Don’t Quit Your Day Job Just Yet

I’m guessing some of you have day jobs but want to fire your boss. Lifehack has a nice post about 10 things to consider before quitting your job and running your business full-time. I took their tips and applied them to online business. The bolded sentences are from Lifehack while the other sentences are my comments.

1. There is a good product or service offering in place.
Your site must be an authority site in your niche. Your site has a good reputation. People know about your site. It gets many links naturally from quality sites.

2. There are real customers.
Advertisers are knocking at your door. In fact, they’re willing to get on a waiting list. If you have a blog, you have many RSS subscribers. You get a huge amount of traffic from referrals and direct type-ins. Don’t rely on search traffic. The next Google update could easily wreck you.

3. There is enough money in the bank to sustain a prolonged dry spell.
It takes time to fully develop most online businesses. There will months with high earnings and months with low earnings. Make sure you have a good chunk of change before relying on the cash flow from your site.

4. The business becomes more enjoyable and satisfying than the job.
This is not a problem for many of us :) Just make sure you have passion for your niche. You don’t want to go from one job you don’t enjoy to another job you don’t enjoy.

5. The product or service offering is not being trampled by a major competitor.
Do you truly have a purple cow site? Or can a big corporation drop a copycat site in your niche and steal your traffic?

6. The business will not likely go broke within three to five years.
Do you have a long-term plan for your online business? Are you in a niche that will dry up in a couple of years? Or are you in a niche that has good long-term potential?

7. You develop the self discipline it takes to tough it out in your own business.
If you don’t have a boss, it can be difficult to stay motivated. Do you have a system in place that helps you stay productive?

8. You have become an expert in your chosen area.
If you have a lot of experience and knowledge in your niche, you can leverage that to higher profits. Also, you’ll be more credible.

9. You have enough of the right ?friends? in the area.
Have you done much networking in your niche? This includes bloggers, advertisers, and experts. Business contacts can make or break your online business. Find like-minded people, work together to bring value to your niche, and your business will become more sustainable and profitable.

10. You have key mentors and advisors in place.
There’s not a lot of talk about mentors in the online business arena. However, mentors are a stable in the offline business world. Mentors are there to give business guidance. If you don’t have a mentor, interview someone more experienced than you and start building a relationship with them.

Source: How to build your business before quitting your day job