If your going to quit your job or drop out of college, read this

[Brandon Ingegneri]

I’ve been reading a ton of posts recently where people have recently quit college or a job, or are thinking about doing so. While I commend people on having the commitment and passion to peruse a different path, but there needs to be some forethought as opposed to firing from the hip. This very morning, I read a post where someone said and I quote, “I quit my job to peruse real estate and have been studying my spirituality. What do I do next?” In my opinion, your next step is to realize that you don’t have even the slightest clue how life or the real world works. Once you admit that, then there is hope yet for you.

I didn’t go to college, and quite honestly, I do not think it is an essential component in a formula for success. Having said that, you shouldn’t just abandon college all together without having at least a game plan and a contingency plan. If your getting some super specialized degree, at least have that as a fall back. If your a liberal arts major, and have no idea what your doing after college, I’d give consideration to other alternatives. If you are getting an engineering degree, finish. It’s a degree that can pay dividends in any industry. These are two very specific examples, but I think people can draw the parallels.

Quitting your job. I’ll be blunt here. If you’ve got the next 3 moves laid out when you do this, your taking a calculated risk. At some point every entrepreneur has done that. If you quit your job and the next thing you do is scratch your head, and that you want to be a real estate investor without money, experience, or even a game plan, that my friends is Darwinism at its finest.

I’m going to cite 2 very specific examples of entrepreneurship that ended in success. You will see a common thread in both that I call the Tarzan effect. The Tarzan effect is not letting go of the vine you are swinging on until you have firm grasp of the next.

Mike. Mike was a business teacher in a small town in RI. He didn’t like the curriculum at all and tried to think outside of the box to motivate and teach his kids using the most impactful methodology specific to each topic. This was in the 90’s and early 2000’s so instead of creating essentially the same thing that BiggerPockets does for investors but for teachers instead. This was in pamphlet form originally. Mike got feedback from other frustrated teachers throughout the country in their respective fields and published a quarterly pamphlet. Teachers subscribed, and contributed resulting in a forum of effective and non traditional approaches to some subject matter. Mike cash advanced $70,000 on credit cards and worked those early years in his basement getting this pamphlet going, all while he continued to work as a teacher. He took a calculated risk. Only when he was making $400,000 a year from what became a publishing company out of his basement, did he quit teaching. Today, he owns a major educational publishing company that does business nationally. They author, create, and sell text books in addition to other platforms. Mike is a millionaire, 100% self made in the tens of millions amount. He is a personal friend of mine, and the important lesson here is that he didn’t let go of one vine, until he firmly grasped another.

The second example is me personally. I’ve been a firefighter for 15 years now as I am writing this. Could I retire tomorrow and live without cause for concern relying solely on real estate? The answer is yes. Is that what I am going to do? No, and here is why. This job allowed me a solidified foundation and security to build my life off of. It provided a consistent W2 wage that banks love, retirement plan, and medical benefits. It also provided an unorthodox schedule that allowed me to work the trades on the side, building knowledge, experience, and most importantly, money to graduate to the next step. After I saved up some cash, bought my own home, and paid it off in my 20’s because I hustled like an animal for a few years, I was in a position where I could take a risk. I had cash in the bank, equity in a property, and a low level of overhead in my life. I had money I was saving for retirement every week with the fire department, had benefits if I got sick, and a check every Friday that was my safety net. I knew if I got into trouble, it would take time, but I’d have a means to dig myself out. Plan and contingency plan. Fast forward ten years and now we own a number of properties, have flipped a bunch of properties, regularly wholesale properties, own a construction company with full time employees and own a property management company. Why am I still a firefighter you ask; because I haven’t reached the level yet where it is worth it to quit when in 5 more years, I can retire with my health benefits. That is a $25,000 a year expense that gets completely eliminated just by doing my time. I am however getting everything in place so that when I hit my 20 years, that I can make a smooth transition out and focus completely on real estate. I’ll grab the next vine when I have fully swung from the previous.

Have the balls to pull the trigger and follow your dream. Lots of people lack the grit to quit a job or leave school. So, I commend those that do, but you also have to play the long ball and think a few steps ahead. If you have the grit to quit but don’t have a course of action, your not making a calculated risk, your just being stupid.

My advice. Play chess. Less checkers. Very curious to hear from some other people that have done similar things.