Startup Stories: Why I Happily Left Corporate America and 6 Figures on the Table

Take This Job and … Well … Give it to Someone Else

Like many of you reading this, I’m a self-proclaimed “go-getter.” Attended a private high school on full scholarship; first in my family to graduate college; landed a coveted internship and then a full-time gig at Goldman Sachs, eventually working my way through the ranks to become a Vice President at the age of twenty-seven.

Then after another successful year, at twenty-eight – I quit. Not only did I quit, but I left the finance industry altogether to pursue entrepreneurship in the form of an online flooring retail company.  To everyone else it was unexpected and completely uncharacteristic.

To me, it was a long time coming.

“Why would someone leave a ‘good job’ in such a tough economy?”

This is always the first question I receive.

“Floors?!”

This is inevitably the second.

For those of you out there who are contemplating leaving your day job, here’s how I finally decided to skip the stable 6-figure salary for the unpredictable, yet fulfilling pursuit of owning my own business. Here are three signs that may indicate that you’re ready to pull the trigger too:

1. You’ve settled on a marketable idea.

I don’t mean ‘settled’ in the negative sense, rather having finally chosen ‘the idea.’ If you’re like me, you’ve come up with hundreds of ideas. Maybe you’ve even tried your hand at one or two. Then one day, you realize you’re really onto something. A market exists, and you have a decent shot at being successful.

For me, the decision to become an online flooring retailer came down to a few simple factors: 1) I could operate the business from anywhere. 2) I wanted to sell a product- not deal with the headaches that can come from a service-based business and; 3) I enjoy every home buying, home improvement show on television. The decision was that simple. (That is, if you don’t count the hundred other ideas that came before it.)