Secure a Customer Before Leaving
I certainly made it harder for myself than it should have been. I left my job after 30 years of employment, launching my own business with not a single client on the books. That’s the one thing I wish I’d handled differently. Getting the initial trust build within the network and achieving the first paying client does not happen overnight. It would have helped immeasurably if I’d had one waiting for me when I made the leap.
To have zero income and zero clients on day one is a huge pressure on you, emotionally and financially. This success came gradually, and I started developing connections. People started trusting me, and that’s when the whole thing started growing. But it didn’t happen overnight.
The piece of advice that I wish I’d heard when I was about to make the leap? Get your first customer before you make the leap. Test the waters when you’re still at the company. It not only takes the pressure off of you, it gives you something even better: a testimonial, a case study, and social proof that you can actually do it.