7 Reasons to Quit your Job Daniel

In October 2005 I received a degree in International Economics, and straight out of the university I went to work for a large multinational company. It is was the most obvious path for me to follow; my parents encouraged me to do so, and my friends were doing it also. After one year, however, I was not so sure that this was the right choice for me. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to take a shot and work on personal projects.

Late in 2006 I finally decided to run after my dreams. I quit my job, moved from Italy back to Brazil, and started to work full time with my blogs and other entrepreneurial projects, most of them related to the Internet. Below you will find 7 reasons that motivated me to take this decision. I had already written about those factors on another blog, but I decided to publish it on Daily Blog Tips as well because there are probably many bloggers on the same situation that I was, check it out:

1. If I will need to work my arse off, I’d rather do it for something that I own: I firmly believe that hard work is the foundation of success. Even if you consider supposed geniuses like great musicians or writers, history shows that behind each and every one of them there was an incredible amount of hard work. There is no easy way out and there are no shortcuts. So, if that is the case, it is clear that I will need to work damn hard no matter what I choose to do in life. Why not work that hard for my own self then?

2. Should you hit the jackpot with an idea, its your company that will collect most of the profits: Most people think that working for an organization is less risky than having your own business. The reasoning is right to a certain extent. After all, a standard job offers a secure pay check at the end of the month. This means that your income has a lower boundary, it will not go below a certain level no matter what. The problem, however, is that this security comes at the expense of limited earning potential. This means that your income will also have an upper boundary. It will not go above a certain level no matter what. Should you come up with a brilliant idea that generate millions for your company, it is unlikely that you will share the profits.

3. Companies pay you for your time, not for the value you create: I confess I have never understood the logic behind hourly wages. People’s salary should be based on the value they bring to the company on not on the number of hours they work weekly or monthly. Some organizations offer performance based retributions, that is a beginning but it is not enough. Think about a book. You are willing to pay a certain price for that book because you will get some value out of it right? Now, it does not matter if the writer took 10, 5 or 2 years to write the book. The price you are willing to pay is still the same and proportional to the value the book has to you.

4. Hierarchy and politics? No Thanks: Large organizations tend to be hierarchical and there is nothing you can do about it. People are classified according to their rank or seniority rather than by the quality of their ideas or by their drive. Sometime ago I was trying to implement the first internal blog for my division. The first thing I did was to call directly the HQ guy who was responsible for the communications platform, and he assured me that it would take no longer than 1 week to set the blog up. Guess what, after a couple of days I received a call from the Communications manager from our division, she wanted to “explain to me the rules of the game”Â(!). Basically she told me that all the communications related requests needed to pass through her no matter what, and she would therefore take charge of the blog set up. Two months after that call my division was still waiting for the blog.

5. I want to work on my own terms: Some time ago, more specifically under the industrial age, it probably made sense to get people grouped together in a single location, for a specific time span, all wearing a standard uniform. Do the same rules apply to the information age, though? I do not think so. If someday my company will grow so that I will need to hire people all I will tell them is: “Look, I don’t care if you work at 4 pm or in the middle of the night, at home or in the office, and if you do come to the office I don’t care if you wear shorts and sandals just like I don’t care if you listen to music while you work, do as you please as long as you get the job done!”Â.

6. Even if you screw it up for 10 years you will still learn a lot more: Many people told me to wait a couple of years more before starting my company. They said that I still lacked the experience. Well, maybe they are right and I do lack the experience. So what? Even if I get every thing wrong for the first 10 years I will probably learn a lot more than if I had stayed inside a large corporation. When you go alone you need to take all the decisions, solve all the problems and bear all the responsibility.

7. Are you doing what you love?: Passion is difficult to fake, you are either doing what you love or you are not, there is no in-between. Suppose you just won the lottery and money is not a problem anymore. What kind of work would you still be willing to do even for free? Personally I would write articles to share my ideas and would pursue some entrepreneurial projects. The question then becomes: “Do I really need to win the lottery to start doing that?”Â. Hell no! Once you realize that, it becomes much easier to drop everything else and start working on things that you really love.

