Quit my job, shit just got real

L

Lucidity

New member
Jul 30, 2007
418
9
0
So I just quit my job at an ad agency because I couldn't stand it anymore. When you hate every minute of 12+ hours a day of your life, something has to give. Worst of all, the work was making me loathe marketing, and this was the whitest of the white hat shit.

Feels great to be rid of it all, but I'm also kind of flipping out about not having an income -- because I don't have one. I know a lot of people (like Eli) don't recommend taking the plunge without some solid income built up already, but that wasn't in the cards so I'm just going to have to burn it at both ends to make this work.

I got about 3 months of savings. The challenge will be coming up with short term sources of cashflow since I'm going the site building route, which is a long term game. Hoping I can build / flip sites for resale to cover overhead to start with. My backup backup will be hustling web work to local businesses if all else fails.

Anyone that's jumped off the deep end like this have any words of wisdom (or doom)?

Also, I'd be curious to know if there's any particular (PHP) scripts, scrapers, databases, etc you guys would be interested in. With enough demand I can probably make it happen.

P.S. Thanks to everyone who has made this place what it is over the years. It's more valuable than you might know to a lot of lurkers like me out there.
 


hope you got a shit load of self motivation. being able to quit your job is something you should buy yourself out of imo. but 12 hours of your day is pretty ridiculous, im sure that's worse than starting out with nothing cept your savings.

anyways good luck bro.
 
Work 16+ hours a day. Make sure you're eating right and exercising everyday. This could be a good thing, the bridges are burnt and failure's not an option. Also lower your expenses as much as possible...no eating out, clip coupons, etc.

I can relate to what you're feeling. A few years ago I quit my job and all my campaigns died. I went from $10k a month profit to nothing. Went through about 10 more failed campaigns until I discovered the berries and changed my life. Whatever shit you're feeling, everyone that has "made it" has gone through it. I rather struggle on my own than be someone's bitch for the next 50 years!
 
  • Like
Reactions: RobinX
Dr_Ngo said:
Work 16+ hours a day. Make sure you're eating right and exercising everyday. This could be a good thing, the bridges are burnt and failure's not an option. Also lower your expenses as much as possible...no eating out, clip coupons, etc.

I can relate to what you're feeling. A few years ago I quit my job and all my campaigns died. I went from $10k a month profit to nothing. Went through about 10 more failed campaigns until I discovered the berries and changed my life. Whatever shit you're feeling, everyone that has "made it" has gone through it. I rather struggle on my own than be someone's bitch for the next 50 years!
Click to expand...

Thanks dude. Yeah I was working crazy hours on shit I hated, shouldn't be a problem to work crazier hours on shit I love.

I bought 2 big bags of steel cut oats and quinoa, should be able to eat for less than $4 a day for months lol.
 
juntao65 said:
hope you got a shit load of self motivation. being able to quit your job is something you should buy yourself out of imo. but 12 hours of your day is pretty ridiculous, im sure that's worse than starting out with nothing cept your savings.

anyways good luck bro.
Click to expand...

Thanks and yeah I get it about buying yourself out of a job. Way safer, less stressful, etc. If it was less hours and I didn't despise being there so intensely I would have gone that route. I can only take the risk because I don't have a family or any dependents, mortgages, etc. Then it would be different.
 
Lucidity said:
Thanks dude. Yeah I was working crazy hours on shit I hated, shouldn't be a problem to work crazier hours on shit I love.

I bought 2 big bags of steel cut oats and quinoa, should be able to eat for less than $4 a day for months lol.
Click to expand...


Corporate is downright fucking awful. I'm willing to bet they started treating you shitty because they KNEW that you figured out it was a dead-end job. For every corporate job I've ever left, I've NEVER had another job lined up because I hated it that much.

I kept going back because I never had the confidence to try things on my own and see them through. And the funny part is that every time I was out there on my own, I always found opportunities. ALWAYS. Laws of economics, physics or god, I don't fucking know.

As a software developer with PHP skillz you should be able to find or create consulting opportunities. Plus you're smart enough to recognize the value of wickedfire, which is essentially a clubhouse for entrepreneurs and hustlers. And you work 12+ hours a day???

Get your ass in gear, man. It's there for the taking.
 
You'll be fine.

I quit my job basically flat broke a few years ago and never looked back.

I was in the same boat, no dependents, etc. Taking care of yourself isn't too bad if you're motivated to work for it.

Good luck!
 
I just want to say that this thread has inspired me. I turn 30 on March 13th. My goal is to quit on the March 12, 2011.

189 days to get my shit together.
 
try freelance sites, thats what helped me, check out my thread I got canned and had used odesk to pay some bills while getting my seo sites up. freelancer, elance, are a couple others. good luck! no more 12+ for other peoples ads, time to take this to the next level
 
12 Hours a day at a job you hate was going to kill you eventually.

I would do everything starting now. Get a domain for offering web design, setup wordpress on it, bang out 8 pages of content and install it all.

Local Search, Google Places, and switching people to Wordpress is an easy slam dunk sale.

And work on your own stuff in the downtime and to try new things.
 
digga121 said:
try freelance sites, thats what helped me, check out my thread I got canned and had used odesk to pay some bills while getting my seo sites up. freelancer, elance, are a couple others. good luck! no more 12+ for other peoples ads, time to take this to the next level
Click to expand...

You can actually compete with the prices of Indians, Philippinos and Eastern Europeans on those sites?
 
Read Ngo's post again. It's what you'll need to remember if you want to get there. If you're anything like me, there will be many times where you'll feel like just throwing your computer out the window and going back. But remember that everyone who has done what you want to do, has felt that before. It's just about powering through.

I remember when I first started, long time ago, I setup my very first campaign and it worked great. I remember thinking about how easy this is, but that one was just pure luck. It died about a month later, and it took me fully 6 months before I made another penny in profit. Lost a lot of money getting there too.

One of the only things I can say is, if you really get in a shit place, and really feel like quitting, what often helped for me was to just take one day off. Go do something completely unrelated to work. Just don't think about it. For me, just 24 hours break was enough for me to want to get back to it.

Good luck man, I hope you get there.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bizkiller and avatar33
Props for quitting your job, I wish I could do the same, but 2 kids and a wife with a frying pan prevent that.
 
Reidy said:
Read Ngo's post again. It's what you'll need to remember if you want to get there. If you're anything like me, there will be many times where you'll feel like just throwing your computer out the window and going back. But remember that everyone who has done what you want to do, has felt that before. It's just about powering through.

I remember when I first started, long time ago, I setup my very first campaign and it worked great. I remember thinking about how easy this is, but that one was just pure luck. It died about a month later, and it took me fully 6 months before I made another penny in profit. Lost a lot of money getting there too.

One of the only things I can say is, if you really get in a shit place, and really feel like quitting, what often helped for me was to just take one day off. Go do something completely unrelated to work. Just don't think about it. For me, just 24 hours break was enough for me to want to get back to it.

Good luck man, I hope you get there.
Click to expand...

+rep

I agree with everything you said, especially the 1 day break when you feel like your head is gonna explode... that doesn't just apply to IM but to anything you do behind the PC. Once you're fed up and your eyes are burning... just turn off that bitch and go grab a couple beers. Come back the next day, fresh-headed... (actually I love doing IM in the morning when I'm hungover, with a nice green tea or coffee on the side hehe)

Also, you can take a couple contracts from CraigsList on the side, from time to time, to make enough money to pay rent + cable... that's what I used to do. The Computer Gigs sections of CL NYC, LA, SF, Boston, Vancouver, Toronto, etc... are full of quick jobs you can take...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom