Question for Established E-tailers

[Nox]

Hi all. I'm new to the forums but not new to the world of e-commerce and stuff. Currently, I work as a FT webmaster at the current company I work for. But I've been working on my biz plan to launch my startup biz online for a while.

I got a question for you all who have been running online biz first few years. I'm curious about how long does it take before you actually quit your full time (or part time) employment once your online biz is running and bringing in profits? I do understand that all businesses are different but I'm just asking in general, not focusing on any type of biz. TIA.

[vangogh]

That's a hard question to answer, since I think it comes down to personal things as much as business. The smart and practical answer is you should probably wait until your business is making enough money to replace most or all of your salary or you should wait until you have X months of savings.

In my case I did neither. A big part of my choice in running my own business is the lifestyle. I hated going into an office all day. It drained me and left me with little energy to get a business going on the side. A few years back I got laid off a couple times over the course of a few years. Once because the company wasn't doing well and let most everyone go and once because IBM bought the company I was working for an we made a competing product that was no longer necessary. It happens.

After the second layoff I decided that instead of looking for another job I would start my own businesses. It was something I had wanted to do for years anyway and the timing seemed right. I didn't have much in savings and I had little knowledge about how to run a business. What I did have was a lot of confidence in myself and not a lot of need for material things. I made very little money early on while I figured things out and somehow I managed to find a way to pay the bills.

Would I advise others to follow my path to owning a business? Probably not. You have to be willing to sacrifice many things you might not be willing to live without for a couple of years. For me though it was the only way. I needed to be able to focus on the business full time in order to get it going.

Ultimately it comes down to risk management. Starting a business is risky. Most fail. My first business failed. There's safety in being employed while starting a business on the side. However, most successful entrepreneurs do take risks along the way to success. Only you can really know when you're ready to leave the job and focus solely on the business. It does make sense to have some savings that you can live on while you get the business going. Some people say 6 months, others say a year. It's up to you and your comfort level.

[billbenson]

It depends on what you need to make as well. If you can get by on say $50k per year, put in late nights and all weekends on your sites, and not only know web design but web marketing I would say at a minimum 6 months and more realistically one year. There is a ton of work for a profitable site and if you are working full time, its difficult to make that time. If you know web design, but not marketing it will probably take longer

Most full time webmasters I know plan on a year for a new site to be profitable. Sometimes they do better, sometimes the site flops completely. It took me 6 months, but that was redoing an existing site full time and marketing via adwords.

[phanio]

Good comments here on not quiting your day job until your business can support you. You could also use this time to reduce your current obligations - thus it will take less business income to cover your personal expenses.

In my experience (and as you stated all businesses are different and all business owners are different) it usually take s 18 months to 2 years to turn a profit - if you put in the time and effort. Now, this is based on being full time in your business. Starting your business part time - may take longer (just a back of the envelop thought).

But, if you use this pre-lanuch time to reduce your personal obligations - then, you path may be much shorter.