It’s true. I’m in wealth management and many of our clients are entrepreneurs themselves.
1 Like
As I hire people now, I also prefer someone that will stay at least a year and say this at the interview. That being said, at our company people stay 2- 3 years on average and few its their only job (15+ years), and some only a few months. I can understand in most cases and your example is reasonable to me, the ones that are not are very few Onr is going to another like company and lying about it ( We had one quit ASAP and start the next allowable workday at new company that we know, and I would be ok with it if she told that is what she quit) and taking customers with you. Anyways, starting your own company is good reason to me to leave, there very few bad reasons actually as its very personal choice.
2 Likes
Congratulations! I started my own business out of necessity to have the work permit and floundered around for several years. I’m a manufacturing expert, but had never owned a business and had zero experience in sales. I had to learn those skills the hard way because I didn’t have any money to attract the talent. It took me about 5 years to get my act together.
My business model is set, and I know how to close a sale. Now, I’m doing fairly well and looking at ways to increase sales.
Family always wants what is best for you even if they can’t understand it. When people say that your biz idea won’t work out, it means they don’t know how to make it work. Of course, you should always listen to well-intended advice but we have limited years on this planet, so we should do more of what we want.
2 Likes
I’m a little nervous telling my boss who is also the director of the firm. It’s a small firm and we are close.
But it’s just business. I was fully transparent about having a business. It grew quickly and it’s just the reality.
I’m not exactly sure what to say but I’ll have to think about it.
They don’t even understand what I’m selling. I tried to tell people this was profitable but no one believed anyone would pay so much for what I’m selling and how cheap I’m getting it 
2 Likes
He must have liked you to hire you. I wouldn’t hire somebody who has quite a big side business. I wouldn’t tell my boss either if I did for this reason. This kind of outcome is predictable.
1 Like
Well my advice tell him/her/x , let them and you plan your futures if you want be fair to all (if your all in good terms). If he is smart, he will use your remaining time to best use. It could be to teach others, or stop training you and have do the work to finish your projects. I almost never stop someone if they have made to decision to leave (but if they are unsure and I like them I will work hard to get them to stay). I do ask sometimes if they can stay to finish a project or task, sometimes they stay or sometimes not (sometimes the project is the reason they leave) or sometimes they never leave. I do not know your boss, you know him better but in most cases give them reasonable notice.
And last, good for you that you can make your business work and profitable ! We have, twenty years latter we still who wonder about our future as a small firm.
3 Likes
Well it was a small side business when I started working. A few thousand pounds a month. It just grew so quickly and I even had to hire an employee to keep up.
It’s more about focus, I could never tell my managers I had a side business. We are always asked to give 110% to our job. That could be more a reflection on the demands of our business and expectations of managers…And that’s okay as long as the pay and treat us well.
Some employers are okay with employees doing other things but as in your case it was a (minor) mistake for them 
. I’m happy you are doing well though !
1 Like
I understand. I was debating it but I felt like I should be upfront with it.
2 Likes
It makes sense for you to throw yourself into this business right now as it has high profitability and rapdi growth. It’s important to maintain your quality standards and supply chain and you should be good to go.
2 Likes
That’s usually how long a probation period lasts.
A probation is for both employer and employee to check each other. You’ve checked and decided the market (or in this case, your own business) has something better to offer. 
It shouldn’t be too complicate.
1 Like
Thanks everyone for the words of wisdom and encouragement. Many of you have followed my adventures the last few years and it’s been a magical ride to get to this point.
I’m not going to lie. It feels very daunting telling my boss I’m resigning but I feel like it’s the right thing for both parties.
1 Like
I’m fully on the side of just let the company know and that they’ll understand, but that’s a really nice scenario, and not anything resembling a worst case scenario. 
I’ve not been very successful running my own business, but I’ve lost a lot of other people’s money, learned some lessons, and bootstrapped a couple of successful businesses run by other people. I have a rather different take on your situation. I’m thinking it would be better to exit the side hustle, and squeeze another year or two out of your finance job if you’re enjoying it and you think it’ll take you places.
I don’t mean close down the online business. Just consider that you’ve brought it to a point where an external investor would, by now, want to sell up and move on. Is this an option for you? Can you either operate the business in a more hands-off fashion, with employees doing most of the work and you drawing a salary just for being there; or can you literally sell the business as a going concern? Since you think you can grow the business successfully, and you’re unlikely to find a rich buyer without a lot of legwork, option (a) might be the best one.
Reasoning: your business is what it is, and it’s not likely to be anything different. Although it may have potential to make you a lot of money, it’s not necessarily going to give you the life progression that you seem to crave. The finance job, OTOH, seems much more open-ended.
1 Like
I think Andrew wants to put his hard work to make him rich in both experience and money. Why slave away to make someone else rich when your own business is starting to blossom?
1 Like
I was suggesting he can do both, by offloading some of the grunt work in his business onto other people while still keeping a benevolent eye on progress. One can become too invested in one’s brainchild to the point where one overlooks the possibility that other people can just as well follow whatever-it-is that you’re doing, as long as you tell them how to do it properly.
I get the feeling he could end up as a rather big wheel in the finance company, so it’d be very much a case of making himself rich on two fronts.
Hey Finley,
I’ve thought about this. But the ownership is split between me and Lily so it’s not the right move for us.
Right now my part is really the business side. How to get more profits by breaking down data and analyzing. Something I’m rather good at. Our average order value has gone from £30 to almost 60 since I’ve optimized the shopping process. I’ve cut all the products with small margins to save us time and I’m constantly doing A/B testing on things to see what works.
For example, my customer were 20% more likely to purchase with £10 off than 30% for products when the price is the same.
I’m also handling the finances and book keeping. I don’t trust anyone to do this or it’s going to be expensive to get someone with this kind of skill.
I will have to split some time for customer service as I’m doing that. I’ll have to get someone to help and im already looking for more employees.
I’ve spoken to people about selling the business as an idea of what I’ll get. It turns out, my store is worth a lot and very desirable. Our customer retention is 60% and 33% have bought from us more than 5 times since June. We are behaving like a mature shop with 50% new clients and 50% retention this last month. And we spend 0 on marketing for client acquisitions. Our net margins are close to 80% before tax.
But I think we can grow bigger. Our industry competitors make millions a years in sale. I see no reason why we can’t hit 1 mil next year in sales. We are on track to hit nearly 300k GBP by the end of this year and we only incorporated in June. This is why I don’t want to sell and I want to spend more time on this.
5 Likes
Drugs?
Your posts make me feel like a failure. Well done.
3 Likes
Another question. If you do resign, and take the route of full entrepreneur, will you stay in the UK?