How to Quit Your Day Job and Work From Home
How to Quit Your Day Job and Work From Home
By Ali Hale
Admit it, you’ve daydreamed about it – a lot. You’d love to leave your boring job and spend your days working from home. It might give you more time with the kids, more time with your spouse, or simply more time to be yourself.
But, at the moment, it seems like there’s a huge gulf between where you are and where you want to be. Here’s how to safely and securely quit your day job and work from home.
Build Up an Emergency Fund
Start putting money aside each month, so that you’ve got a “buffer” when you quit. Saving may not be much of a thrill, but this is the money you’re going to use to buy your freedom. Even if your budget is already stretched, there are bound to be some ways you can cut back a little. Try:
- Brown-bagging lunch and skipping that daily latte
- Having friends round to your place on a Friday night, instead of going out
- Going meat-free for a week
- Reading the newspaper online instead of buying it every day
- Ending subscriptions to any services you don’t use – like your gym membership
Set Your Leaving Date
Even if you feel no-where near prepared, set yourself a leaving date – you don’t need to tell anyone. Write it down though (perhaps make a special mark on your calendar). Getting this date in your mind can really help you stay focused on your goal.
Figure Out What You Want To Do
Are you going to be a freelancer – producing work to clients’ specifications?
Are you going to sell your own products online, like hand-crafted items or specialised learning courses?
Are you going to make money from selling other people’s products, either by buying in bulk, or by selling products on commission?
There are hundreds and hundreds of different ways to make money online: you just need to figure out which one would suit you.
Get Solid Advice
The best advice I’ve come across for anyone looking to start up their own online business is Naomie Dunford’s Online Business School, which I’ve written about on the Starting Online Business website. It’s a very in-depth, professional course that fully explains six different ways to make money online. Naomi is an expert small business coach with a huge amount of experience in different forms of online business, and her course is extremely well regarded in the industry. If you get hold of a copy, you can’t go far wrong!
Of course, you could try to work through all the mishmash of dodgy advice and outright scams on the internet … believe me, I’ve tried, and I wasted a lot of time (and some money) in the process.
Ali Hale runs her own successful writing business from home, and is taking a part-time postgraduate degree on the side. She’s far happier now than she ever was in an office job, and she’d love to see you start your own business too!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ali_Hale
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Apr 28, 2010 @ 06:36:50
Just saw your comment on http://ittybiz.com/how-to-quit-your-day-job/ maybe there is definitely an issue with your blog. Just want to be helpful. Some basic Internet marketing and SEO can help. Try using Alexa add-on to see where you stand next to other blogs and definitely use analytics to see your stats and to analyze them.
Feel free to contact me if you need some advise.
Keep up your spirit and aspirations!
Apr 28, 2010 @ 13:52:33
Ouch!
But thanks for the helpful critique. Truth is, I already know that. I guess when you start out, you try to be ‘unique’. I graduated with a BA in Creative Writing and my thesis was on the personal essay, so we were never taught to write headlines first and make bullet points about how to be *fill in the blanks*. In fact, we were DISCOURAGED from doing it and the more obscure and circular your writing was, the better.
Anyway, I’ve got a few consulting sessions with ittybiz, I’ve got a new design coming up (just a change in colours, pretty much), and I’ve got a lot of soul-searching to do, he-he.
Changes are happening and I’m excited but also just a little bit nervous. But I’m learning (man, I didn’t realize the learning curve was this steep!) so that’s good, yeah?!?
Cheers.