Don’t Quit Your Day Job (Until You Have These 3 Things)
Do you need to go all-in to become a successful freelancer?
(Hi hello, let’s actually get into this very contentious topic this week. It’s gunna be a spicy one 🌶️)
Depending on who you ask,
(And I desperately hope you are NOT asking freelance grifter coaches who run their businesses with fear tactics to get green freelancers to make risky financial decisions),
“Going all in” on freelancing is either the only option you have for success or a risky decision you should avoid at all costs.
But, if you have noticed a theme in my content from being on this list for a while now,
You will likely not be surprised that my take is much more nuanced.
(Even if being critical is way less clickbaity and marketable 🙃)
I am nothing if not an avid believer that we all have different paths to becoming business owners.
(What is right for you won’t be right for someone else, and that’s the beauty of being your own boss)
So, when I was recently asked for advice about how to know when it is a good idea to leave stable, full-time work to pursue freelancing,
It gave me a chance to think about what my actual advice would be.
To preface my opinion: I fully acknowledge that choosing to go full-time freelance is no joke and is a decision that should not be taken lightly.
While it is true that it gives you the freedom to explore your schedule and work with the people you want to, it also opens you up to a lot of financial risks,
(Especially if you are new and are still finding your stable clients)
So, when I was faced with the tough decision of wanting to leave my nursing job to become a full-time freelance writer back in 2021,
I knew I needed to set some ground rules for myself to reduce the stress of the decision.
So, in the interest of sharing,
Here are the three criteria I required myself to hit before leaving my stable nursing income behind to pursue writing.
(Please note: these rules are personal to me and may not apply to your story. But, they are a good place to start if you consider taking the plunge!)
#1 — I needed to have an emergency fund covering 3 months of expenses
We all know that one of the perks (or possibly one of the downsides, depending on how you look at it) of freelancing is that you are completely responsible for finding your own work and clients.
And, while I personally love that I get to be the sole decision-maker when choosing who I work for and what projects I collaborate on,
It is possible to run into trouble if you don’t have any potential clients or projects on the horizon to pay your bills.
So, as a baby freelancer who was just getting started,
I wanted to offset some of the stress I felt about “going out on my own” by building a small nest egg of savings for extra stability.
For me, the best way to approach this was to save a minimum of 3 months of expenses in a high-yield savings account.
Now, I am fully aware that having that much savings is not always immediately possible for people.
(There are many financial barriers that women, especially women of colour, face when trying to build wealth for themselves),
But, for my situation, I knew I would not feel safe or secure in my decision to leave my job if I didn’t have a safety net in place.
So, to set myself up for success, this is what I did:
I went through my monthly expenses and determined the cost of the bare essentials
I multiplied that number by three
I opened a high-yield savings account and made that number my goal
I got real about my timeline to leave my job
For example, if you want to leave your job in 6 months, divide that number by 6, and that’s how much you need to save per month to hit that goal.
Once I found a number that worked for me, I set up automatic monthly transfers to the account
Yes, I am aware that this advice is not glamorous or fun.
(If anything, it feels so mature and boring!)
But, as I watched my savings account grow month after month,
I knew I was closer to doing what I wanted with my career and time.
(And honestly, that was the best gift I have ever given myself!)
#2 — I had to have at least two consistent clients
Next, I knew I didn’t want to leave my full-time job if I had no client work lined up to do.
(I am a busybody, so I knew that if I quit and had nothing to do, I would PANIC)
So, I set the rule to not leave my full-time job until I had at least two (ideally more) clients that paid me consistently for at least three months.
Again, this is not very sexy,
(And ultimately meant that I was working quite hard at the end, because I was balancing a lot of freelance work with my nursing job)
But, knowing that I had built sustainable working relationships with two clients helped give me more confidence in my ability to find other work once I left my job,
And allowed me to enter into full-time freelancing with work, a source of income, and a sense of purpose.
#3 — I wanted freelance income that matched (or exceeded) my monthly salary
Finally, my last rule for myself was also the most intense.
(I am nothing if not an overachiever, so, in hindsight, this final rule is so me-coded it’s not even funny)
Coming from a rule I saw Ramit Sethi set for himself when he was deciding to go all in with his business,
I decided I wouldn’t leave my full-time job until my freelance income matched (or exceeded) my monthly salary pay cheque for three consecutive months.
Yes, typing this out now, I am fully aware of how wild and restrictive this rule is,
But, at the time, I knew wanted my transition into freelancing to be as smooth as possible,
(So it only made sense to ensure that my baseline income that I was used to receiving was getting fully replaced before I left).
Looking back, I am very happy I chose to follow this rule,
Because sticking to it helped me prioritize freelance work opportunities that paid me my worth and valued my skills.
With this rule in place, I couldn’t gaslight myself into taking on low-paying jobs or wait too long to up my rates.
(Skills that, now that I have more experience, I am so glad I learned early in this journey!)
You need to make your own rules to follow
So, what do you think — were my personal rules for going full-time freelance too strict or not strict enough?
We all have different levels of risk tolerance, and we all take different journeys to build our businesses,
But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have to do the work upfront to make sure we are safe and stable before leaping into freelancing full-time.
We live in a late-stage capitalism hellscape,
And as a result, financial health is, unfortunately, massively tied to every other aspect of our health and wellness, too.
So, while my personal rules do not need to be the ones you choose to follow,
I hope they at least encourage you to consider what rules you want to make for yourself before you take the plunge.
I want every woman’s business to be successful and thriving — and while it is not as sexy and exciting as quitting your job to follow your passion,
Spending the time to set yourself up for success before quitting is the best way to make that dream a reality.
For the full-time freelancers on this list — what were the personal rules that you followed when you quit your salary job?
I’d love to hear from you and share your advice in another blog!
Until next week!