Making the decision to start up your very own business venture and transform your lightbulb moment into a successful reality is something that takes a great deal of dedicated time and consideration. Once you’ve made this decision and you’re ready to embark on your journey to entrepreneurial liberation, it’s all about getting the timing right and equipping yourself with all the necessary resources so we’re here to guide you in the right direction.

Take full advantage of your day job

Freeing yourself from the shackles of full time work to realise your calling as a small business big wig is not a decision that should be taken lightly, that’s for sure. However, we’re always keen to encourage those who are ambitious enough to do so but it is important to accept that you (almost certainly) won’t be making your first million in the very first month. This means that juggling your start-up venture with a regular day job while you get the business off the ground is often an advisable necessity.

Although it can be tempting to pack up your desk as soon as you’ve bought the website domain for your new project, then hop, skip and jump out of the door, waving a smug goodbye on your way out, we implore you to hold your horses. Stop for a second and think logically about the benefits of sticking with your day job for the time being and you will realise that there are plenty.

First and foremost, there is the obvious financial security afforded by a consistent monthly income that can cover your living costs while you work to accrue funding for your new venture. This regular source of income will be invaluable during a time when every little penny counts, quite literally. As well as this there is the chance to get involved with things like leadership training, social media seminars and business networking, as well as fine tuning time management, which are all tools that you can transfer to your own enterprise.

When the time is right

We do highly recommend holding down your regular day job during the infancy of any start-up venture, when you need the networking opportunities and financial safety net most. However when the monetary potential and market longevity of your business reach a sufficient level, you will need to think about going it alone and leaving your 9-to-5 behind in order to dedicate more time and energy into making your own brand a lucrative success.

It can be easy to settle into a routine where you wrap yourself in the security blanket that has come of your full-time wage but if you want to give your own business a true shot at success, this is something you will eventually have to do. This shouldn’t be a sudden, black and white decision, it should be a gradual process that you build up to. Think of it more like learning to ride a bike without stabilisers than ripping of a fast-stuck plaster and in the meantime, take our words of advice on board to make your transition as smooth as possible.

Be strict with your budgets – When it comes to small start-up ventures, you will most likely be doing a great deal of self-funding to pull you through the primary stages while you find your feet and establish the brand. This means that it’s more important than ever to map out some thorough budgets and be stringent with your financial limits in order to keep your personal and professional finances under control. Brand new businesses gobble up thousands upon thousands for breakfast and it’s essential that you know you can cover the costs before you leave the insurance of full-time employment behind.

Work with a qualified accountant – Before taking the plunge, it’s essential that you carefully consult your financial records to establish if and by how much your new venture can sustain both its own growth and your living costs. There is a whole plethora of outgoings and overheads that you will be obliged to fulfil and it’s vital that the income is generating a comfortable enough balance for you to commit to full-time self-employment. Working with a qualified accountant can help you better assess these figures by ensuring that everything is accurate, within legal requirements and operating in accordance with all of the current policies.

Employ the help of freelancers – It can be easy to believe that you can’t possibly make a success of your business without a twenty-strong team of employees with 200 years’ worth of experience under their belts. However, the benefits of outsourcing to freelance professionals rather than full-time staff at this point are endless. Taking this approach will enable you to save money on expensive employment contracts, save valuable time as freelancers are able to deliver a much quicker turnaround and enable you to work with experts much further afield thus expanding your reach.