How will I survive without a monthly income? what will people say about me? Hope someone is not doing me from my village? I hope I'm not going mad? what if the business becomes unsuccessful? I can keep going on listing all the "what ifs", at times not leaving your comfort zone will never allow you achieve your dreams.

I left my job about a month now and started a real estate company(www.alvinahomes.com) alongside a part time job, I also asked my self some of the above questions but today I can tell you that I'm about closing my first deal in real estate worth more than a year of my previous salary.

Glad I took the bold step. To succeed in life you have to believe and trust in yourself first before other people will!

Below are some tips that helped me during my decision making;


Ask yourself questions to make sure you’re thinking about the right key business decisions and are on point about what you are creating.

Why am I starting a business?
What kind of business do I want?
Who is my ideal customer?
What products or services will my business provide?
Am I prepared to spend the time and money needed to get my business started?
What differentiates my business idea and the products or services I will provide from others in the market?
Where will my business be located?
How many employees will I need?
What types of suppliers do I need?
How much money do I need to get started?
Will I need to get a loan?
How soon will it take before my products or services are available?
How long do I have until I start making a profit?
Who is my competition?
How will I price my product compared to my competition?
How will I set up the legal structure of my business?
What taxes do I need to pay?
What kind of insurance do I need?
How will I manage my business?
How will I advertise my business?
Write a business plan.

Every successful venture has a business plan, a written description of your business’s future. That’s all there is to it–a document that describes what you plan to do and how you plan to do it. You can find a wealth of good business plan templates and models online.

Become two people at once.
You mentioned that your current job is a good one. To stay where you are while also pursuing your own business you need to become two people: one who is currently successful, working at a great job with great people, and another who follows a very strict plan with deadlines and goals every day to make your new venture–your freedom plan–is a success.

Customize your time.
Time is one of your most precious resources. To gain serious momentum for your new venture, learn to customize your time with SMART goals:

Specific: Know exactly what you want to accomplish.
Measurable: Know how you will demonstrate and evaluate the extent to which the goal has been met.
Achievable: Make yourself stretch, but not beyond your abilities or time frame.
Relevant: Tie your goal to your key responsibilities and objectives.
Timely: Set target dates for goals and subgoals.
Work your ass off.
Starting your own venture is not easy. But working hard every day and taking action one bold step at a time will bring you steadily closer to making it happen.

Get help.
Hire someone who knows how to get you from where you are to where you want to be. Holding on to your steady corporate paycheck can help give you funds to hire a coach to help you with time management, business planning, and preparing you for the ups and downs of entrepreneurial success.

Build a safety net.
Until you are able to establish a solid stream of income from your side business, you don’t really want to quit. When you’ve got a few months of expenses stashed away in the bank, you can feel freer and not as fearful about moving forward. Even if things don’t work out, you know you can survive. With a safety net you can be bolder with your decision making and take more risks. It makes work much more satisfying when you know you are putting your freedom in the bank.

Deal in patience.
Everything worth having takes time, and patience, passion, and perseverance are important foundational elements for an entrepreneur. When you deal in patience, you can take steps every day to work on doing something to improve, build, and construct your new venture.

Set a date.
Lay out a plan to build up your side business into a full-time gig, and highlight the specific date you want to quit on your calendar. Give yourself an incentive to have your new venture up and running by the date you’ve picked.

Make quitting your current position happen sooner than later, not with a risky leap but by following a great plan with smart goals and bold implementation, with help and patience.

Let me know how it goes.