This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Well, this is an exciting question. Should I quit my job and go full-time with my hustle? It's a really great place to be. I love hearing from listeners who have been working on something for a while and it's gotten to the point where it's time to make some big decisions. And in the case where your side hustle is earning as much money as your job, again, wonderful place to be, but what comes next and how do you navigate this choice?
Now, of course, your answer might be different from someone else's, but what could be helpful to know in making this decision? I do have a couple thoughts on this. By the way, welcome to Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau. Every day I'm making this program for people like you who are busy and have all kinds of responsibilities but want to invest in themselves.
That's what this is about, investing in yourself, pursuing the value of self-reliance so that you can do more of what's important to you. All right, so like I said, it's a good problem to have. Should I quit my job and go all in with my hustle? Let's talk it out with today's caller. [Music]
Hi, Chris, this is Shelly from Loveland, Colorado and I just found the show recently and I'm really enjoying it.
I'm excited and scared about quitting my job. Over the past two years, I've built my side hustle to the point where I can quit my job, yay. It's been a long road, but now I'm bringing in almost as much money from my second paycheck as I do from my main one. I also think I can grow the business more with more time and attention, but I'm terrified. Is this normal?
I mean, in particular, I'm feeling stuck about the health insurance issue. Should I just not worry about it? Thanks, and I can't wait to hear what you have to say. [Music]
Shelly, hey, what's up? So first of all, let us pause and celebrate.
Let us just take a moment and say, congratulations. That is amazing, well done. I don't have an air horn with me in the studio, but if I did, I'd sound the alarm. I should work on that. I'll put that on my list of things to acquire, celebratory air horn.
So congratulations, and let's talk about this. So for our listeners, first of all, when do you think about leaving your job? When does it come to that point? In Shelly's case, she's making almost as much money from her second paycheck as she does from her main one, which is fantastic. I think for a lot of people, if it is your aspiration, if it is your goal to quit your job and eventually go all in with your side hustle, it doesn't always have to be at that point when they're making as much money, like they've essentially matched their paycheck.
A lot of people choose to do it or at least start thinking about it more seriously when their side income is able to pay all of their bills. So it might not be quite as much as they make from their job, but they're on track to that. And also, if you think you can grow it with more time and attention, just like in Shelly's case. So as I said, it's a good place to be. Nevertheless, our caller, Shelly, does raise some legitimate concerns.
Is it normal to feel excited and scared? Absolutely, it's totally normal. The thing is, you know, you've always worked in one way, or at least a lot of people, someone in this situation, they've always worked in one way, even if they have changed jobs, even if they have changed companies or even careers. To go from employment to self-employment is a major, major transition. Like you're changing your whole way of life.
So it really is different from just, you know, as I said, changing jobs or changing companies. So that adjustment sometimes comes with, well, I don't know, some adjustment. The transition may not go smoothly. It's like a relationship in some ways that is exciting at first and then settles kind of into a new phase that is hopefully enduring, like it might be deeper and better in the long term, but it might also come with that adjustment period. You also might not be able to earn, you know, twice as much money by spending twice as much time on the business.
Like hopefully with more time and attention, you can earn more, but it's not always this like one-to-one ratio. If you've been working, you know, 15 hours a week on the business, then all of a sudden you can spend 30. You're not necessarily making twice as much. I mean, you may, of course, you may be able to do a lot more, but the point is there's no guarantee of that. Now, as for health insurance, I wouldn't say don't worry about it.
First thing I would say is, can you just pay for it? And of course, we're assuming somebody here in the United States, if you're fortunate to live in a country where this is not an issue, of course, you know, that's wonderful. So for everybody else, that's who this answer is for. My first question would be, can you just pay for it? Plan for the cost of an individual plan or a family plan as part of your business expenses.
When you're getting ready to think about this, get a few quotes, go out and get some quotes in advance so that you know what you're dealing with. And the good news is like, I know there's a lot of challenges and bad news when it comes to the healthcare system in the United States, but the good news is in a lot of cases, at least it will be less than you think. And a lot of people are able to solve the problem by getting a policy that costs, you know, a few hundred dollars a month. And you just consider that, as I said, you know, part of the cost of doing business, part of the cost of being self-employed. All right, overall, as I said, you know, there's concerns, there's things to think through, but it is a great place to be, you know, congratulations once again, Shelly represents what many of our listeners aspire to.
And of course, you don't have to quit your job. Just to throw that out there, lots of people actually build up the side income to a substantial level, but continue with their job. I think it's just wonderful to get to the point where you have a choice. And then once you have the choice, you have, you know, so much more power, essentially. You have more power, you have more leverage.
You know, you have the ability to decide for yourself, which I think is a wonderful thing, no matter what you end up doing next. Okay, listeners, if you got a question, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. If you're thinking about quitting your job, let me know, whatever it is, we'll be featuring them throughout the year, along with updates from other listeners as they launch their projects. Thank you so much. It's a joy to produce this show for you every day.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
