020: How to Quit Your Day Job and Become a Full Time Self-Employed Entrepreneur
There are no guarantees in life! And you don't know how much time you have left. That's why I think it makes ZERO sense to continue "getting by"... or running out the clock, or just trying to survive and just trying to make ends meet.
If you want to know exactly how I was able to quit my day job and become a full time self employed entrepreneur, then you're going to want to tune in to the latest and greatest installment of the Robert Plank Show...
"Quit Your Day Job" FREE Report
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Topics Covered Include:
- How to shake off that scarcity employee mindset and embrace the entrepreneur abundance mindset by solving a big problem that people have, be proactive not reactive (quit on your own terms), break down YOUR problem into manageable chunks, and use your weaknesses & aggravations to get things done
- How to manage your time and find that 1 hour per day to move your own business forward -- no matter how "busy" you already are
- Develop the right habits to ensure you're moving forward everyday and never have to go back to any kind of hourly or salaried employment
- How to always stay productive and conquer your own self-sabotaging inner game to instead live life on your own terms
Day Job Quitting Checklist
- entrepreneur mindset (strategic, career, discipline, Plan B, mindset)
- social support system (reason-why)
- cashflow
- money in the bank (safety net)
- legitimacy (i.e. health insurance)
- deadline to quit (urgency)
Finally, don't do what I did! I waited too long before quitting. I almost didn't quit and as a result, the last 5 years of my life almost didn't happen! Click the play button below to listen instantly and as always, let me know what you think.
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Filed in: Archive 1: 2012-2016 • Mindset • Podcast
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Thanks for the interesting and informative information.
Good article on what so many of us want — Freedom!
You really got detailed about how to decide when to quit your day job. Spending time on your internet business should make way more money to cover health insurance.
Plus, AND this is a really big one for me, NO office politics. LOL More important, NO fear of losing your job because of office politics.
Always thanks for the motivation you give. (I’m about half way through your book. Really great!)
Take care,
Donna š
Is some great information. I haven’t been one to buy all the shinny push button make millions overnight next week in 90 days. I have 3 grand kids that have live with my wife and me most of their life and depend on us to prive most of what they need so I haven’t taken the chance and spent the bill money and take the chance it would work and not loose the house and they not have a home. Their dads are working now and making good money but mom and dad are not seeing any of it. I know something you don.t know. I quit my day job July 5 2001 and I didn’t wait until 65 1/2 to be waiting on my check to get here that has been hapening since Nov. 2002 That was the first month my first disability check came to my bank. a few years later they switched it to Social Security and a year or two later my wife had a stroke from working three jobs and the amount of hours she was working. now another few years later I still don’t have the money to set something up or the money to get someone to teach/help me set it up to make money on the internet. I still haven’t given up. When I die I will probably be here in my chair in frount of my computer when they find me. I will be 72 in Dec. and don’t know how many days,months or yeard left . Hope by then I have things set up and my wife can quit both of her jobs. Yes she is back to workinf two jobs.
While I don’t have a regular day job (stay-at-home mom– can’t quit that one!), I have been at the make money online game for quite a while. I got married 3 years ago, and now I have a blended family that includes 5 children. My husband works 10-12 hour shifts at work, and while he makes a decent living, it seems like more is always needed–when you’ve got a full house to support. We put off things like extracurricular activities for our kids, part-time daycare for our little one, dining out, but thank God we are always fed and have a roof over our heads. It would be great if I could help out more financially. I dream of more for our family, and ways that I can help others. I am currently trying a few things and am dealing with that inner self-sabotage you mentioned. I used to work a 9-5 and I am not looking forward to going back to it. Now I have a good support system at home–so I have been putting more energy than ever trying to make this work. I am somewhat new to your podcasts, but I have enjoyed them so far and look forward to hearing more!
Robert,
Another intesreting piece of information. I like them all and I don’t want you to stop. It’s for your knowledge but also for your wisdom.
Jacques
James:
Sorry bud, but you don’t need and shouldn’t be buying BSOs from your inbox.
