

Has anyone ended up regretting quitting a good job for their own business? - nycer2030

There are a lot of questions here with people that hate their jobs-- but that's not my situation.<p>Has anyone here regretted their decision to quit a good, well-paying job to pursue their own business?<p>I have a great job that pays very well, offers excellent benefits, and has a good work-life balance. That said, my partner and I have spent the last few years building our business and have, for a while now, been at the point where it really deserves our full attention. Quitting would cut my income by a little more than half.<p>Have you been in a similar situation, taken the leap, and then wished you hadn't? Why?
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yankeeracer73
I haven't regretted quitting a good job to start a business, but I miss
certain things about that job: being on a large team, office camaraderie, a
dependence on a nice salary and not worrying at all about money (we're
bootstrapped so we're constantly worried about money both for the business and
personally,) people always taking my calls and responding because i was from a
name-brand company. All that said, I was just remarking to my wife today that
I wouldn't trade anything for the flexibility I have now running my own
business.

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megablast
The other thing I found was that I was more productive when I was working
fulltime, than when I had more time to work on my own project. I worked better
when I had less time, since I was more focused, would only work on the most
important stuff, and only had a few hours to get something done.

You may miss this, but hey, go for it anyway. If you leave on a good note,
then there is always a chance of going back.

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pwim
If you take the leap and regret it, what is to prevent you from getting
another good job? You'll probably regret it if you don't take the chance, so
I'd go for it.

~~~
staunch
Many people work their way up a corporate ladder and end up getting paid more
than they could by any other company. The company likes it because they know
they have a "slave" and the employee likes it because he's getting paid more
than he's worth on the open market.

~~~
keeptrying
This is very very true. Golden handcuff.

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kareemm
What are you optimizing for? Income? Learning? Benefits? Status? Long-term
family stability?

In a quest to optimize for learning and connections, I quit my cushy corp gig
to found a startup. I cut my income from 120k w/ benefits to 54k w/ no
benefits.

I didn't regret it for a second because I learned a ton and I met a slew of
new and fascinating people (aside from launching a product, building a team,
raising money, getting customers, etc.)

The world is full of well-paying gigs for smart people. Go do your startup.

~~~
ufomuffin
That's right, in my case, the first time I tried to do my own business I
didn't plan it well, I had to look for a job offer and I learned that as long
as you have good skills you'll always find good pay. Building your own
business IS the way to go.

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watmough
For myself, absolutely not. I've never regretted quitting a job, or making
almost any life change. Not that things have always gone well, but looking
back and second-guessing yourself is just totally a recipe for misery and the
worst kind of depressive introspection.

I suspect that if you need to ask this question on HN, then you are not ready
to quit.

However, you have a valuable side-business, have you thought about trying to
staff trusted people in or have your partner run it, with you as part-time
consultant?

If your relationship with people at your day job is as solid as you imply, you
might want to take an unpaid leave of absence, and spend 6 months trying to
drive your side-business to the point where you don't have any further doubts.

Don't underestimate the importance of a near-passive income that you control.
For most of us, starting your own business is the only viable way to attain
this, and ensure continued income when you decide to retire.

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kadavy
I'll never forget what a wise entrepreneur once said to me as I was scared of
going out on my own:

"You have nothing to lose. If you quit your job and start your own company,
and fail, you'll be much better off than if you hadn't. If you go look for a
new job, you will have _run your own company._ Would an employer rather hire
someone who hasn't run their own company, or someone who has?"

Running your own company definitely brings with it valuable lessons. If I were
to get a job today, I would have a completely new perspective on the concerns
of my superiors, and what really matters in a company's day-to-day operations.
Before working for myself, I didn't feel any motivation at my job because I
often felt I could make better decisions than my superiors. If it came down to
me needing to get a job, I would clearly know whether this was really true or
not.

