Stop working for the man and start working for yourself

[Tiffany Foy]

My husband and I started our fix and flip business about two years ago. Although our pace has been somewhat slow to start, we have had great success. We are in the process of growing our business in order to start speeding up our renovations and (in theory) bring in more profits annually. My husband works for our business full time as the general contractor, while I have maintained my position with a great corporation who has been my employer for 15 years. I enjoy my job, it pays well, provides us with retirement and health benefits, as well as stability for our family. Although I am content where I am, I often find myself thinking more about working for our personal business. I really enjoy real estate and often find myself day dreaming about what it would take for me to quit this job and get into real estate full time. I have entertained the idea of getting my real estate license (so we could be saving money on our buys and sells) as well as helping take care of the odds and ends errands that eats into my husband’s time (running to stores for materials, fixtures, etc.). I am also not opposed to putting in some sweat equity into our flips, although I would not be happy doing this on a full time basis.

I know that there is no “right” answer to my question as there are so many factors to take into consideration, but I’m going to ask it anyway. My question is for those who may have previously been, or currently are in a similar situation. How did you decide for (or against) making that leap of faith to leave the corporate world and work for yourself? How did you research and evaluate those "costs" of leaving the corporate world, how did you find health insurance for you and your family, etc? 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and opinions.

[Tim G.]

Two reasons I quit. 

First, my employer caught wind of my BP podcast interview and internally investigated if they could fire me. They could not, but drama was coming.

Second I realized I wasn’t living a life I’d be proud of. Milking an easy paycheck cause I could in a job that didn’t fulfill me. 

Real estate earned me enough to quit, but I liked the easy extra pay. Once I resigned my mind felt so clear. Years of should I shouldn’t I thought vanished and I felt a huge weight lifted. 

A secondary perk was when I quit, someone’s dream job opened up and they got it. I was holding onto something I didn’t need and keeping it from someone who really wanted it.