Aspiring entrepreneurs often ask me whether they should quit their full-time jobs and go all in on starting a business.
“Keep your job,” I always say. (That’s what I did; I worked in manufacturing for 20 years before I became an entrepreneur.) “Prove your idea for a business works. Prove you can make money. Prove you’re willing to do whatever it takes. If you’re not willing to spend nights and weekends on your startup, instead of running toward the business you feel compelled to start, you’re probably running away from a job you don’t like.”
That advice, or at least the reasoning behind it, always falls a little flat. To many people, choosing not to go all in implies a lack of belief and commitment.
That’s why, when asked, I add Arnold Schwarzenegger’s perspective to my answer. Here’s what Arnold had to say when asked about jumping off the deep end to follow your passion:
I didn’t have a Plan B, but I was also lucky that I had my other businesses. I was making money from real estate, and that gave me the power to wait for the roles I wanted. And once I did Conan, I didn’t have to worry about it.
But this is why I always say don’t listen to these follow-your-passion people who tell you to quit your job and jump off the deep end. You need money, and if you quit your job, you’re going to have to make decisions you wouldn’t make otherwise in order to make money. I could say no, but only because I had my bricklaying business and then my real estate business, so I wasn’t desperate.
Preserve your power to say no.
Preserving your power to say no is another reason not to quit your day job until you’ve proved your business can thrive—or at least until you see a clear, objective path to thriving.
Desperation almost always leads to making poor choices. When you need to put food on the table, you’ll take clients you know you shouldn’t—clients that will eventually cost you a lot more in time, effort, and headaches than they are worth. You’ll cut prices to levels you know you shouldn’t, and then struggle to raise prices later. You’ll hire employees you know you shouldn’t, and suffer the culture debt that results for months or years to come.
You’ll take on an investor—or financing—you know you shouldn’t, but because money is so tight, you feel you have no choice.
Keeping your full-time job preserves your power to say no to anything less than optimal decisions. Your prototype isn’t ready? Fine. You’ll have time to keep improving it. The supplier you found isn’t ideal? Fine. You’ll have time to keep searching.
And so do the choices you can make.
Except in rare cases, keeping a full-time job is the best approach for first-time business owners.
Of course, it’s also the hardest approach: Sacrifice, discipline, and a massive amount of hard work are required. But that’s okay, because if you aren’t willing to work hard and sacrifice, your new business will fail—whether you quit your full-time job right away or not.
Especially if you don’t preserve your right to say no to anything that decreases your odds of success.
—Jeff Haden
This article originally appeared on Fast Company’s sister website, Inc.com.
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