Welcome to Letter #009 of The Creative Alchemy, a weekly letter on building a creative, intentional life through content, freelancing, and storytelling.
Every week, I share honest reflections, practical lessons, and experiments from my own journey as someone who left a stable job to build a business and life on her own terms.
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I know you’re looking to quit your job.
You’re “inspired” by everyone sharing their story about starting something of their own - people talking about quitting their jobs when they wanted to or when it got too toxic. These narratives have us believing that starting up is the easier and better way to go. But is it? Let’s explore that a little more.
Before you even think of leaving your job, here are 5 things you should evaluate:
1. Savings and Expenses
Do you have enough savings (not investments—never dip into your investments) to cover your expenses for at least 12 months? Also, consider how long it will take for your business to become monetizable. Based on that, you might need savings that last you up to 3 years.
2. Are you a leader or a follower?
This is an extremely important step, perhaps the most important one. Why? Because in freelancing or a startup, your success depends on how well you can carry yourself. Meeting people, asking for work, building connections, finding funding - all of it requires certain capabilities.
A lot of us might not be suited for them.
I’m seeing freelancers who leave their jobs to start their own business and then wait for jobs or roles to come their way. If you’re planning to go the startup way, you have to be extremely high-agency, relentless, and to a certain extent—shameless.
This isn’t to say that corporates don’t require these traits. But as a solopreneur or entrepreneur, you need to have this 10X.
3. Do you have a network, connections, or a lead pipeline you can leverage the moment you start?
If you’re someone restarting work after a big gap, or someone young and just starting out, this might be difficult but not entirely impossible. This is a key factor that shapes how your business will turn out. It’s all about who you know, and who they know.
4. Do you have the patience to wait and build something over the next few years?
Think about this honestly. Don’t answer in the spur of the moment.
Do you have kids? Parents who need your financial support? Loans or bills to pay?
If all of these are true, you might be looking for ways to make money quickly and you’ll likely lose patience entirely when things don’t go your way for a few months or even a few years.
Remember this -
Hofstadter’s Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.
5. Do you have backup—aka privilege?
What happens if you don’t make it or until you do?
Not just financially, but emotionally and logistically.
I’ll be honest: the biggest reason I can take this risk is because my husband has a stable job (touch wood), and my parents and in-laws are well off. If I lost everything, I could rely on my parents to help me get back on my feet.
We have to realize that a lot of people don’t have this.
While this shouldn’t be the reason not to start up, remember this about advice you see online:
You don’t know their financial situation or how much backup they have.
I have 3 friends who left or were asked to leave their jobs last year. This was around the same time I started working on my own. All of them tried freelancing.
One person realized it wasn’t for them. They had bills to pay and hated the uncertainty, so they went back to a job.
Another friend took a 6-month break. They could sustain themselves, tried freelancing for some extra income while looking for a job.
The third friend—like me—has decided to give freelancing a proper shot over the next couple of years.
Let me give you a few stats:
80% of businesses or freelancers don’t make money in the first 2 years or shut down completely.
So imagine you read 10 posts about people starting their own business.
Only 2 of them might actually be making money. Now do you think you should be listening to all 10?
This letter isn’t to say you shouldn’t start.
It’s to say - consider your situation and privilege before you do.
And more importantly, ask if you’re really suited for entrepreneurship.
Also reasons like:
“I don’t want to spend so much time at work,”
“I want to take it easy,”
“I want to work from anywhere”
…are not reasons to quit your job.
That’s usually sheer stupidity.
A much wiser decision?
If you really want this, start with a side-hustle.
Build everything you want on the side.
Do it consistently for a year.
You’ll either make some money.
Or gain a whole load of learnings.
Both are great outcomes.
If you are still reading, you might want to give freelancing a try. Read this E-book to understand what you need to do to become a freelancer!
Slightly depressing to think that only 2 out of 10 succeed but that's certainly not putting me off from aiming to be on that 20%
Thanks for your insightful letter Aditi. I really needed to hear this today.