Executive Diary – part time to full time
Picture this, you are an ordinary employee, working a 9-5 job. Then one day, you and a friend meet up and discover the idea that both of you have been having all along. You both decide to open a business together to execute that idea. There is one problem: both of you are enjoying a full time job, and mortgages to pay.
Tl; dr;
I was blessed to keep my full time job a little while longer, while my business parter had to jump to full time position in our company early.
The transition was smooth in my case since we established a good foundation for me to go into the business officially. Before that I was working part time with no pay for nearly 2 years.
Starting up
We started the company in September 2018. Back then, we had 1-2 clients, not enough for any full time position just yet. Fast forward to a few months later and we managed to get our first big client, Stockdale & Leggo. Although it was a small project, but it gave us the confidence that we can sustain the company.
Then everything went sideways.
My business partner – Rod, got laid off from his company.
We faced our first big obstacle, would he find another full-time job, or take the leap of faith and become the first full-time employee in our company? We discussed and decided to take the latter option, as we believed deals should be made within the working hours, not after hours. And having someone fully dedicated to the company is better than two half minded ones.
Struggling through hard times
We just assumed that networking is the key to getting new businesses. So I introduced him to BNI, and went to a couple of them to see which one is suitable for our business. Eventually we found a chapter for Rod to join and start building our networks. The first few months after we joined were quiet, and he spent a lot of time meeting new people. I couldn’t do it because I was still in my full-time job. Therefore I can only supported him after hour, doing things like quoting for projects, and even development works.
Then COVID-19 hit.
I remember there were times that we only had less than $5,000 in our bank account, and BAS time was approaching. We were that close to being insolvent. However, we pushed through with some timely contracts. And everything started to pick up about 6 months into COVID.
Since COVID forced us to all working from home. I had the luxury of networking with new people via teleconferences, while ensuring my productivity of the full-time work after hour. We met more people than ever before, and business owners started to realize they didn’t need a local development team to work on the projects. We were given many chances and gained our clients’ trust from there.
Decision to take the leap of faith
Since the beginning of 2021, Rod and I had decided that the time for me to go full-time is mid 2021. No matter what happened, I would go full-time at that point. A deadline is needed when you do something important, so it doesn’t get pushed back again and again.
And I did. I went officially full-time on the first of August, 2021. After I sent my resignation in July, the last month was relatively easy for me in Adslot (which was the previous company that I worked for). This period prepared me to adapt to the new environment. The first few months were busy as we took in new projects. We had more projects than we could handle. However, we didn’t price them correctly, so we still suffered from cashflow perspective, and it still lingers until today.
What did I gain?
I met a lot of people in the business world. They taught me a lot of things, either from their experience, or from their readings and meeting with other people. It is a whole new world and I look at money and wealth very differently now, comparing to the time before Digital Envision.
Everyday is a new day for me. I have no idea how it is going to turn out. Every day poses new problems that I need to solve, or delegate. In my opinion, life is the most exciting when I cannot predict what is going to happen next, and therefore having new experience every single day.
What was sacrificed?
Obviously, being a full-stack developer in the last 2 years is like being a rabbit which has to choose between a big pile of carrots, and a bigger pile of carrots. Australia still ridiculously lacks of experienced developers, and it is no longer weird when I see a $200,000 package for a senior developer. Jumping out to my company, I accepted a minimum-wage salary, which affected the lifestyle greatly. To this day, I can’t really go out with friends without thinking about the budget that I have for the month.
Another thing that I can think of, is the serviceability to take loans. I could have purchased another property at the end of 2020 before the bull market started. However, I decided to keep the cash to prepare for the leap. I had the contract of the property that fit all the criteria on the table, waiting for signature. And now it goes up about 30%. But I have no regret, as this was the plan.
Summary
Moving from your safe full-time job to your own business certainly is a risky move. But I would say it was worth it. I have absolutely no regret since the day I handed in the resignation email. At least later on, I can tell my kids about the risk that I took to give life a better meaning, to give it a chance to influent more people than ever before.
“If you’re not sure about a certain decision, you should try a leap of faith; for you know not how deep you would fall, when you jump.” ― Mr One ZED
By Tuan Nguyen
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