this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2023
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As the title says, You've got the money in the bank to start your idea or so you think. How do you tell yourself it's ok and to take the first jump knowing the potential risk of losing it all?

Share your experiences

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[–] Sea-Exercise-8345@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

if you have prepared, it makes things easier.

[–] narutospeaking@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Invested quality time and money into education. There is no need to take any big risks when you slowly slowly build a project over time.

[–] marcelDanz@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Congrats on the money!
You can ask yourself what is holding you back. It usually is some fears that are lingering inside you. You can do a fear-conquering exercise with these fears to make more objective decisions on them.

  1. Write your fears down. The worst-case scenario that could happen when you make the jump.
  2. Rate the impact on your life of this worst-case scenario on a scale of 1-10.
  3. Specify the steps that you would need to take to get back up after this worst-case scenario struck.
  4. Write down the other possible outcomes that are more likely than the worst-case scenario. And rate them on a scale of 1-10.
  5. Write down what it costs you currently to not take the jump. In terms of money, and fulfillment of your other needs like passion, meaning, appreciation, etc.
  6. Rate the current cost on a scale of 1-10.
  7. Now review the data you collected. Chances are that the worst-case scenario isn't as bad as you imagined first, and you know how to fix it when it should occur. Is that impact worse than what it costs you right now to not make the jump?

This should help you make a bit more objective decision. If you'd like more input DM me, maybe I can help you with the experience I collected over the years.

[–] Rich_Supermarket585@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Great reply, I often consider things that could potentially go wrong if I take a risk but I rarely consider the effects of doing nothing. Much scarier in my opinion

[–] marcelDanz@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Yes definitely. One example I have of that is when I was in university I dreamed of going to Japan for an exchange year. But I was scared of it being too expensive for me to be able to pay for it. This fear held me back for 3 years not doing it. Until I actually checked for the first time how much it would cost instead of just following the vague "oh it will be too expensive" mantra I had until then. And turned out that it wasn't that expensive at all. So I postponed an incredible life-changing experience, for 3 years, just because I didn't evaluate the factual basis of my fears.

[–] DonnaHuee@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I like this. Also, you don’t need to jump into it right away. Build out your business plan and do market research while you still have a job. That education over a few months will help you know how viable your idea is so you can ckimjoarjw mykmmj

[–] Ortonium@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I educated myself first, didn’t just start out of nowhere, talked to people already in the industry.

Bought a couple of courses

[–] aztec337@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Somehow a couple customers turned into a website then with networking I leveraged a resell channel (not knowing thats what it was called). That sort of exploded small scale that got me a terrible office. I wasn't even old enough to buy alcohol then.

The first few customers proved a market need for me that I just kept trying replicate that before I actually realized I was in business for myself. I don't recall ever "making a jump" or having a windfall of funds and it was by no means effortless.

[–] Klutzy_Design438@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

I’ve always said the difference between me and someone else is I just went for it. Also research your heart out and never stop learning.

[–] FinPlannerAnalyst@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Just do it.

[–] davidedgertonjr@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Sometimes it is not a jump but more of a push or kick.

I found out on a Monday that I didn't have a job anymore. I was lucky that I was given a severance package that almost lasted a year, but I was caught between going back to an area I had started to age out of or going forward in a new area where I didn't have a lot of experience. In the end I decided to start my own firm and I have been working in it ever since.

I didn't have money to start the business but I knew I could use my transferrable skills and give it a go. That is all you need because money will come as you go. When you get kicked out or pushed, you are starting from the bottom anyway so there is no where to go but up.

The eagerness to chase freedom. Looking back, I'm glad I took the risk, it was all worth it. If there's an advice I could give, that is "make it happen". Here's one article to read https://www.cuppa.so/post/turning-your-big-idea-into-a-reality