So you got an idea last night about a startup you would like to launch with your friend and he agreed. Now what? Should you just walk into your boss’s cabin and give your resignation papers?
What will happen when you quit your job? You are trading your salary to get back your time. Do you have enough funds to sustain yourself and your business for at least an year and a half if you quit your job? If yes, then it is worth a shot. If not, here is what you need to know:
If you quit your job, that steady bank incoming will stop. If you are really pumped up about entrepreneurship, here is a step by step process to help you go from a job to your full-time startup:
Unless your startup idea violates your employment contract, start work on your venture during nights and weekends.
Decide what prototype you want to build. This prototype should help you talk to your potential customers and realize whether your product is really useful or not.
Hire a team of freelancers to do your job. They can work out of their homes or your apartments – but don’t hire them on permanent positions yet. Since you are still on your salary, you will be able to easily afford the developers for your product.
Build your product prototype as soon as possible.
Take your product to market and see if you are able to sell it at all. Preferably these customers should be someone outside your social network.
Get their feedback. What did they like about the product. What they hated about it.
At this stage you can now asses what kind of funds do you need to sustain your business and yourself for at least an year and a half. Do you have that kind of fund already with you? Or you already have investors who are ready to invest in your product?
If your answer is “yes” to either of the two questions, then quit your job and work on your startup. If not, then continue for some more time, while you incorporate the feedback and launch a newer better version. Try testing the market with the 2.0 version and then reassess if you can quit the job now.
If you have any queries, write to Rajeev@TBSPlanet.com
Rajeev Tamhankar is IIT-R Alumnus, Entrepreneur of The Year’17 (Print Business) and the Founder of TBS Planet Comics