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70 Responses to “7 Reasons to Quit your Job” Daniel Rob, thanks for the link.

Rob ooh yeah! Right on. I made that move two years ago and never looked back. I think you’ll enjoy the flip side of your list: the 7 reasons you can’t quit your job

Nathaniel Laiet Great article. Spot on. I’ve been slogging out on my own until this year I took a job (good offer) but quit after only 3 weeks. It taught me to once again really really appreciate being on my own, even though it can be hard at times.

ruud Great Points Daniel. I love my job 🙂

Daniel “So, gathering money by doing job and then start your own project gradually will also work.” Yeah this can work. Although if you have a really good idea you can borrow money, or even bootstrap.

sarbarth Daniel,

Minding your own business is OK. But if a person who don’t have enough money how can he think of his own project.

In my opinion sticking into a job for rest of life is not advisable. So, gathering money by doing job and then start your own project gradually will also work. Am I right? what do you think?

Joie “Some people canâ€™t possibly understand how someone would â€œgive up a good jobâ€ to take the huge risks of starting their own business. Others (like me) canâ€™t fathom the idea of having to go to a job every day.” “You just canâ€™t put a price on the freedom to do what you want and truly live your life – not just in the couple of hours when you get home exhausted

after a day at â€œwork”. TechZillo, you are sooo right!!!!!!

Joie Every reason you’ve given is exactly why I’ve wanted to be a business OWNER and WILL start my business within the next two years. I’ve worked for small companies and now work for a large multinational consulting firm. It’s all the same politics and *ss kissing everywhere. I value my time and hate the idea of someone else owning it and becoming wealthy off of my time and ideas. I went to college and became a consultant…I took the safe route. It’s time to take risks and fully enjoy what I do. To hell with coporate America!

Daniel TechZillo, Dan is correct. I quit to become an entrepreneur. Blogs are some of my current projects, but not the only ones.

Dan and Jennfer TechZilo, That’s definitely what I understood Daniel to say as well. But just to clarify his intention, I don’t believe he gave up anything “for the sake of his blogs”. Quite the contrary, he seized an opportunity to stop working at a job (multi national company or whatever other kind of company) in order and pursue a path as a free entrepreneur. Done right, blogs can be a great source of revenue. This is however the old “job security” vs. entrepreneur working for yourself discussion. There’s no right or wrong, it’s merely personal preference. Some people can’t possibly understand how someone would “give up a good job” to take the huge risks of starting their own business. Others (like me) can’t fathom the idea of having to go to a job every day. You just can’t put a price on the freedom to do what you want and truly live your life – not just in the couple of hours when you get home exhausted after a day at “work”. We’re all different and see the world differently. And that keeps it interesting. 🙂 Have an awesome day!

Dan

TechZilo Hmm….you got into an MNC only to resign for the sake of your blogs?

Rose I have to tell you that I felt exactly the same way you did! I HATED the job that I had and I just felt that I had to get out! Mind you starting your own business isn’t easy but working for yourself is definitely worth it!

Belmann Paul thanks it will hrlp a lot daniel. waiting for the next post =]

Rahel Hi Daniel, I just want to say that I think it’s great that people can write articles on quitting one’s job and why one should do that.

The only problem is that there are far too few articles on what one needs to do to make that switch.

For example, I make a little advertising money on my blog, mostly from sponsored links, but it’s not nearly enough to even consider quitting my job.

In order to start a business, you have to have money, and it has to come from somewhere.

Roman Rytov “Your job – a time to kill, and a time to heal” – is my blog where I contemplated the same topic:

Daniel Dan and Jennifer, thanks for stoping by. I read both those blogs regularly, in fact Steve Pavlina was a big motivator for my decision. Once I started earning money from this blog I went over to his page and donated part of my earnings, it was like the natural way of paying him back for the great advice he provides.

