If you are working a corporate job playing with the idea of quitting to pursue your business full-time, this blog is for you. I’m sharing the REAL feelings that goes into this decision.
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What it’s actually like quitting your full-time corporate job to become a full-time business owner
After quitting my job I thought I made the biggest mistake of my life. This is how it can feel like to quit your corporate job to pursue your business full-time.
When I tell you I was an absolute mess when putting in my 3 weeks notice, that’s an understatement. The initial call I planned to say that I was going to quit was during a goals setting meeting with my incredible boss.
She truly was the best mentor, boss, source of knowledge that I could’ve asked to work for shortly out of college. I really looked up to her…
And I felt like I was letting her down by quitting.
During the goal-setting call, I had my script written down so I could say exactly what I needed to put in my three weeks. But I couldn’t get the words out. I was an anxious mess.
Sweating. Heart racing. Head pounding.
5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes into the call I still didn’t say a word about leaving my job. I kept nodding along to the goals we were setting for this year, how I could continue to learn and move upward in my career, talking about a future I had already decided I didn’t want.
I felt like trash. We got off the phone and I CRIED. I told my husband I literally couldn’t do it, I couldn’t get the words out.
But I kind of forced my own hand. I was in an incredibly busy season at this job where I was constantly traveling, writing reports, researching and repeat. On top of that, I had 12 clients I was working with and juggling it all was becoming impossible.
So I took a week off from my corporate job so I could get ahead of my client work and BREATHE (this was in March).
And then the catalyst. My husband and I decided to book a trip to Jamaica in May for a week. A WEEK. I had literally just depleted the majority of my PTO to prioritize my business. But I decided by booking this Jamaica trip, I was telling myself I had until May to get my sh*t together, keep my business running and leave my corporate job.
At this point, I had to get on a call with my boss to put in my notice.
The next week, I messaged her to hop on a call to discuss things – yeah real subtle right?
Hands shaking, I picked up the phone and it was all WORD VOMIT.
I told her how much she has helped me grow into this incredible position and how I was so thankful for an opportunity after the chaos that was the COVID job market. And I said I had the opportunity to pursue my business which was a side hustle turned opportunity I couldn’t pass.
Of course she was incredible, calmed me down, and set everything in motion.
May came and I was in Jamaica on my FIRST trip as a full-time business owner, I was on cloud 9.
AND THENNNNNN a shoe dropped. The one I had been waiting for, preparing against, and working hard to avoid.
Summer time is a slow time for a lot of clients in the virtual assistant world. This particular summer, a lot of my clients were facing slow downs and financial impediments.
I got the first message for cancellation.
Then I got a second message for a cancellation.
And I got a third message to pause.
My pricing at the time was all over the place but this was a HUGE hit to my income.
Before Jamaica (BJ), I had two incomes (one from my corporate and one from my business). After Jamaica (AJ) I lost three clients.
I thought I was S.O.L. I called my husband panicking. Saying I might’ve made the biggest mistake of my life quitting my stable, corporate job. Let me tell you, my thumbs worked overtime doom-scrolling LinkedIn.
AJ was incredibly hard and rocked me. But I realized that I have the power to control how stable my business is. Unfortunately, how it was set-up was not in a way that would create long-term, sustainable income. So I logged off of LinkedIn, forgot about creating a “plan B” and went all in on my business.
I marketed myself non-stop, restructured my packages and increased my pricing, and booked back-to-back discovery calls. Within a month of AJ, I had two new clients, dreamy clients, at a higher price point.
Life of a business owner is sketchy sometimes. You’ll find yourself in the trenches some days.
It makes a big difference physically, psychologically, and financially when you decide to fully commit to your business as your #1 and only plan.
Sh*t goes sideways? Tilt your head and see it in another point of view.
My goal with sharing my hectic start to being a full-time business owner is to encourage you to believe in yourself. You are capable of amazing things when you think you are and allow your actions to mirror your thoughts.
But I don’t want you to have to go through the challenges and mistakes that I made that took me from $200/mo VA to consistent $8,000/mos.
I’ve created a FREE guide to help you set-up your virtual assistant business and positioning yourself as a premium virtual assistant from the start!
Grab the FREE guide here!
See you in the next blog, I hope you enjoyed this one! If you’re looking for tips on how to START your virtual assistant business, check out my other blog: How to Start Your Virtual Assistant Business in 4 Weeks
Imagine if you went after your dream today, how far you would get in a year.
Literally in a year, you could be living your dream and succeeding at it!
