MBA2552 Q&A Wednesday: How Do I Tell My Wife I Want to Quit My Job and Start a Business?

Summary

The $100 MBA Show - Episode Summary: MBA2552 Q&A Wednesday: How Do I Tell My Wife I Want to Quit My Job and Start a Business?

Release Date: November 27, 2024
Host: Omar Zenhom

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Introduction

In episode MBA2552 Q&A Wednesday, Omar Zenhom addresses a pivotal question submitted by Eddie: "How do I tell my wife I want to quit my job and start a business?" Recognizing the gravity of this decision, Omar emphasizes the importance of securing the support of loved ones to ensure entrepreneurial success. He guides listeners through a comprehensive approach to initiating this critical conversation with transparency, accountability, and a well-structured plan.

1. Open, Honest, and Consistent Communication

Omar begins by highlighting that starting a business is not just a personal venture but a shared journey with those closest to you. He underscores the necessity of ongoing dialogue about your goals, challenges, and progress.

Omar Zenhom [00:54]: "This is a critical moment, Eddie. Your success doesn't just depend on the business. It depends on getting the people closest to you on your side."

Using his personal experience, Omar shares how he transitioned from a decade-long career as an English teacher to entrepreneurship by maintaining open lines of communication with his family and partner, Nicole Baldino. This continuous conversation helps prevent misunderstandings and ensures that your partner feels involved and informed.

2. Schedule Regular Check-Ins

To foster a supportive environment, Omar recommends setting up weekly or bi-weekly check-ins with your partner. These meetings don't need to be formal; even 5 to 10 minutes can make a significant difference.

• Share Wins and Challenges: Start by discussing your achievements, such as securing a new client or launching a website, and also candidly address any setbacks or obstacles you're encountering.

  Omar Zenhom [05:15]: "It's okay to share the wins and the challenges. You're including them along with the journey."

This practice not only keeps your partner informed but also strengthens the sense of teamwork and mutual support.

3. Sell the Vision and Present a Solid Plan

When initiating the conversation about quitting your job, Omar advises that you sell the vision and present a detailed plan. This involves:

• Explaining the Why: Clearly articulate your reasons for wanting to start a business and how it aligns with your long-term goals.

  Omar Zenhom [06:45]: "If you can't clearly explain the why of the plan, it will be hard to gain support."

• Outlining the Transition: Discuss the steps you'll take to transition from your current job to entrepreneurship, including financial projections and timelines.

• Setting Expectations: Be transparent about the potential sacrifices, such as reduced free time or the need to work weekends in the initial stages.

Omar Zenhom [08:10]: "You need to communicate the vision, but also what's the cost of that vision."

Action Step: Prepare a comprehensive plan that includes timelines, goals, and contingencies. Walk through this plan with your partner, addressing any concerns and inviting their input.

4. Be Open to Feedback and Willing to Adjust

Omar emphasizes the importance of collaboration over mere approval. By involving your partner in the planning process, you can benefit from their insights and possibly identify areas for improvement.

Omar Zenhom [09:30]: "Be open to feedback and be willing to adjust your plan. Your partner may offer valuable insights that can actually improve your plan."

He shares how including Nicole as a co-founder brought a balanced perspective to the business, leveraging her calculated approach to complement his action-oriented mindset.

Action Step: Encourage your partner to provide feedback and be willing to incorporate their suggestions into your plan. This collaborative approach fosters a stronger partnership and a more resilient business strategy.

5. Accountability Matters

Maintaining accountability is crucial for staying on track. Omar suggests that regular updates with your partner can serve as a form of accountability, ensuring that you remain focused and motivated.

Omar Zenhom [11:05]: "Accountability matters. By sharing this process and having this open candid conversation and the continued conversation, you're holding yourself accountable."

He illustrates this with his own experience of conducting weekly progress updates with Nicole, which helped maintain momentum and alignment in their business endeavors.

6. Be Honest About the Risks

Entrepreneurship inherently involves risks, and Omar advises being transparent about these uncertainties.

• Acknowledge Potential Failures: Discuss the possibility of setbacks and what steps you'll take to mitigate them.

  Omar Zenhom [13:20]: "It's important to acknowledge that upfront. This shows maturity, humility, and builds trust."

• Set Realistic Expectations: Ensure that your partner understands that success is not guaranteed and that there will be challenges along the way.

Action Step: Have an open conversation about the risks involved, allowing your partner to understand the full scope of the venture and fostering a realistic outlook.

7. Celebrate the Wins Along the Way

Recognizing and celebrating milestones and achievements keeps motivation high and reinforces the value of the entrepreneurial journey.