Dan and Jennifer

Madhur Kapoor Great Points Daniel . Its very important to Love what you do

Daniel Mark, you are right about this point, I do not have any family or bills at the end of the month, that is why it was easy for me to switch also. For someone who has a family I recognize its harder to take that decision, but doable if you plan it well.

Rory I really like point #6. Who cares if mistakes are made, they are one of the best ways to learn. We know that to be true, but to declare it so enthusiastically is inspiring. #4 Hierarchy and Politics? Grrr

inspirationbit It’s much easier to quit a full-time secure job for someone with no family responsibilities, but having a kid to take care I can’t afford any trials and errors of running my own business. So in my case, I combine both – a full time job with the constant cash flow and benefits, and running my own business at the same time. It’s true that I can’t fully concentrate on building up my business, but once I feel I have built it enough to quit my day job, I will gladly do so.

Summer Great points, Daniel. Especially #7. Life’s a little easier when you’re doing what you love, and what comes naturally to you. Thanks for the thoughts.

Mark Alves Another fascinating post, Daniel. Did your current level of family responsibilities or commitments factor into your decision?

Ben Evert I’m close to doing the same thing. I think these Pink Floyd lyrics say it all. We don’t need no education

We dont need no thought control

No dark sarcasm in the classroom

Teachers leave them kids alone

Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!

All in all it’s just another brick in the wall.

All in all you’re just another brick in the wall.

Faith I agree and yet, one year ago after working for myself for 3 years and having to deal with things like California’s worker’s comp system and payroll, I sold my business and went back to non-profit. I say go for it. Love every minute of it. Then sell it for as much as you possibly can and take some satisfaction that someone else pays your benefits.

Jacob Share Great list. I always knew that I wanted to work for myself, but until I was downsized last year, I had never felt ready. This crisatunity will likely end up being the best thing to happen to me. One thing’s for sure – I’m enjoying my work today much more than for my previous employer and frankly it wasn’t such a bad job.

Daniel Bez, interesting complements on your points! AL, I wish you all the best on the transition, you will see that its worth it.

AL Very inspiring. I connected with every point you made. I think I’m onto this path, hopefully soon enough.

Mike Spot on, Daniel. I probably learnt more from running my own business for 2 years in the 80’s than I did from chasing the corporate dollar for the whole of the 90’s. Great article.

Bes Z Thanks for sharing Daniel! This should help people tremendously. 1 : Interesting point. You will probably be more motivated when you are in charge of things. 2 : You are right. If you work for a company, it is hard to share the extra profits that come in. 3 : This is an excellent point! Only the CEO’s and the presidents at most companies get extra bonuses for bringing in more profit or meeting certain goals, even if it was the low level employee who worked hard to make such goals achievable. 4 : This is one of the strongest points. However, once you are in your own running field, you also have to learn some politics in order to communicate with others who depend on hierarchy and politics to convey messages. 5 : This is the biggest advertised benefit for having your own business or personal source of income. You can work anytime from anywhere. It’s funny how getting up at 5 for a normal job may seem sad for many, but being up till 5 and waking up again after a few hours to work on a blog or your own online services feels good. 😀 I am guessing many companies who have a very healthy and communicative atmosphere also draw such attention as people love to feel they are at ease instead of feeling they are under strict management. 6 : My first business models around 2001 and 2002 ended up being a disaster for me. I created some online services and businesses and got a partner afterwards to help me manage the incoming traffic and customers. The partner turned out to be after selling everything and getting some cash. I wanted things to continue on a long term basis. In the end, things did not work out and I considered my efforts to have died and the services/businesses closing down while my partner considered things a success because of the money made along the way and moving on. 7 : This is the best point in my view. I love what I am doing. I just hope money comes in on its own, as I do not want to change my passion or love in order to bring in money. Having strict principles is one thing, but changing the game repeatedly to make money is another. All we needs is a good marketer within ourselves to convert our love into something that helps different aspects of our blogs/business/work/efforts. Thanks for sharing Daniel, this was a nice tip, or tips, to be more precise. 😀 Newer Comments »

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