Jewelry designer Nicole quit her day job to sell her handmade wares online, and she shares how she took the leap from working for someone else to being self-employed. In a featured interview at Etsy, Nicole shares how she got to where she is, and offers a thorough, seven-point checklist of stuff she did before taking the plunge.
Nicole says:
- I first figured out how much money I would need to make each week.
- I also calculated how much I would need to put away for taxes and met with an attorney to ensure I was recording things properly from the start to avoid extra work later.
- My biggest concern was health insurance, so I spent a good amount of time researching providers and small business organisations in my city, and then getting myself set up with good coverage.
- I also decided to stock up on as many supplies as I could while I still had a steady paycheck coming in and I also rearranged my workspace.
- I went through my monthly expenses and figured out where I could save some money. I called my phone company and just told them I felt my bill was too high, and they lowered it! I was on a roll after that: who else can I call to save money?! I called my car insurance company to tell them I would only be driving about 10 miles a week, as opposed to the 300 miles per week I was driving before, and my premium went down by about $75. That’s a great tip that some people may overlook.
- But lastly—and this is by far the most important—I enjoyed eating enchiladas at our favourite Mexican restaurant a few last times. I figured that the luxury of eating out would be one of the first things to go!
Nicole’s is a fabulous story of someone taking a risk to do something that she loves to do—if you’ve got the itch to do the same, it’s a worthwhile read. All you freelancers out there, would you add to Nicole’s checklist? Post up anything else you did before starting out on your own in the comments.
[Via Etsy]
Comments
One response to “The Quit-Your-Day-Job Checklist”
what Nicole did was absolutely right.. not long before, i was also an ordinary day jobber, but now i quit it and have my own jewellery shop