Well today has been one hell of a day.
I have switched jobs to a new place and lately the new boss has been a down right nasty lady.
Today I took the day off, admittigly playing sick but in actual fact I had spent the whole day thinking about what I should do.
The thought crossed my mind to finally start his tshirt business I have been tinkering aound with for nearly a year.
I have a website set up and nearly done using cubecart 4 (fantastic cart program incidently) and I am considering making some sales on ebay (dunno if this has been a good selling channel for others yet or not)
Am I crazy to quit and start this business? Should I brave it?
I keep worrying bout the rent and other bills but at the same time maybe this might be the best move (or worst move) ever.
Im seriously considering throwing in the towel at work and saying sorry but Im going to go work for myself. Ive had enough.
My advice would be if at all possible suck it up at work and start this part time. There is SO much to do and learn (I've been at the learning curve for over 2 months now and feel that I've just scratched the surface). Just doing your business plan and marketing plan will take TIME. In the meantime you will have an income coming in. From reading this forum, I'd say that the majority on her started out part time. If at all possible, keep your "day time" job until the T-shirt business comes within 2/3 of what you're making now. At that point, if this business is what you want -- go for it!
Have you ever started a business before? It takes a certain type of person to be an entrepenuer (sp?). It's real hard to keep your nose to the grindstone when starting a business. Forget about going out to dinner, the pub with your buddies, etc. If you feel that you can not do this, you will probably have a tough time going into and being in business by yourself. Now if you view this as another challenge in life and are willing to do just about whatever it takes, then you will be a success. Just remember that many of the Over night success stories you heard, took many years to reach that instant success. My t-shirt business is the fourth I've started (and NONE of them has been related) and there is nothing like the rush you get from "birthing" a new business.
I know this is only my second post (I think) here but I do frequent the boards often to see what's going on. Anyway, I felt as though I could comment on this topic as I am going through a similar experience.
As much as you may want to quit due to your current situation, I would say hold off until you get your shirt company up and running. When I started my site, it was a dream to quit my job and do this full-time...but that's not why I started it...I did it out of my love for doing the types of shirts I do. Even when there was no money in it and I was getting one order a month, I still did it with the same passion as I do today.
I've now been doing this for over 4 years now and thankfully things are going very well. And although I now make triple what my salary is as a graphic designer, I've only just begun thinking of doing it full time. Yes, that’s right…I still have that same day job that I’ve dreamt about quitting.
Quitting now and trying to make this work as a full time gig without any experience is only adding stress to your situation. It's not that it can't be done, but it takes time...lots of time...to build up a site. Not to mention money... Unless you're independently wealthy, plan on re-investing any profits you do make back into the business for awhile. Hell, I didn't start "paying myself" until this year because I wanted to keep expanding my site. So if you're worried about mortgage and other bills, be prepared to panic when you don't start making enough to cover those bills right away...
The bottom line is, do it because you love it...not because you want to make money. The money will follow in time. Start slow, and make lots of mistakes...but keep the day job to cover the bills so those mistakes aren't detrimental to your lifestyle. No sense in losing your house because your shirts did not sell. And ultimately, be patient and persistent. It will pay off eventually.
Absolutely. I'm not your accountant so I could be wrong, but your business isn't ready to support you and it doesn't sound like you have the resources to support yourself in the (potentially long) meanwhile (or you would have pushed the business further by now).
What to do, am I crazy? 