~~~
pfedor
_"You have nothing to lose. If you quit your job and start your own company,
and fail, you'll be much better off than if you hadn't. If you go look for a
new job, you will have run your own company. Would an employer rather hire
someone who hasn't run their own company, or someone who has?"_

Well, there's this little thing that you will be out of a few years worth of
salary. You may think it's worth it, but that's hardly "nothing to lose".

~~~
kadavy
A detail I forgot to mention was that he reasoned I would be able to command a
higher salary should I fail, which would presumably cancel out the lost wages.

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jexe
I took the leap a couple years ago, started a startup, ran out of cash, and
got a day job again.

Incinerating your savings at a startup only to end up back as a cube warrior
is pretty sobering. Even so, I never looked back on the (great) job I had with
regret. Aside from not seeing some good friends every day, I didn't miss it at
all, and now I'm at a far better gig than I was at the last time I was a happy
wage slave. And I'm lucky to have gained some amazing experiences and a big
network for the next time around.

I'm sticking to the HN party line on this one and saying that good things will
come from taking a risk on what you really want to do.

~~~
vincekrish
how tough was it to get a regular job? Was the company apprehensive about
hiring somebody who left a good gig earlier to take the startup route?

~~~
jexe
Not tough at all - the company I joined is another (larger) startup, so I
think that if anybody understands this kind of choice, it's them. :)

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naner
> I have a great job that pays very well, offers excellent benefits, and has a
> good work-life balance. That said, my partner and I have spent the last few
> years building our business and have, for a while now, been at the point
> where it really deserves our full attention. Quitting would cut my income by
> a little more than half.

Imagine you're working full time on your own business and you get an offer for
[your current job] at twice your current income with excellent benefits. Do
you take it?

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nycer2030
Thanks for the amazing feedback, everybody.

I think the point that a lot of you have said-- essentially, "so what if you
fail? You can find another job" -- really resonates with me.

I'm leaning towards doing this now because I have no kids or mortgage at this
point. I really appreciate all the good responses in this thread. It's
definitely a scary, but exciting, time as we consider it.

The one other factor is the drop in total income. The hope is that's temporary
though-- our goal is that more time spent building the business will pay off
in spades.

There's something about getting the support of people who have been in similar
situations that helps with this kind of thing. Even online here, it's
reassuring. So thank you all again for that.

~~~
yankeeracer73
You adjust. My income dropped enormously when I set out on my own, but you
also just start to buy less stuff, treat going out to dinner as a rare present
to yourself vs. a 3 times a week thing, drop to more economical ways of
travel, etc. After awhile you don't even notice it and even look back on your
old spending ways as a little ridiculous.

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neovive
The answer typically depends on the circumstances and how much is at risk. If
you have a family to support and your startup does not succeed (especially in
this difficult job market) then regret will likely set in.

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CyberFonic
Well no and no. After working for the man for 11 years, I started my own
business. Some very good years and some lean years (15 years) later I was
enticed to go working for someone whom I knew and respected. That was great.
But then the business was sold and I didn't get on with the new owners so I
took another job and lasted just 5 weeks. Quit and started up another
business, now up and running for 6 years. Looking back, I am much happier
being my own boss. If I see an opportunity I can go for it. Money is not the
most important factor. Freedom is!

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GFischer
I have a coworker that quit his job, got broke trying their own business (he
argues he chose his cofounder poorly), but he got his old post back, so in a
way he regrets it, but he had his chance and didn't miss on opportunities that
much.

I should ask him, but my take is that it shows that you don't risk as much as
you believe if you take risks and are good enough.

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hippich
I quited so-so, but still my own, business and started work full time (first
time in my life) due visa related stuff and i regret i went this way
(although, do not have much choose). And I would say working full time kill
any creativeness and it stops keeping you "fit" business-wise. So I'd say - go
ahead if there is no other "dependencies".

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dennisgorelik
You may try to quit your job gradually -- talk to your boss and explain that
you cannot dedicate as much time to your job anymore and can work only ~3 day
per week (with reduction of pay of course). When (if) your new business really
picks up -- you would be able to make safe transition to your full-time start-
up involvement.

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kadavy
If my math is correct, your company - which you run when you aren't at your
job - makes you as much money as your job does? QUIT!

~~~
jackowayed
It's possible that he's not taking that money out of the company right now, so
he's not thinking of the money the company is making as current income, which
would mean that the company makes him half as much as his job does.

Which is still pretty good. I'm not saying that that amount of profits doesn't
mean he should quit, just that it seems more likely that he's making half what
his job is.

