I guess this is a bit less common reading the other posts, but we make candles (along with other fragrance products).
My partner is full time, and has been for 3-4 years now. We started doing markets and fragrance shows etc. until we finally opened a brick-and-mortar store this year.
It's been 3 months now, and we're profitable. She's already pulling in a livable wage from the net profit.
The thing is, product R&D has always been my role. There's a lot of chemistry that goes into it and that's where I shine. But my day job is really draining me and I have little to no time for the side hustle.
The issue is, I get paid quite well. I hate it, but it is good pay. It's also expected to get worse in a couple of weeks as a team member just quit, so we'll be taking on their workload. But I'm scared of giving up this income.
I know there is a lot of stuff we could be doing if I was full-time with her. We have some part-time staff in the shop now, but she's still crazy busy since we handmake our products.
I have enough savings to easily last a year. Maybe longer. But we would be eating into the savings. And I doubt sales are going to magically double in the next 6 months to where we can live off the profits.
So how do you know if it's worth the risk? I'm burned out from my day job, it stresses me out. But does it make sense to even take 6 months off to do the side hustle full time and see what we can do?
How do you know it's time to quit the day job?
byu/DiscoMonkeyz inEntrepreneur
Posted by DiscoMonkeyz
1 Comment
if you’ve got a year of savings and the business is already profitable, that’s a strong signal you’ve built real traction. It’s not about perfect timing, it’s about how much risk you can absorb without panic. if you can set a clear checkpoint, like “six months full-time and review numbers then,” it keeps the move strategic instead of emotional. that way you’re testing commitment, not gambling stability.