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If you’ve been thinking about quitting your job to go all-in on your business, there are three things you need to know.

1. When it’s time.
2. How to get your finances in order.
3. A plan for what comes next.

In 2016, I was a senior in college and working at a grocery store full-time.

When I wasn’t stocking shelves or studying for exams, I was working on my first business at a tiny desk in my bedroom. I had a decision to make: was I going to leave my side-hustle behind and become a solar engineer or was I going to take a chance at full-time entrepreneurship? Punching someone else’s clock for the rest of my life sounded dreadful, and by the time I collected my diploma I decided to go all-in on my business.

Right before graduation, I decided I would start another business to supplement my income.

I thought I could run both businesses, but after the first year, I realized that both suffered as a result of splitting my time. I had put myself in the same situation, running my sales business from the counter of my shop and spending every evening catching up on all of the work that hadn’t been finished by 5 o’clock. Three years later, I was faced with another decision: do I shut down the shop or do I leave the wholesale business behind?

The decision wasn’t easy, but I told my former business partner I was going all-in on my shop.

It was the best decision for my business.

Here are three things I did to prepare myself to go full-time with my shop.

The Mindset You Need Before Going Full-Time

Without the proper mindset, you’ll never be ready.

Before I went all-in on my shop, there were two mindset shifts I needed to make.

1. Changing my relationship with money.
2. Figuring out how to spend the extra hours I would have.

In order to change my relationship with money, I shifted my goal from “I want to be a millionaire” to “I need to be able to cover my bills.”

The best time to go all-in on your business is when you’ve scaled it as far as you can while it’s still a side-hustle. Side-hustles usually aren’t million-dollar businesses, so your lifestyle needs to change before you can quit your job. Be willing to eat ramen noodles and stop going out for the first six months while you scale your business further.

I adopted Dave Ramsey’s approach to personal finance.

I lowered my monthly expenses, stopped going out three times per week, and only spent money on things that I needed. This lifestyle change wasn’t easy, but it was the only way to make sure I could support myself on the shop’s income alone.

The second thing I did was go monk mode for six months.

I used to believe that monk mode was a trend, but then I realized that it was the only way to get my schedule in order. When you quit your job, you’re no longer punching a clock and become your own accountability buddy. You get to choose when you work, eat, and sleep, but that means learning how to structure your life for maximum productivity.

When you go full-time on your business, you’re in charge of your time—use it wisely.

The Steps To Take In Order To Quit Your Job

There are three steps you need to take before you quit your job.

1. Grow your side-hustle as much as you can.
2. Get your money in order.
3. Plan your schedule in advance.

Contrary to what the internet will tell you, I don’t believe that you should quit your job as soon as you can.

Anytime I start a new business, I treat it as a 5-9 and grow it as much as I can. I don’t recommend anyone jump straight into the deep end, it’s better to get your feet wet. Use your job to support your business for the first six months, then make the jump when you’ve learned the ropes.

It’s better to learn while you have steady income and set yourself up for success before you quit.

Money management is a skill every entrepreneur must learn.

Quitting your job means giving up a steady paycheck, and that means you need to be prepared for financial struggle in the beginning. Before I left my sales business, I saved up three months’ worth of expenses to ensure that my bills would be paid. I budgeted $700 per month to pay my rent, $300 per month to pay for food, $300 per month to pay the rest of my bills, and $300 for unexpected expenses. The total came to $4,200 to afford to go all-in on my shop.

Calculate three months’ worth of expenses and make sure you budget for unexpected events.

The third step is to get your schedule in order.

Entrepreneurship is viewed as the ability to work whenever you want, but you still need a set schedule even though you aren’t punching a clock. My business is a part of who I am, and I give that part of myself 110%. The way I’ve scheduled my life is writing from 8:00 AM to noon, handling clients from 12:30 PM to 4, and doing administrative tasks from 4:00 PM to 6.

You’re in charge of your schedule, make every minute count.

Be Prepared For Things To Go Off Course

No amount of planning can prepare you for full-time entrepreneurship.

The best plan is to assume that nothing will go according to plan. You can’t control the outcomes. You can’t control how many people like your posts, join your email list, or purchase your products, but you have full control over your actions. Don’t stare at your analytics too much; they’re feedback and guidance, not a measure of your self-worth.

I’ve said that you need to use your time wisely; this is what I meant.

When I went all-in on my shop, I spent too much time looking at my sales reports. I judged the quality of my day based on the numbers on the page, but that habit made me go crazy. I felt discouraged if people weren’t coming through the door.

I had two options:

1. Give up and find a job.
2. Change my approach to protect my mental health.

This decision had to be made within the first six months, and it was quick.

I decided to give myself twelve months to make the shop work, but this required a mindset shift. I stopped looking at daily sales reports and started focusing all of my attention on what I could control.

I turned to writing, something I had been doing for my entire life.

Previously, I had been a fiction writer and dreamed of writing books. I hadn’t spent much time reading non-fiction up to that point, but a mentor told me to read the They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan. I realized that writing was the key I had been missing.

I opened up the shop’s Facebook and started posting three times per day.

I wrote about everything I could think of. I shared industry news, product reviews, and asked our customers for feedback. Every bit of feedback gave me more ideas, and my posts quickly became answers to frequently asked questions. By following this approach, I never ran out of ideas for content and I grew our social media following from 0 to 500 in less than three months.

The next step was learning how to turn follows into revenue.

A friend gifted me a subscription to Morning Brew and that gave me an idea. I started a bi-weekly newsletter for the shop. To grow the newsletter, I encouraged our social media followers and every new customer that walked through the door to join. I compiled our top-performing social media posts and used them as inspiration for longer articles.

I grew our email list to 1,300 subscribers within six months, and I learned how to turn those subscribers into regular customers.

At the end of every edition, I sent out exclusive offers to our newsletter subscribers.

This kept our open rate high, and it gave new customers a reason to come back.

Now, every time I start a new business, the first goal is grow the email list. Email subscribers are your loyal audience. Social media is a gamble because only 20% of your followers will see your posts, but a newsletter is guaranteed to land in their inbox.

By following this strategy, I’ve learned how to turn casual readers into dedicated fans who are willing to trust and support the business.

Building trust and relationships with your readers is how you convert clicks into clients.

If you want to go full-time on your business, the first step is to set a date to quit your job.

During that time:

1. Save three months of expenses.
2. Use social media to grow your email list.
3. Downgrade your lifestyle to lower your financial stress.

If you follow these steps, you’ll be on your way to turning your side-hustle into a full-time business.

Your first financial goal isn’t to be a millionaire, it’s to be able to afford the freedom you need to build your brand.