seriously considering quitting job

[cleverlyslick]

they say on order for a business to be successful you must dedicate yourself full time to it.but how can i when i have my job in the day and my son at night? i want to dedicate full time not just to domaining,but web development as well,which is why i'm considering quitting my job for 09' and staying at home with my son and manage my portfolio.i know that usa is going through rough times and people should hold on to their jobs,but i believe that this is still a lucrative business and want to capitalize on it before it's too late.my question is has anyone here quit their jobs recently to pursue this, or am i nuts and should be thankful that i am employed and continue to work.your thoughts and opinions are appreciated.

cleverlyslick

[Carter]

I have a 21 months daughter so I don't sleep much at night
I've leave my job 2 years ago and I invest my full time in domaining.
If you want it, you can do it.

Look at the future and invest!

[south]

Keep your bread & butter job until you *consistently* generate enough from websites / domains.
IMHO


Edit: Don't get me wrong - I've been self employed for over 10 years now. I doubt I will ever work for anyone else again (except my customers). It can definitely be done. I'm just recommending a conservative approach in the current economy. Dedicate 4-5 hours every evening/morning/whatever your schedule allows to get it making money, then when you feel it's time or have more (paying) work at your home job, go for it. The most difficult thing for people is to discipline themselves to put the time in. Plan your work, work your plan.
Expect some hard times ahead, but the benefits can be invaluable.

[rebirth]

I quit my job years ago.

In the first few months, it was not easy. It was damn hard. But when you put yourself in that position (where you can't go back to your day job and you have family to take care of), you have no other choice to live on it. Your mind will automatically force yourself to find a way. Eventually, you'll be just fine.

But when you say later, later, later... it won't happen.

However, I'm not going to be the one who recommends you to quit your day job. This is your life. Just because I'm okay, doesn't mean you're going to be okay... and it doesn't mean you're not going to be richer than you are today.

If you think you're nuts, then I must be nutser than you.

G' luck, mate!

[Tia Wood]

I would wait until beginning of next year until the economy is better. Plus businesses are hitting a bit of slow down due to the holidays.

[Carter]

I quit my job years ago.

In the first few months, it was not easy. It was damn hard. But when you put yourself in that position (where you can't go back to your day job and you have family to take care of), you have no other choice to live on it. Your mind will automatically force yourself to find a way. Eventually, you'll be just fine.

But when you say later, later, later... it won't happen.

However, I'm not going to be the one who recommends you to quit your day job. This is your life. Just because I'm okay, doesn't mean you're going to be okay... and it doesn't mean you're not going to be richer than you are today.

If you think you're nuts, then I must be nutser than you.

G' luck, mate!

Agree!

[draggar]

I do what I can when I can. I don't have any children but 13 dogs (that includes 8 puppies) takes up a lot of time and away a lot of sleep. I have 10 minutes at work, I work on a site a little. A commercial break? Work on a site a little. Pizza is in the microwave for 5 minutes? Work a little on a site. Get up in the morning an extra 30 minutes (or stay up 30 minutes later at night).

Now, I don't have any paying clients for web sites (one barter, though but it requires no maintenance) so I'm working on monetization with some domains which is bringing in some revenue. Not enough to quit, but enough to get a check every few months.

[nameadvertising.com]

I quit my day job years ago to go full time into domaining. I could do so because I have a support structure. I cracked the $100,000 mark in sales for the past 2 years and in my own demented mind, I am still struggling. In my mind, I want to be better and bigger and very soon, I will be.

I like saying that to inspire others. I was able to do that because I shut off all the din and noise that goes on in the domaining world. If you simply blindly follow what others are following, it may not be the best way to start out. Too many people doing the same ol' thing. Following the chatter and giving value to what the crowd values.

I branched away from this PPC and traffic based valuation model and totally focused on names which could be modeled for a REAL online business and corporations would be willing to pay high $$ in exchange for it.

Another major reason I could quit my day job was because I carefully analyzed my portfolio. I knew 110%, I had a winner there and I took a leap. Look at your portfolio sans emotions and give it a good breakdown of its potential. Unless you are 110% certain that your names will realize value, do not quit your job. You owe it to your child.

Your success can only be determined based on the quality of the names you own. You got to have no choice but KNOW that a buyer will come along in the next 12-18 months for a good number of your names, if not all. And let no one else determine their quality for you. Either you know they are good, great or crappy or you don't. After all, YOU are the one who invested in them in the first place. Why ask someone else to discover its value? That would be foolish indeed.

There will always be people who will come out as industry leaders, experts and what have you. Don't fall for it. Some people achieve success for many reasons including luck, and being at the right place at the right time and also having some foresight. But, eventually, it is you and you alone who can determine how far you will go in this business and it all begins with a sound knowledge in the quality of your portfolio and how valuable they will be in the months and years to come.

Also, your portfolio sales must be consistent. You cannot have fluke, unpredictable and chance sales. If you sales are consistent on a monthly basis, it is a sure indication of the value of your assets.

Determine how much money you will need to make to offset your expenses. If you come to a value of $5k a month, then scan your portfolio and seek solutions on how you can realize that much of income, sales on a monthly basis. It won't be EASY.

If your domain acquisition strategy is like mine, new registrations and selling for profit, then it may take a while unless you hit the jackpot. There are many other ways you can acquire existing high value domains and resell for profit of which I am not too knowledgeable about.

Hitting the nail again - Take a good look at your portfolio. How many solicitations have you recieved for names in them in the last few weeks and months? How many have you sold thus far? At what prices? Why would anyone pay you the big bucks for your specific names, whether the economy is good or bad?

Unless you have a years worth of expense money stashed away, keep your day job. I risked quitting my job because I have no kids. The challenges and fears were not that high. I risked quitting my job because I knew, coming home after a 9-5 and sitting in front of you pc for 2 hours was not the way to build a portfolio.

Write down all the worst case scenario if you quit your job and your domaining strategy does not work out. Answer them with all sincerity. And if you can still find courage to make a decision in favor of full time domaining, then by all means go for it.

If you don't take a chance, things may never happen. No matter what you decide, do it in the best interests of your child. I would not be half as successful as I am today if I had kids. I know, I would be happier (if I had kids) and I am sure you are too.

NOTE : Keep networking and find time to build the right relationship with good folks in the industry.

[cleverlyslick]

thanx to all for the replies.fortunately my wife works as well so she can hold it down in case it hits the fan.i'm gonna quit my job on dec.22 and try this business full time and aggresively for at least a year.if all else fail i'll go back to work.you guys are a great example of how dedication and persistence can get you the results you want.if it works for you guys it can certainly work for me.why not.

[james2002]

I would not quit my day job currently as I got fund from day job to invest in the domains. I make around $100,000 per year from day job and I am not making that much currently from domaining. But I made around $20000 from domaing over last 2 month or so.

If I got regular income from domaining , I might consider working as a locum by quitting day fulltime job.

[biggedon]

I quit my day job years ago to go full time into domaining. I could do so because I have a support structure. I cracked the $100,000 mark in sales for the past 2 years and in my own demented mind, I am still struggling. In my mind, I want to be better and bigger and very soon, I will be.

I like saying that to inspire others. I was able to do that because I shut off all the din and noise that goes on in the domaining world. If you simply blindly follow what others are following, it may not be the best way to start out. Too many people doing the same ol' thing. Following the chatter and giving value to what the crowd values.

I branched away from this PPC and traffic based valuation model and totally focused on names which could be modeled for a REAL online business and corporations would be willing to pay high $$ in exchange for it.

Another major reason I could quit my day job was because I carefully analyzed my portfolio. I knew 110%, I had a winner there and I took a leap. Look at your portfolio sans emotions and give it a good breakdown of its potential. Unless you are 110% certain that your names will realize value, do not quit your job. You owe it to your child.

Your success can only be determined based on the quality of the names you own. You got to have no choice but KNOW that a buyer will come along in the next 12-18 months for a good number of your names, if not all. And let no one else determine their quality for you. Either you know they are good, great or crappy or you don't. After all, YOU are the one who invested in them in the first place. Why ask someone else to discover its value? That would be foolish indeed.

There will always be people who will come out as industry leaders, experts and what have you. Don't fall for it. Some people achieve success for many reasons including luck, and being at the right place at the right time and also having some foresight. But, eventually, it is you and you alone who can determine how far you will go in this business and it all begins with a sound knowledge in the quality of your portfolio and how valuable they will be in the months and years to come.

Also, your portfolio sales must be consistent. You cannot have fluke, unpredictable and chance sales. If you sales are consistent on a monthly basis, it is a sure indication of the value of your assets.

Determine how much money you will need to make to offset your expenses. If you come to a value of $5k a month, then scan your portfolio and seek solutions on how you can realize that much of income, sales on a monthly basis. It won't be EASY.

If your domain acquisition strategy is like mine, new registrations and selling for profit, then it may take a while unless you hit the jackpot. There are many other ways you can acquire existing high value domains and resell for profit of which I am not too knowledgeable about.

Hitting the nail again - Take a good look at your portfolio. How many solicitations have you recieved for names in them in the last few weeks and months? How many have you sold thus far? At what prices? Why would anyone pay you the big bucks for your specific names, whether the economy is good or bad?

Unless you have a years worth of expense money stashed away, keep your day job. I risked quitting my job because I have no kids. The challenges and fears were not that high. I risked quitting my job because I knew, coming home after a 9-5 and sitting in front of you pc for 2 hours was not the way to build a portfolio.

Write down all the worst case scenario if you quit your job and your domaining strategy does not work out. Answer them with all sincerity. And if you can still find courage to make a decision in favor of full time domaining, then by all means go for it.

If you don't take a chance, things may never happen. No matter what you decide, do it in the best interests of your child. I would not be half as successful as I am today if I had kids. I know, I would be happier (if I had kids) and I am sure you are too.

NOTE : Keep networking and find time to build the right relationship with good folks in the industry.

500 DNF$ sent to you

quality post!

[DomainsInc]

Full time is the only way to go, in my opinion but you have to be prepared for a lifestyle of feast and famine. A lot of people claim to always be making big bucks but I don't buy it for the most part. There are ups and downs.

[MrDude]

I quit my job 2 weeks ago, origionally I planned on january. 6 months ago I told myself I would earn a living from the internet and quit my construction job, I finally did, one thing I did is made sure I was earning equivalent to my job in development so when I quit my lifestyle wouldnt change, I suggest you do the same, my social life suffered for 6 months, but now its time to make up, im going to cut down to 4 days a week very soon, there is money in this industry, id say go for it.

Think of it like this, every extra day you spend with your employer, you are earning them more money rather than yourself, if you invested your 9 hour days into domaining, I am sure you would be a lot better off after only a few months.

[james2002]

I think it is not a good idea to quit a full time job in this hard time. Domains are harder to sell as economy outlook is not great.

I think if you are making at least twice your regular income over at least 6 months, it will make sense to quit the job.

Man, I look at some of your domains.

You said "seriously considering to quit the job".

I suggest "seriously consider learning more about domains first".

[cleverlyslick]

I think it is not a good idea to quit a full time job in this hard time. Domains are harder to sell as economy outlook is not great.

I think if you are making at least twice your regular income over at least 6 months, it will make sense to quit the job.

Man, I look at some of your domains.

You said "seriously considering to quit the job".

I suggest "seriously consider learning more about domains first".

thanx for your honest opinion about my domains james.some are pretty crappy,and some i believe can be valuable in the future. i have a small portfolio and haven't had the chance to acquire new ones for a while.but still i believe i have learned sufficient enough about this game that i can purchase some good names in the near future and develop some as well.

[james2002]

Ok. It is up to you. I think I am still learning and I am not sure why you think you have learnt enough.

Domaining involved a lot of learning.

One thing I can say is:

For example,

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...e+Search&meta=

For the domain, you still think it is good but there are only 5 exact searches.

As I said, it is upto you.

[cleverlyslick]

Ok. It is up to you. I think I am still learning and I am not sure why you think you have learnt enough.

Domaining involved a lot of learning.

One thing I can say is:

For example,

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...e+Search&meta=

For the domain, you still think it is good but there are only 5 exact searches.

As I said, it is upto you.

ok it seems to me like you're just trying to bash me for one of my domains.like i said i have some crappy names and i also have some good ones that i believe are valuable in the future.i never said i learned enough i said i know enough to quit my job and make this business work for myself.doesn't mean i'm going to stop learning about domains.how many domains you own? probably 1,000? how many of them are actually winners?i own 53 domains. i hand regge'd about 10 domains on pure speculation and the others i picked up on the drop and i know that at least 15 of my domains can hold tremendous value.i haven't paid more than $20 for a domain as of yet. i believe this game you CAN turn something like dyckmanapartments.com into value.there is alot of real estate development in dyckman street and that's what prompt me to register this name.with development,proper marketing and promotions,and the right people to contact i know i will make it work for me. but like i said your honest opinion is welcome and it's great motivation to become a better if not the best domainer.i came a long way from hustling on a corner making more money than you ever have domaining,to working an honest 9-5 job with no money in my pocket and now going to college and soon to be making this business work for me.

thank you james

[Banned: theinvestor]

I would like to add something to this convo.

The only reason you should ever quit your job is if you're making more money on the side from domaining.

I assume you have a full time job (40 hours)

If you are a domainer then you probably put in 40 hours on the side for domaning and development in your spare time as well....even if it's 20 hours...work your % out..

Are you making more money from domaining? If not, then it's probably not wise to quit.

[BELLC1]

If you are a domainer with good names but you have no real initiative and talent, well, being your own boss isn't for everyone.

[nameadvertising.com]

Cleverly,
Sometimes, words get in the way. I am sure James meant nothing but goodwill towards you. We all want everyone to succeed. You can see how folks congratulate a total stranger when he or she makes a featured sale on the charts. All is good. Find the right spot. Keep hammering at it.

I can see that you have already found your niche while considering developing dyckmanapartments.com - Now, as I see it, you will only do better going forward.

You will do well. I have 100% faith in you.