Ready to Make the Move?

Five checks to make before you go from employee to business owner.

Don't quit on a feeling. Leave on a plan.

Quitting your job to start a business can be one of the best decisions you ever make. Or one of the most expensive. The difference usually isn't talent, luck or even the idea. It's whether you checked five things before you handed in your notice.

We've worked with more than 1,300 businesses, and many of their owners started exactly where you are: in a job, with an idea, wondering when to jump. This guide turns what we've seen into five clear checks.

Find out whether real customers have paid you. Work out your real number, the amount the business must make once taxes, health cover and everything your employer paid for become your bill. Measure your runway. Read your contract for the clauses that can stop you cold. Then write an exit trigger, so you leave because the numbers said yes, not because of a bad Monday.

Every check comes with worked examples, a real-world scenario, common traps and a tick-box list. The toolkit gives you a move scorecard, a real number worksheet, a runway worksheet, a contract checklist and a first-90-days plan.

What's inside

• Introduction: two ways to quit a job, and why one works.
• Quick check: a 5-question self-check to see where you stand today.
• Check 1: Has someone already paid you? The proof ladder, how to sell before you quit and how many customers is enough.
• Check 2: Do you know your real number? Everything your paycheck doesn't show, a worked example ($60,000 salary, $86,605 real number) and how to turn it into a weekly sales target.
• Check 3: How long is your runway? Your monthly must-pay number, the runway formula and three ways to make it longer.
• Check 4: What does your contract say? The seven clauses to look for and how to keep your business separate from your job.
• Check 5: What's your exit trigger? Feelings versus triggers, a fill-in trigger sentence and four ways to leave.
• Toolkit: move scorecard, real number worksheet, runway worksheet, contract checklist and exit trigger, plus your first 90 days.

What you'll get out of it

The guide turns "should I quit?" into a yes or a clear list of what still needs to happen.

• You'll know if your idea is a business. Not from compliments, but from people paying you, more than once.
• You'll know the number that matters. Your real number shows what the business must make to replace your job, often well above your salary.
• You'll turn it into a weekly target. Real number, divided by 12, divided by your average sale: a target you can count in customers per week.
• You'll leave with breathing room. A measured runway means you can turn down bad-fit customers instead of taking any job at any price.
• You'll avoid the contract surprise. You'll know your non-compete, ownership, side-work and notice clauses before they cost you.
• You'll stop waiting for the right feeling. A written exit trigger, with a milestone, a runway and a date, decides when you leave.
• You'll start strong. The first-90-days plan covers setup, sales, reviews and checking your numbers in month three.

Who it's for: employees with a business idea, side hustlers thinking about going full time, and anyone who has said "one day I'll work for myself".

Questions