Leveraging your expertise to transition to your new business

When you dream of starting a new business, you may dream of a clean break from the old and a full leap into the new.

This sounds wonderful. Thrilling! Exhilarating!

But this ideal of a clean break can sometimes hold us back from taking the leap.

Because, the reality is, we don’t want to lose our existing security or income.

A jump to a new business, with an unknown income, can seem like a nearly impossible risk to take.

Most likely your new dream business will take time to grow before significant income is coming in.

A clean break is wonderful in concept. But sometimes it’s just not realistic.

If the ideal of a clean break is holding you back from taking the leap into starting a new business, I’d like to instead encourage you to leverage your current expertise to create a transition.

Create a transition between old and new. How would that work?

Think of your transition period as a way to support your new venture. You need to step away from a full time commitment in your old line of work, but you can’t completely step into your new business without any pay at all.

A transition period can last 3 months to a year or more. It’s a way to keep money coming in so you have the freedom to build your new business without putting the full financial pressure on this new venture.

3 ways to leverage your existing job to start something new

1. Become a consultant with your current employer

Your current employer may just be your best first client. Years ago, I decided to go to graduate school and asked my employer if I could become a consultant instead of an employee. When I finished grad school and started my own business, I continued working about 40% of my time for them, which helped my financial security while I took on new freelancing clients.

I know of many women who have been able to work out arrangements for part time or contract work with employers while raising children as well. You may need an excuse outside of “I want to start a new business,” but I encourage you to think creatively and consider what benefits the employer may get from this arrangement (i.e. could you get the same amount of work done in less time as a consultant?)

2. Use your full-time skills in a new part-time way

You may not be able to stay on with your current employer, but you may be able to find part time work in the same field while you build your new business. I recently spoke with a past teacher who quit her full time job and took on tutoring jobs in order to start her own web design business. While she didn’t intend to stay in education, tutoring helped her financially while she built up her web design clientele.

3. Consult in your area of expertise

You may also be able to be use your existing skills to consult or freelance with your existing friends, family or network, even while your end goal is a business in a completely new area. My friend who was a full-time accountant, for example, quit his job and began helping friends with their taxes when he was ready for  a career change. While he ultimately wanted to leave the accounting field, this gave him financial support to leave his job until he found his new passion. And good news, it worked – he’s happily no longer in accounting at all!

A bridge to support your new venture

Many of us think that we have to make changes all at once. Or that if we are going to switch to doing work we love, that we are somehow failing if we continue on part-time in any way with the work we are moving away from.

Keys to making a transition period work

First, write out your long-term intentions and plans to yourself and share them publicly with your friends and family for accountability. Your transition is a bridge to your new goals. As long as those goals are out there, make sure you treat your transition as a transition, not the “new normal.”

Second, whatever you take on to support your transition should be the least creatively and emotionally draining as possible. You want as much energy as possible available for building your new venture.

Lastly, and to support the point above, if you are a parent, I urge you not to take on staying home with the kids, if you haven’t before, as a way to leverage your income (by saving money from paying child care). Your new business deserves your full attention and so do your kids. It is rare that that you’ll find inspiration amidst taking care of toddlers if you are used to working without distractions.

Give yourself some options.

Don’t put so much pressure on your new dreams that you  are simply stuck not moving into them at all, or jumping into them so quickly that you have to turn back to full time work because of the financial pressure.