Do I leave my job for my small business?! Help!!

[pancakebanana]

Not sure where to leave this question but I just wanted some external guidance.

Long story:

• I work part time (3 days a week) in a job that I dread going to. I don't hate it as such, it's easy and I do get on with my colleagues but I feel so unsatisfied mentally and with zero job satisfaction/ brain stimulation. There are no higher prospects or opportunities with this job either.

• I also have a small business which I set up a year ago with the intention of leaving my current job to focus on this full time. My small business is seemingly very successful and im not able to give it 100% because of my part time job. I do make significantly more money in my business than my job. But what if this fails and drops off?

I really want to hear what others thoughts are regarding my leaving my part time job to become self employed.

1. I'm a wimp. I'm terrified of failure and having to get a new job - getting this part time job in the first place was extremely difficult for me mentally.

1. Is this really a stupid time to leave with the economic crisis?

1. I am such a non risk taker and I feel like im never ever going to have the courage to leave and pursue my business full time. I so desperately want to but im so unbelievably scared of it failing.

1. The likelihood of me requiring ivf in the very near future to conceive is high. I would not want to pursue ivf whilst working in my part time job as my job is too physical so I would leave for ivf. But then I'm worried about the financial side of ivf too!! Every pro has its con and vice Versa!

Can somebody please give me any advice? I appreciate this is vague but I just seem to be stuck in such an unhappy rut with my job but I'm too scared to do anything about it.

Will your business pay your national insurance contributions, your pension and small business tax at 10% and still keep you?

Will you need to apply for a mortgage or re-mortgage any time soon, because they may demand three years' accounts?

1. Do you have a DH or DP who has a job so that you have some financial security that way?
2. Does your job pay substantially more than the NMW? If 1) is yes OR 2) is no then resign from your job.

What's your self employed role? Will this be affected by cost of living crisis?

Bearing in mind the economic uncertainty we're about to head into is probably bide my time until next year at least before quitting an employed role

Being scared is totally normal - I think there's possibly something a little wrong with someone who leaps into a situation like their own business without being just a little scared.

There's no doubt that in business it's about managing the risk, but it sounds like you've made a great start by combining both business and work for a year to allow it to grow so perhaps some of the questions to ask yourself:
Can you afford to leave your current job and just life off what your business is currently bringing in?
What will 3 extra days give you - do you have a plan in place to utilise that time for the growth you discuss?
Is there a chance to leave the part time manual job you dislike, take another part time role and still have time to dedicate to your business until it becomes more stable?

Another thing that helps me, is having some boundaries in place. How much do I need is savings as a cashflow buffer in harder times. Perhaps as an experiment you could spend the next 3 months not spending any money from your part time job, put that in savings to see if question 1 is possible. It also gives you a buffer that may make you feel more comfortable taking the plunge

Without knowing what your business is, it's very hard to say.

Is it something which is going to be impacted heavily by rising fuel prices etc (ie - are your overheads about to take a massive hike, therefore impacting your profits)?
Do you sell something that would be considered a luxury, or something that people are likely to cut back on in the forthcoming recession (ie - are your sales about to take a big hit)?
Do you rely on (either to buy things in or sell things to) other businesses who may be impacted by either of the above (ie - is your supply chain vulnerable, or are you vulnerable to unpaid invoices by companies you're supplying)?

These are the factors I'd be thinking about the most.

There is another option in that you leave your current job and replace it with a different one - if you want a steady income, the place it comes from now doesn't have to be the place it comes from in future.

Could you cut your hours at the job so that you can spend more time with your business as a first step?

What is the business and what is the plan for that if you get pregnant? My initial thought is keep the business part time and look for a new job that is more compatible with pregnancy.

