Little less than a year of my entry level job, I want to start my own business. Too soon?
After I graduated in 2019, I was hired at a big company. Several months down the road, I realize I want to start my own thing.
Am I too inexperienced to make the leap and should keep working a couple of years or go ahead and start transitioning by working on my side projects(which i was going to do anyways). My real fear is that I don't have enough life/corporate/soft skills to start a tech business.
Any advice is appreciated.
Start your own business right away. But don't quit just yet. Start what you want to do - build what you want to build and validate the idea, the business, the business model. As you do this, you will learn faster and more than all your colleagues at the big company.
You will learn about why products succeed or fail, why marketing is hard, why communication is key and a lot more things.
You may already have learnt all these things in school/university, but with a business of your own you'll live them and grow 100X faster than 99% of the people out there. And then one day you'll know its time to quit your big company job and focus on your own business full time.
I like this approach to getting my feet wet sooner rather than later. I do feel the slow down of growth and learning at my job so this side project would be a great way to grow professionally.
In my book, it really comes down to your level of self discipline.
Do you have the motivation to keep chugging on your side project at a productive pace while working your job? Then go for it! Alternatively, you might need to be the kind of person who needs the pressure from quitting cold turkey and making our side project your main project before you really take it seriously. Different strokes for different folks.
Similarly, ask yourself if you're really going to learn about business by working a job for someone else. To do so, you likely need to break free from the mold of a super specialist role and get a chance to work in and around every part of their business. This is hard to do for many people for the same reason it's hard to have a side project: because it's easier to do nothing and rest easy on your paycheck. In that case, the best way to learn business skills is often just to start a business, because then you're forced to wear every hat.
I personally had to throw myself in the deep end. But if you can get away with not doing that, kudos. It's much less stressful and less financially risky.
I do have motivation! Matter of fact, I day dream about my project at work and it is becoming a real distraction. I am trying to regain my focus. I think it is in part that my role is QA Dev and the job is becoming monotonous right now which leave some mental energy reserved for the evening. Thanks for this insight, you and team for this community.
There is no good timing to start something on your own, if you feel it and have enough motivation ! But it won't be easy as you might know.
Believe in you and on your business but don't forget that it will take time to set it up (Business plan...)
Best of luck !
This is true. I need to keep a level head because I am a day dreamer and will get lost in my visions. thanks for the encouragement!
Keep working full time and work on your idea/ side gig side by side, and you are backed up financially and experience wise , through this, until you really really think it’s time to start your own.!! Good luck !
yes, thanks for the insight. Definitely will take heed.
From what I've seen, there isn't really a good answer here. There are many paths to starting a tech business. A lot of it depends on your risk tolerance.
Some stay at a big company for a while, meet their co-founders, and then go off and start a tech business.
Some keep their jobs, build a side project that ends up scaling into a business.
Some go join a startup, gain some real early stage experience, and then go start their own.
Some people do quit, and succeed early. Others persevere for years, rack up tons of debt, and then end up with Airbnb. Still, others persevere for all those years and only end up with debt.
So it seems like whatever I decide to do just trust the process? Definitely I need to do that more. thank you!
Yup, you'll find your way. I've always liked that Steve Jobs quote:
That said, I've found a few things to generally be true:
The last one is a biggy. I know many people who are older and believe that it is now near impossible to leave their big tech job.
I don't know your situation specifically, but one thing you will gain from working at a company for awhile is connections with others. You will learn who people are, what their skills are, and if get along with them well. After you build up enough connections, it makes your idea much easier to accomplish, because they will likely be resources for you...to help you build it, promote it, or connect you with others who can help you further.
Never really thought about using my coworkers as resources( they are not my projected users honestly), but I am definitely open. Thanks for the insight
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Yep, I think I will do that since my job is not super stressful. Just have to lay low for a while. Thanks for the reply.
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I appreciate the self reflective questions to think about. It does put things in perspective. I only have a big corporate job to compare so it will be definitely a learning curve to transition to a start up. thanks for your response.
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Isn't the struggle real!!! I want to just quit tomorrow and and go cold turkey as CA state early on in his posts and get lost in my vision. How do you stay motivated at your current job? Definitely thank you for taking your time out to give insight.