me a heads up months ahead of time, and they told me they’d transition everything over and help me find a replacement. And in fact, they even asked for my support as they left and started their own businesses. I love them, and I’m still in touch with them, sending them clients as much as I can. Don’t burn bridges. Go above and beyond to help your team and help your boss even be better than when you came in. I always believe that doing the right thing is worth it. Guideline number four: get your partners on board. Do you have a business partner? Maybe, maybe not. But guess what? If you’re planning to go full-time on your own business, you have partners you might not even know about. And these might be your husband or wife, girlfriend or boyfriend, parents or even friends. Now these people might not have a financial interest in your business, but depending on if you get them on board, they will have a huge impact on whether your business will be successful. I’ve had students who started businesses without get- ting the buy-in of their spouse, and suddenly their spouse sees the regular paycheck vanish and they start panicking. They start using phrases like, “When are you going to get a real job?” or “I didn’t sign up for this.” And this is a major red flag that the business will fail. And it’s all because the business owner forgot to get their partner on board. So here’s how you do it. Start by asking without selling. And this is a process. You want to genu- inely ask their advice. You want to listen, and you want to work through your concerns together. The concept here, again, is to ask without selling. Nobody wants to be hard sold and nobody wants to be surprised with a major life change. So frame this issue as a discussion, not a pitch. Try saying something like this, “I’ve been working this business for about 10 hours a week for four months now. Here are the numbers, and I’ve just started thinking about the idea of pos- sibly doing this full-time. Haven’t decided anything, but I just wanted to bring it up with you and see what you think.” And then show them the numbers. Show them proof. Facts speak for themselves. That’s why it’s much more powerful to begin earning on the side, because when you can show those numbers, it’s hard to argue with real money. For example, you might say, “here’s how much I’m making now, and I can double my hours if I leave my job. Oh, and by the way, here are the consulting offers I had to turn down already because of a lack of time.” What does this show? Well, it shows respect. You’re acknowledging and addressing their real fears. And you always want to validate objections, even if you don’t think they’re warranted. And then you want to offer a compromise or a solution. Most people, you have to remember, are afraid of risk. For example, the risk of losing your cli- ents. So you can say this, “I totally understand where you’re coming from. I think there’s a flip side to risk in everything we do. For example, I could lose clients. But on the flip side, there’s al- ways the risk of getting laid off. What about if we do something like this? If we built a six-month emergency fund and got three more clients on board would that address your concern?” Don’t worry if this feels daunting right now. Slow it down. Take your time and get it right. This step is where you can start to get them on your side instead of them being opposed to you starting your own business because it’s too risky. Get this right and you will have a supporter on your side for years to come. Guideline number five: overcome your own last-minute resistance. This time it’s not about the people around you, it’s you. Now I get it, it’s natural to get cold feet. And I suggest trying this technique. First, flip the script. You’re already great at thinking of all the things that could go wrong. But the next thing to think about is all the things that could go right. Instead of what could go wrong, ask yourself, “how much more time would you have available? How much more free would you feel?” And every time you encounter a problem or a negative thought, ask your- self this question, “if I were operating at my best and 100 percent completely capable of dealing with this, how would I do it?” Here’s an example: “I’m worried I might have less money than I need. Here’s what I’ll do.” Or, “I’m worried my family might be upset. Here’s how I deal with that.” Or, “if I needed to find three clients in one month, here’s how I would do it.” I love the idea of you spending some serious time going through these steps, and it’s worth it. It shows that you’re taking this decision seriously. If you decide to make the leap, I got to tell you, I’m excited for how you’ll grow your business in ways you can’t even imagine right now. So good luck on your decision.