Omar Zenhom [15:40]: "Celebrating milestones keeps you motivated and reinforces that the journey is worth it."

He suggests agreeing on ways to celebrate significant achievements, such as reaching revenue targets or securing major clients, to acknowledge the hard work and successes together.

Conclusion

Omar Zenhom's insightful guidance in MBA2552 Q&A Wednesday provides a robust framework for approaching the delicate conversation of leaving a stable job to pursue entrepreneurship. By fostering open communication, collaborative planning, accountability, honest risk assessment, and celebrating successes, you can align your personal relationships with your business ambitions, setting the stage for a supportive and successful entrepreneurial journey.

Omar Zenhom [16:45]: "This isn't just your journey, it's a shared one. Share your life with somebody and it's important for them to be in the know with what's going on."

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Key Takeaways:

• Communicate Openly: Initiate honest and ongoing conversations with your partner about your entrepreneurial goals.
• Plan Thoroughly: Present a clear vision and detailed plan, including timelines and financial projections.
• Invite Collaboration: Encourage feedback and be willing to adjust your plan based on your partner's insights.
• Maintain Accountability: Regular updates help keep both you and your partner aligned and motivated.
• Acknowledge Risks: Transparently discuss the potential challenges and uncertainties of starting a business.
• Celebrate Successes: Recognize and celebrate milestones to maintain enthusiasm and reinforce progress.

By following these strategies, aspiring entrepreneurs can build a strong foundation of support at home, enhancing their chances of business success while maintaining healthy and collaborative personal relationships.

Transcript

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[Omar Zenhom]

