 Hey Neely, have you ever wanted to stop being an employee and start being an entrepreneur? I've thought about it. Well, that's what we're going to talk about today on the journey. So small businesses have always been the backbone of America, right? Absolutely. They actually make up 99.7% of all U.S. businesses. That's crazy. That's absolutely crazy. That's literally almost all of them. So this is a huge decision. So before you submit your letter of resignation, right, ask yourself a few critical questions about whether or not this is the right fit for you. So we're going to go over some of those questions, really ask yourself to see if you're ready to dive right in. What's the first question we need to ask ourselves? Honestly, can you live without a paycheck? Yeah. And with that, we definitely recommend having at least three to six months in your savings to live off of, because going from employee to entrepreneur, if you're not making money right away, you're not going to be able to pay your bills. You're not going to be able to pay for your Netflix subscription. You're not going to pay for anything, right? So you want to make sure you're not stressed out about money and you can focus on really growing your business and taking the time to do that. Right. This isn't just some spontaneous decision, right? There's a lot of work and preparation that should go into it. And if you have to, take a part-time job, right? Then you have half the time to at least dedicate towards becoming an entrepreneur, but you're still getting that consistent paycheck. Yeah. That little bit of a safety net. And if you don't want to go just super all in or even get a part-time job, lots of people will still start to grow their business while working their full-time job. It's called a side hustle. And if that's right for you, well, you still have that safety net. If you don't have that savings, you don't want to go part-time, that's absolutely a great step for you. So the next question you need to ask yourself is, are you truly passionate about this? So Nealey, what do you love? I really love helping people figure out what their personal brand is and how to elevate that online. I love that. Exactly. You have to love your passion as much as you love watching Netflix or hanging out on the weekends, right? If not more. Exactly. This is it. You're going to be working until 2 a.m. every single night. You know, it's got to be something that you love and you're passionate about so that you don't throw on the tell. Yeah, I know there are some days that I'm doing some of the not-so-fun work of building a business, like doing accounting or taxes or anything else. There's always going to be some part of any job or any business that's not going to be as fun. You really remember your why and why you're doing this and that passion so you get over those honestly crappy parts of running a business and focus on what you love. Yeah, everyone loves to be an entrepreneur but it's that passion that's going to set you apart. So speaking of some of the not-so-fun parts of the business, another thing you need to think about is just insurance for your business. We get so focused on the branding and marketing and selling your services that we forget about some of the liability that we have to face and protect our business with. So without getting too deep into the technical boring aspects of everything, here are some types of insurance that you should look into if you're going to start a business. General liability insurance as well as professional liability insurance. Yeah, and commercial auto insurance, especially if you're driving your car for work. If you're working and you get an accident, your personal insurance may not cover it. Also workman's comp, even if you just have one employee, you are required by law in all 50 states to have workman's comp. And last but not least, excess liability insurance. All right, so after we've answered all these questions, are we ready to start a business? Not quite yet. Okay. You need to look into what kind of startup costs you need, right? How much money do you need to have set aside to get your business going? That makes sense. Money is kind of important. Yeah. Do we need to buy like computers? We need an office space? Do we need equipment? What do we actually need to get our business up on the ground running? Or do we need to take out a small business loan, possibly get some investors in because we need to make that money, money, money. Right. Speaking of money. So getting back on track, you know, all this sounds like a lot of pressure, but really one thing to ask yourself is what's the worst that could happen? That's true. I know when I coached people with their personal brand and they're trying to basically build a profit from it and start services and really make that the full-time thing. I actually came through an exercise of what is the worst that happens. Have them start mentally preparing for all the things that could happen. Cool. I don't, I don't make, I can't go out to the restaurants every week or I can't do this or maybe I have to go back and get a job. Like the worst that happens is really not that bad. So you might be ready to take the leap. Just letting fear prevent you from starting. Right. Think of your life as a GPS. Right. If you make the wrong turn, you just reroute and it's all going to work out. So use these questions to ask yourself, are you ready to start your own business? And if you are, let us know in the comments down below. Yeah, just type a simple yes. And while you're there, go ahead and smash that like button, hit subscribe and ring that bell. So you get these episodes first. This is The Journey and we'll see you next time.