1. Unsubscribe to all emails and everything but from Lance and Robert.
2. Buy a domain from Namecheap. It will cost you $10.69 a year.
3. Get a Baby hosting account from HostGator. It will cost you $7.96 per month.
4. Install WordPress blog on your new hosting account. Free.
5. Get a subscription to Aweber. Cost you $19.95 a month.
6. Go to Fiverr and pay $5 to have someone create a nice header for your blog.
7. Create a simple/nice giveaway to build your list from all of the PLR on your hard drive.
8. Go to Fiverr and pay $5 for a nice graphic/ebook cover for your giveaway.
9. For the next 30 days write one new article on your subject/niche to you blog. Without fail write and publish one new article full and rich of content to your blog every single day.
10. After the end of 30 days, send a PM/message to Lance and Robert showing them what you have done so far, and ask what you should do next. You will be surprised at their response and their answer because you actually took action and did something.
There are some pretty awesome “how to” posts on this blog by Robert. He is not holding back any secrets here… it is all pretty simple…no magic buttons or formulas. Have something to sell to folks everyday on your list or blog or website. It just requires persistent hard work.
Good luck.
Mike Darling
I’m a huge fan of online businesses and admire those people, (like Robert) who successfully make it. It takes drive and dedication to consistently take action, but the rewards can be great. Only thing I worry about are the rising taxes for the self-employed in the United States. Is making money on the web still viable?
Also, I want to thank the previous poster for the action steps, but would like to recommend NameSilo. They are a relatively new domain registrar, but since switching to them, I will never go back. They leave Godaddy, NameCheap, and Domain Cheapsters, (who is really Godaddy anyway) in the dust. They have the lowest pricing, friendly support, and hassle-free registration.
Hope you keep up the podcasts, Robert.
Sam,
The tax situation you are asking about is basically a money mindset problem. In other words, people worry about the extra problems they’re going to have when they make a bunch of money… and that fear/uncertainty actually causes them to self-sabotage things that will actually lead them to making money.
We are going to talk more about “the tax thing” in episode 22, “How to Setup a Legitimate Online Business” — but here is my answer for now:
#1 — Don’t worry about how high your taxes will be unless your business is generating more than $10k-$20k per year. In those early stages, you’ll be fine as a sole proprietorship as long as you set aside 20% of your income and plan on paying taxes. Note I said just for the early stages of your business. It’s going to be a bit of a shock at first — the majority of the population gets a little bit taken out of their paycheck for taxes and then gets some of it back when they file… not realizing they’re getting back the money they paid in…
#2 — Once your online income is above $20k per year, go to LegalZoom and pay the $500 or so to get a single member LLC setup. You’ll be able to write-off a bunch of things and do things like take some of the money that would have been taxed anyway, and stick it into a retirement account. Just don’t fall for some of the “gimmicks” like setting up the LLC in Nevada (you’ll still have to pay for the state where you have residence), or the myth that you can write off clothing (even doctors and nurses can’t write off scrubs since they can technically be worn outside of work), or the one where they tell you to get a P.O. box somewhere so you can write off your mileage (and end up doing a bunch of stuff just to save $50 bucks at the end of the year).
#3 — Get a real accountant. Many people have this small money mindset and will spend weeks every year trying to figure it all out with TurboTax (instead of paying the $500 for a real accountant). An accountant who actually asks you questions and understands your internet business (which is important because you probably don’t have inventory, full time employees, or office space) and understands the business entity structure part of it, is really important.
Things you hear about taxes being higher just isn’t true especially if you are self-employed. (There ARE little things like a 2% increase on payroll tax which was a temporary cut that expired anyway.) It’s just important to structure things right. (But get an LLC, a retirement account, and a good accountant — I’m not giving accounting advice here.)
Thank you for doing this Robert!
Great podcast, Robert! Thanks for getting me re-inspired!
I’m going to listen to it again to get all the details (and take better notes).
Just wondering… In some of the previous podcasts, you said something about transcriptions being available… I can’t seem to find any of them.
Where would they be?
Thanks so much.
Elisabeth,
Most of the podcast posts have a link that says something like “Free Report” — that is the transcript of that podcast episode.
Another great Podcast Robert! Keep it going. We love it.
The podcasts are always informative – but too long. I thought you said that you were going to make then short and sweet so that people could enjoy them on their commute??
Hi Victoria, episodes 22 and 24 coming up will be just 20 minutes long. I have been making an effort to keep them short but it’s not always possible to fit it all in.
Already quit. Too bad this advice comes a little late for me. However, can still use the info in planning the next phase of my freedom!
Haven’t worked for anybody but me in three years, but still found motivation and ideas in this podcast – thanks for the email encouragement to listen.
Russ and Rich, I’m glad you guys listened to it even though you are job-free. As stated in the podcast episode, too many people think they’re quitting their job when they’re just replacing one job for another.
I think this is a great discussion. I work harder for me than I ever did for someone else, however it is infinitely more rewarding, and I dont have to ask anyone for a hr or 2 off to do family things. Still, most often, we do have customers, and we do have our obligations to meet. I especially encourage people to find a way to work for themselves if they dread going to work. If you hate your job, life is just too damn short to live with that one day longer!
I was able to retire and not have to report to a regular job in 2010 and wonder how I did all those years. This is a good discussion. Folks, be sure and read where Robert advises to have money coming in before quitting on faith. Robert and Lance both do a great job online. Lots of good information from them. Thanks Robert and Lance!
I don’t have a day job. I left that behind and transitioned to running a freelance development business three years back, but I really need to transition that away from freelance service to a product based model.
I think a lot of the same principles still apply.
Very informative and it reminds me of why I started doing online business. Affiliate marketing is starting to pay off. Still trying to figure out local offline marketing works everywhere but my home town. Anyway I am truly glad I found you guys.
I have to admin, I quit my day job before I should have even though I was only working part time at the time. Is a day job really that bad? ..it usually isn’t and if it is find another job. Don’t have enough time for an online business? usually you do, just have to make time or use your time wisely, a part time job doesn’t hurt.
Also keep in mind an online based business and a lot of what is taught in internet marketing changes, you have to realize what is working now might not work well later on although if you’re truly following Robert and Lance you probably are more set for long term change than most. Just bringing this up because my business is completely different than it was even a year ago.
Really enjoyed this podcast. The part about mind set hits home. There is so much that I could be doing to promote my sites but instead of working on my sites, I work on excuses. Well, I’m not going to do that any more!
Hi Robert, longtime listener, infrequent commentor hereā¦ I also waited too long to quit my day job. The problem is I had made a deal with myself that when my day job salary and my business revenue were equal, I would quit the job. But when it happened, I became a little nervous about what might occur if next month my business income “dipped”. When I finally pulled the trigger, my business income did radically changeā¦ It tripled.
Hi Robert,
thanks for another example of a great way to share content. I know I’ll listen again to the podcast since I downloaded it. I read over several of the comments and some are almost as interesting as the podcast.
Thanks so much for the exercise in how to get it done.
best regards
David
Robert,
As usual, great advice, tips and guidance. I had to admit, I listened to it on the job…so I will give it another listen where I can give it my undivided attention. I am looking forward to the day I can walk away from my full time corporate job and spend my time on my own projects and business.
Thanks for the continued guidance.
Tim
Great podcast (again) Robert. It’s a terrific kick in the pants to set a date and work toward it. Message received and thanks for laying out a definitive plan.
I have it on my phone and I’ll listen to it again for a boost to my efforts.
John
I love your advice and free marketing advice, please keep it going, more power to ya š
Hi Rob,
Great info provided again , I have been doing the internet marketing thing on and off for about 8 years made some money and lost probably more but have now made a definate decision and set a date for when I quit and am putting all that I have learnt into practice and making good progress looking forward now to the day when I quit my day job.
Cheers
Phill
Hi Robert,
Thanks for the kick in the butt!
Really have to get into this properly and follow your excellent suggestions and plan.
I’m working part-time and I definitely have to quit as soon as possible to concentrate on this correctly.
Regards and thanks again,
Laurie
I’ve listened to your latest Robert Plank Show – How to Quit Your Day Job and Become a Full Time Self-Employed Entrepreneur.
It’s like a perfect fit to my current situation. I’m having a full time job while running my side business.
Like what you advised in the show, I have my business built on the skill sets my sister and I have – we transform your manuscript into ready-to-sell Kindle ebook and design customize book marketing tools.
My sister is a graphic designer, she handles all the designing tasks; I’ve learnt quite a lot about book publishing and marketing, so I’m responsible for the marketing part in our business.
I fully agree with you about the “cashflow” point and that’s why we are both holding our full time jobs. Having consistent salary coming in every month takes away part of your worries and more importantly, it prevents you from jumping into the “quick cash trap” and chasing product launch after product launch because now you’ve the capital to focus on your startup.
Oh, I bought your Double Agent book as well! Half way through the book, I’m going to leave a review once I finish it.