Comments on: Open Thread: How Do You Know When to Go Solo?

By: Entrepreneur Musings

Entrepreneur Musings — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 07:02:55 +0000

This is a question that I contemplated a few times and had to let go of it every time because of commitments and uncertainity.

Being a freelancer in a country like Sri Lanka has its own set of limitations. For example, a bank will not give you a housing loan if you do not have a full time permenant job or you are an entrepreneur who is paying huge amount of taxes. They are conservative to the nut and write off freelancers without even giving them a chance.

The venture capitol industry is very weak. Basically there are no VC’s. We have what you call development banks and getting funding from them is next to impossible.

And I have just started a family. Now I am on the look out to buy a land and build a house. To do this, I will be needed to take a loan, (I can because I am still employed) and with the loan payments to do for the next 15 years, I can’t see myself taking the leap.

But I find this resistance building up inside me. In the job you don’t always get to do what you want to do. So one of these days I just might take the plunge. I am just making myself ready fo rthe occasion. I wish I could just take the plunge. Ready, Fire, Aim. But the thing is, I am not sure whether I am ready yet!

Thank you for all of you who gave me some hope!

By: Dave Sailer

Dave Sailer — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 22:55:38 +0000

If you haven’t found it, you might get some help from Pamela Slim’s “Escape from cubicle nation” (http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com/).

By: Dan Moore

Dan Moore — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 21:22:46 +0000

Some good advice up above. It’s hard to know precisely what to suggest to the writer, without knowing their situation. Family? Risk tolerance? Skillset? Network? Local market?

But anyway, I’ll open my big fat mouth. I jumped out on my own when I came back from a big trip in 2003. I guess I had 3 or 4 months of expenses in the bank. I cut my expenses to the bone, pinged people I had worked with relentlessly for work and made things go.

As for goals, or how you know when you should go solo: when you think you have enough work for the next 3 months (again, I’m a developer, not a new media consultant or graphic designer). When you have lined up some of the paperwork (corporation, taxes, health insurance). When your current job isn’t giving you want you want. When you have 6 months of expenses in the bank (not current lifestyle expenses, but ‘oh crap, I’ll be eating peanut butter and jelly again’ expenses). When you’ve sat down and talked to a couple of contractors in your area (both geography and expertise) and asked them how things are.

Hope this helps.

By: Drone

Drone — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 17:45:37 +0000

I love how these articles always make “full-time employment” into some kind of mythical utopia where Dad’s rich and Momma’s good-lookin’

The truth is the boss can and will throw you out on the sidewalk where you will do a 20 yard face-slide into a lightpole so fast it will take a couple seconds for your teeth to catch up. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been there, how much you make for the company, how good a job you do or how qualified you are. Every single non-CEO in the modern workplace is never more than 15 minutes from an empty office.

You’re all freelancing now. Your company just hasn’t gotten around to firing you yet. Face it.

By: Jacqueline Zenn

Jacqueline Zenn — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:59:58 +0000

I have a slightly different viewpoint, because I’ve actually never had a non-freelance full time job – I started my freelance career right out of college, mostly due to a lack of jobs that I actually wanted to take and a fear of ending up in a field I hated down the road. Two years later, I can’t imagine doing anything else. I’m a writer/blogger/new media consultant ( and clearly, I’m still trying to decide what to put on my new business cards).

Of course, it probably is much easier to go solo when you’re young, single, and still used to the college lifestyle. After all, even a studio apartment seems big after a dorm room!

By: Stan Schroeder

Stan Schroeder — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 12:01:27 +0000

My advice is probably not good advice, but it comes from my experience, for what’s it worth.

The way I operate is this: at any given time, I work on several things at once. I have two priorities: how interesting a project is to me, and how much money it makes me. Projects that make me little money and aren’t interesting slowly move to the back of the line, until I cut them off completely. I balance the rest depending on the current state of affairs.

The disadvantage of this is having no life outside of work, plus it’s impossible if you have a family. You also need a lot of energy to be able to do this. The advantage is I’m never bored, and I have multiple income streams (at this point in time, I have six). Some of those are almost completely passive.

The bottom line is this: you don’t have to jump from one stone to the next. You can juggle several things at once.

By: Dipesh Batheja

Dipesh Batheja — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 09:29:36 +0000

Well, in retrospect, its kind of funny how i decided to take the leap. A total irrational decision to leave a well paid job at one of the best software companies to work with. I had no idea of what I will make or where I will get work from. I had no contacts at all that could fetch me some work. I just had an extreme fear of ending up doing some work which I didn’t want to, for the rest of my life. I did had few advantages though, I am still in my late 20s, unmarried and some bucks saved for the rainy days. Probably more than any of these advantages, it was the burning desire to create something, to hear that “Wow!” from the clients and the fear of ending up doing nonsense stuff for rest of my life, that pushed me to take a leap. Things have been working up slowly since I left my job. But it took lot of convincing initially to get projects from clients, since I didn’t had any portfolio to show either (ouch! one of those Catch 22 situations).

So what I have noticed is that there are many things which you can worry about later once you have taken the leap, rather then waiting for everything to get right before you start. I would say, you would be very lucky person, if you can get everything right and make a seamless move to world of full time freelancing. But yes, there are few things which would be really necessary before you make a move:
a). You got to have something in pocket, if you want to take on this adventure.
b). At-least an idea of product you want to build or the things you can do to get projects.
c). Lots of patience and passion.

But yes, its really not easy decision to make, and it becomes even more difficult once you start it, here is why: Why not to do a startup

By: Diana Adams

Diana Adams — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 06:00:38 +0000

I was working solo full time long before I hit the internet with a website. Now for the relavent searches, I come up top and I am always booked solid if not over booked.
I would suggest reading this book by Dan miller. Its titled 48 days to the work you love. He has a website too ( and a blog!) at http://www.48days.com. Reading this book will make a world of difference. I would also suggest building a solid portfolio, establishing brochures and business cards and let them float freely. Cater to businesses just starting out in the internet world. Find those people by finding local businesses in your area ( doctors & dentists too) that lack a website. Send them a brochure and follow up with a phone call or “special offer”. I would also say to build a financial nest, just in case. Blessings Diana Adams

By: Leo Babauta

Leo Babauta — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 05:21:45 +0000

I’m considering going full-time myself. I’m just about at the point where I can support myself financially without my regular paycheck … but saving up 6 months’ worth of income might be a good idea.

By: Barbara Saunders

Barbara Saunders — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 04:53:58 +0000

The decision may be “easier” when you’re young, but it’s more urgent when you’re, uh, middle-aged. It’s no fun to hear your doctor tell you that your next order of business is to get the hell out of your job. I’ll take unemployment and no stroke over employment and a stroke, thank you very much!