Are You Thinking About Leaving Employment (and Going it Alone?)

Estimated reading time: 2 mins

Are you considering making that leap of faith into self-employment? Then you need to read this…

I just stumbled upon a great article on my old friend Mark McClure‘s blog: What is it You’re Escaping to? It reminded me of how nerve-racking and amazing the journey from full-time employment to becoming an really is.

Mark shares a video interview of Pamela Skillings of ‘Escape from Corporate America’ fame by Devesh Dwivedi.

One subject covered that will hit home, if you’re thinking about this journey too, is ethical moonlighting – you know, starting a business or working independently outside of your core employment. I have done it – many people do it – ethical moonlighting is an activity that is more common than you think (so don’t worry about doing it yourself… it’s a natural part of the process!)

We’ve got to test the water, right?

Ethical moonlighting is not something we will shout out about – particularly to a current employer. If you have a conscience, you might even feel sneaky or corrupt. The truth is, though, going it alone is tough… and we won’t take the final plunge if we haven’t built up confidence in our ability to create an income stream by providing a profitable product or service that plays to our competencies and interests/passions to a market we can access.

Let me run that by you again…

Income Stream = Profit x Product/Service x Strengths x Passion x Market x Accessibility

There are quite a few variables here. So let me ask you, why would you NOT test all this out before you close off your current income stream?

We have to test that water before jumping in!

Don’t Feel Bad About Ethical Moonlighting

That’s my advice. Go for it. Gain your confidence. Fill your boots with experience and give yourself the opportunity.

Pamela Skillings’s book Escape from Corporate America: A Practical Guide to Creating the Career of Your Dreams shares brilliant advice on this subject and it tells you all you need to know if this is something you are going through at this time!

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2 thoughts on “Are You Thinking About Leaving Employment (and Going it Alone?)”

  1. Simon,
    Nice post. Rick Smith wrote a book called “The Leap” where he provides similar sage advice… Test the waters. See what works. Build the business and the confidence before making the leap.

  2. simonstapleton

    Thanks Nick for your comment. I hadn’t heard of Rick Smith’s book before – I just noticed that Amazon are doing a great discount on it (reduced to $8.98 in the US from $24.95)

    Buy this book

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