THINGS YOU CAN DO BEFORE YOU QUIT YOUR DAY JOB AND START YOUR OWN BUSINESS

THINGS YOU CAN DO BEFORE YOU QUIT YOUR DAY JOB AND START YOUR OWN BUSINESS.

By James Chiweshe

Many people who are employed secretly desire to be in their own business. In their minds, there is no better heaven than being your own boss. I am not sure what the statistics are, but I am willing to bet that the majority of employed people have at one point in the work career secretly harbored the thought of starting up their own business. In this article we reflect on some practical business start up things that you can do whilst you are still working in your day job.

When you do decide to quit your day job and become an entrepreneur, you will find it less painful and less stressful if you do a few simple things while working for someone else. The simple truth is that while you are working you have certain powerful resources at your disposal such as the internet. DO NOT ABUSE your employer’s trust though as it is never a good thing to leave your employer on a bad note. It is a very small world!

Here are some practical things that you can do before quitting employment and becoming an entrepreneur.

· Write or have a proper business plan written up for your intended business. This is pretty obvious, but writing a business plan while you are still employed allows you time to ponder the consequences of going it alone.

· Choose a name for your business and ensure that you do everything necessary to retain that name for when you start your business.

· Collect and understand all statutory forms that you will require for your business – Income tax, PAYE, VAT, company registration etc. If possible get copies of all the legal acts that affect your business such as health and safety, zoning etc and read them at your own leisure. You do not have to study them, but just have a basic understanding of what you can or you cannot do from a legal perspective.

· Register a domain name in line with your business. Again this will save you the hassle of trying to figure out your online presence in the future and you can also check whether your intended domain name is available so that it is in line with your intended company name.

· Design or have a logo designed for your business. This will save you the effort and time at a later stage when you start running your own business. You may not have time for such “niceties” once you are in your own business.

· Write job descriptions for key staff if you are going to employ staff. This will assist you in determining your staff needs and when you want to advertise for a position in the future you can just pull out a ready made job description.

· Investigate accounting software and compare prices. Even go to the extent of trying out demo versions. (Most good accounting packages have try before you buy trial software).

· Collect as much free information about starting a business, while you are employed and get to understand spreadsheets, financial statements, invoicing etc. This is invaluable as again, you may not have the time or the desire when you start your business.

· Attend as many business courses as you can before leaving your workplace.

· Try to reduce the amount of leave that you take in the year that you will be quitting your job. Increased Leave pay will definitely be a blessing when you start running your own business.

Doing the above should not cost you too much money and anyway you should consider it as part of your investment into the business