Should you quit your 9-to-5 and start a business or build your idea while you’re still employed?
For aspiring entrepreneurs, that question can feel HUGE. You’re craving more freedom, creativity, or control, but leaving a stable paycheck can feel like jumping off a financial cliff.
But what if you don’t have to choose between playing it safe and burning it all down?
In this episode of Workday Playdate, Erin shares a five-step approach for quitting your 9-to-5, starting a business, and making the leap into entrepreneurship with more clarity. Drawing from her own experience building improve it! while working a full-time recruiting job, Erin breaks down how to test your idea, understand your finances, involve your support system, and create a gradual path toward self-employment.
Instead of asking, “Should I quit my job?” Erin invites you to ask a better question: What can I build before I leave?
Inside This Episode:
- The “Stay or Go” Gut Check: Use a simple gut check to understand whether you’re ready to leave your job or just ready for something to change.
- Build Before You Bail: Why you don’t need to quit your 9-to-5 before you start building your business. Erin shares how she built improve it! while working full time.
- Know Your Numbers: Get clear on your monthly expenses, income needs, and financial runway before making a career transition.
- Bring Your People In: Why talking openly with your boss, partner, friends, or trusted supporters can make a big career decision feel less scary and more strategic.
- Make the Leap Less Leap-y: Explore part-time work, freelancing, side hustles, and small business pilots as ways to test entrepreneurship before going all in.
- Start Small, Learn Fast: You don’t need the perfect business plan. Build the smallest viable version, get feedback, and let the real-world data guide your next move.
What to Do Now:
- Ask “What Can I Build Before I Leave?” Identify one small piece of your business or idea you can test while you still have the stability of your current job.
- Do the Math: Calculate your monthly expenses, income target, and financial runway. A dream gets a lot less scary when you know your numbers.
- Run a Tiny Experiment: Test your idea with a small offer, pilot, freelance project, or first customer. You don’t need to quit to find out if there’s demand.
- Talk to Your People: Bring a trusted person into the conversation. You don’t have to make a major career decision alone or in secret!
- Build Before You Bail: Remember: quitting your 9-to-5 isn’t the first step. Sometimes, it’s the next step after you’ve built enough evidence to make the leap.
Your Freebie
Take the quiz: What’s Your Leadership Style and Your Next Business Move?
Find out how your leadership style drives motivation, and walk away with 3 specific ideas you can start building into your business right away.
Workshop mentioned in the episode: Taking Initiative & Creative Risks
Connect with Erin Diehl x improve it!
- Leadership Playground online membership community
- Erin’s website
- Erin’s Instagram
- Erin’s TikTok
- Erin’s LinkedIn
- improve it!’s website
- improve it!’s Instagram
Connect with Erin Diehl
🌟 Learn more about Workday Playdate: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/podcast-page
🎤 Book Erin to speak: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/keynote-speaker
📚 Workshops & Team Experiences: https://www.learntoimproveit.com/experiential-training
💌 Learn more about Erin: https://www.itserindiehl.com/meet-erin
📱 For more information on improve it! visit www.learntoimproveit.com.
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