OP - I ran a business for 12 years with my Husband. Yes, the business could fail, it is a risk. That worry never leaves you, the fear can keep you motivated. We built up a financial contingency in the business to help through hard times and discussed a get-out plan so that if things started to fail, we could act quickly so we didn't lose the money we made that was sitting in the business.
Even if you have staff, everything, all the responsibility lands at your feet. You need to ensure that you can keep the momentum of the business going even when you are sick, on holiday, etc finding someone to do this for you is expensive and time-consuming you need to find someone good enough, train them and pay enough to retain them. We had staff, yes, but we often still managed were needed from our sick bed and took calls when on holiday. We also sometimes went in sick and cut holidays short when we had staffing issues as they had statutory rights and we didn't.
It is a big decision op, and you'll never know until you try. My husband still is self-employed but semi-retired. I returned to employment when we handed over the business and I have mixed feelings about my period of self-employment. I learned a lot and developed much more appreciation of management decisions, etc making me often a better employee now than I was before, BUT I hated every second of it.
All the best with whatever decision you make, it's not an easy call to make as most underestimate what running a business entails and can get quite a surprise when they actually make the commitment, some respond well to it others won't.

@MintJulia

Yes my business will pay all of that.

I roughly take around £4000 per month with my small business. Only me who is running it so no overheads from anything else. I'm trying to be vague as it's very outing that's all! My costs are just under half of this.

Part time job I come out with approx £800 a month.

Mortgage sorted for another three years as luckily we chose a longer term!

@Storminamu

Yes my husband has a good job. However I wouldn't like to rely on him as I just can't morally do that.

My job is £10 per hour

If your actual job was full of prospects and a wonderful prosperous future, and your home business was putting people names on pebbles, then I'd say stick to the real job.

However your actual job sounds poorly paid and pointless and you're making more money at the side business. So yep. Make a plan and do just that.

Good luck!

since your being vague - is your business likely sustain the cost of living crisis is it something people will cut down on ie hairdressers, nails etc

@Eunorition

My part time job actually looks like it's heading towards the opposite!

I'm just so frightened it will backfire and I'll be unemployed. I lost my job during lockdown and the mental toll that had on me was astronomical. I'm terrified to ever feel that way again.

I left a full time well paid job to set up a business. Yes it is a very scary thing to do, yes it's risky too! But, worse case scenario you have to find another job in the future.

There's only one way to find out how successful your new business can be...

@Sprig1

It is an online only business.

Ideally I'd rather be self employed only if I do manage to get pregnant - i suffer from terrible anxiety and im worried that this could be detrimental to my pregnancy. My current job do seem to be accommodating to pregnant women but I know I couldn't mentally and physically hack the job.

No one can really tell you what to do here. You're sat on a big pile of uncertainty with your business (will it succeed etc). The one certainty you do have is that your job makes you miserable and that's not going to change. So really you have to take that leap of faith.

If it helps my husband opened a restaurant one month before lockdown and it's still going! It seems you have a good business idea and its turning a profit, that's likely to increase with more time and energy :)

@Motnight

They won't let me reduce hours - as I already only work three days I would have to step down from my current position which I really wouldn't want to do as it's much lower than my current (already low paid for the job) role!

@Blev2022

Thank you - I'm pleased your husbands restaurant is still going strong! My family work in the restaurant trade and they have had their struggles so this is wonderful to hear your success!

I think I'm just wanting either a kick up the bum from everyone to leave and pursue my business or a reality check that this is just not going to work.

It's so difficult trying to get advice from strangers who don't know my business - it's just very helpful to hear of others experience and what they would do in the circumstance!

It's hard to know without knowing what the job is, as others have said. A take home of £4K is pretty decent and suggests that's your main income - but if it's in a market which is likely to dip in the next year then it's probably worth keeping things as they are, trying to build up a reserve in your business and review in 12 months.

@SirChenjins

Thank you. This is my main concern. Although trade hasn't dropped off yet, I'm always focussed on the what ifs.

I desperately want my business to succeed, it's just such a worrying time!

Don't forget you have to VAT register once your revenue goes above £85k per annum, so that's 20% out of your margin straight away.

If the only thing holding you back is fear, then do it - because the fear will never go away.

@pancakebanana I hear ya. If it makes you feel any better whatsoever, I'm in a similar boat with my current job. I work in the NHS and want to go private so I can work less hours and spend more time with my little ones before they go to school.
It's terrifying too, job security etc. But I'm gonna go for it! Worst case scenario id get another job. Best case scenario its the best thing you did :)

Ps thanks for kind words! Never realised hospitality could be so stressful! 😂

^^ this

@ChristmasFluff

My body runs off 99% fear 😂 need to focus on the brave 1%