Welcome back to the $100 MBA Show. I'm Omar Zenholm, your host and today is Q and A Wednesday. If you have a question you want to ask on Q and A, go ahead and submit it over at 100mba.netq and we'll answer it right here on the show. Today's question is from Eddie and Eddie asks, how do I tell my wife I want to quit my job and start a business? This is a critical moment, Eddie. Your success doesn't just depend on the business. It depends on getting the people closest to you on your side. Today I'll share with you how to approach this conversation with transparency, with accountability, mutual respect, but also a plan for the next months and years ahead. This is not a once and done thing. Like I'll explain in today's episode, here's the thing. When you start a business, your team begins at home. If you can't sell the vision to your wife or your partner in life, you're going to have a hard time selling it to strangers out there in the world. So let's talk about how to get your partner on board so you can set yourself up for success. So you can have that peace of mind too, by the way, that the person that's closest to you has your back. So let's start with that open, honest and consistent communication. Like I mentioned, this isn't a one time conversation. It's the start of an ongoing dialogue about your goals, about your challenges, about your progress with your entrepreneurial journey. I know this might feel uncomfortable, but trust me, this is going to make things so much easier for you as an entrepreneur. When I left my teaching career and I taught for 10 years as an English teacher. But when I left that career and became a full time entrepreneur, it was important to me to communicate this change to the people that are most important to me in my life. The people that were closest to me at the time, including my parents, my siblings, my partner in life and now business, Nicole Baldino. We made decisions together and we kept the communication going. This is so important because it's something that you want to make sure that your partner in life is included in. You don't want them in the dark because when things are in the dark, people get nervous, right? People are unaware, people start assuming things. You don't want people to make up their own conclusions. You want to just have things out in the open. And that's why you should schedule a weekly or bi weekly check in with the person that's in your life that's important. Your wife, your partner, whatever it might be. Maybe it's somebody you live with that is really concerned about you and really rooting for your success. And this doesn't have to be some sort of formal meeting. It could be literally 5, 10 minutes where you just say, hey, I just want to fill you in on how my week went. Here are some of my wins and start with some wins, maybe here are my top wins this week. I closed a customer, I got the new website up and running. I created a system on how to handle customer support. But I also had some losses or I had some challenges along the way, had to give a refund, I had to deal with some overwhelm that I was having. I'm trying to make my first hire, but no candidates really stand out. So it's okay to share the wins and the challenges. It's okay because the reason why you're doing this is because you want to include them along with the journey. Now maybe they're not part of the business, maybe they're not a part of the day to day decisions you're making in your business. But it's good for them to get an understanding of what you're going through and what's happening, what's the progress. So it doesn't have to be that official. It could be five to 10 minutes. But it's actually going to make a lot of difference because they're going to be in the know, they're going to understand that you're making progress. And of course they are going to feel like, hey, that you care enough about them that you're going to share something special like this project that's so important to you with them. But of course there's an initial conversation you need to have when you are thinking about quitting your job and becoming a full time entrepreneur. Well, in that conversation you need to sell the vision and plan. So say for example, you decide, I'm going to sit down after dinner and speak to my partner about quitting my job and what I'm going to do. What's the plan? What's the transition? How are we going to make money? How long do I expect before I can start earning money in my business? And how much money would that be? So this really matters because if you can't clearly explain the why of the plan, it will be hard to gain support, right? It's going to be really hard to get their buy in. And you need to outline the steps ahead and set some expectations. Like for example, you may want to share how your business can create freedom for you and the family. Whether it's financial freedom, personal freedom, location independence, whatever it might be. But also share the impact of, of this transition. Meaning you're not gonna have as much free time. You might not be able to have those long holidays that you're used to in your day job. Maybe you're going to have to work on the weekend in the first six months so that you can be able to get some traction. So paint the picture of what's the hope. This is what I'm going for, this is what's doable. And here are some examples of people that I follow that have done this. But at the same time, this is the cost of, of me getting there. This is what's going to happen and I'm going to need your support along the way because I may not be as available or I may not be able to do the things, whether it's financially or time constraints as I used to or as I am doing right now. So the point here is that you want to communicate the vision, but also what's the cost of that vision? What's it going to take for you to pull it off? Because best believe they're going to feel the consequence of this major change of you leaving your job and starting a business. Right? It's not like they're not going to feel it, they're going to be impacted in some way and it's their right to know what's going on and to understand what is going to happen next. So here's an action step. Prepare a plan that includes timelines, some goals that you have for you and your business, and some contingencies. Walk through this plan with your partner and discuss it together address any concerns that they might have. This is something that is important because they might be able to give you feedback, they might be able to help you improve. They can also maybe shed some light on some things you're not considering. But the point here is that by including them in this discussion, they're getting buy in right. By them feeling like they're a part of this discussion and this possibility, they're feeling like, okay, I'm empowered, I'm a part of this process, I'm not a victim of this process, or I'm not a victim of this decision. This leads me to number three, be open to feedback and be willing to adjust your plan. Right? Your wife, your husband, your partner in life may offer valuable insights that can actually improve your plan, that can really allow you to accelerate the plan, even. You're not just looking for approval here. You're actually looking for collaboration. This is one of the reasons why when we started the $100 MBA, I wanted to include Nicole as much as possible and I wanted to get her buy in and actually said, hey, the best way to do this is become my co founder. Let's do this. That's what I decided to do because I knew she could help us create a better product, a better podcast, a better brand. And she has a mind that actually is opposite to mine, meaning that I like to go for it, I like to take risks, I'm an action taker. She's more calculated. She's actually looking at all the contingencies and making sure that we don't make costly mistakes. You need somebody like that on your team to actually balance things out. So that's a possibility for you if you want to explore it. And maybe they're interested in helping out and giving you feedback. Maybe not as a co founder, but maybe just as a friend or somebody who could just be a consultant to you as you're growing the business in the first few months and beyond. So an action step here is to ask for input and be willing to make changes as you're sharing your plan. This means you might need to just take a moment first before you have this initial conversation. Think about how you're going to present it, how you're going to ask them questions so they can give you feedback and also tell them, hey, this is just a rough plan, I'm flexible, I'm okay with changing the plan, but I wanted to come to the table with something so that we can have a discussion to start the discussion. Okay, the best thing I can really share with you that has worked for me is to come from a place of mutual love, respect and understanding. You know, it's okay for you to say, hey, I'm not happy in my job, in my career. I need to make a change and I want to include you in that change. I want to include you in that process. I don't want to do this alone. Right. I want to make sure that you're in the know and you're a part of it. So this is what I'm thinking. And you want to give as much information as possible, but also have a plan. Not just like, hey, I want to quit my job. I'm frustrated. Let's do it right. No, have a plan. When are you going to quit your job? How long is it going to take for you to make enough income to replace your current income? What is your projections? Have something there that you can start the conversation and start adjusting the plan accordingly.

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[Omar Zenhom]

Next. Accountability matters. Okay, by sharing this process and having this open candid conversation and the continued conversation with those weekly check ins that I suggested, you're holding yourself account. It's easy to get lost with the excitement of starting a business. But having that accountability with somebody that's with you physically in the same place as you is going to be super important and help you achieve your goals. So for example, like I mentioned, we do weekly progress updates with my partner Nicole. We did this in the beginning, was super helpful in the beginning, especially because we want to make sure we're building momentum without getting overwhelmed, but also to make sure that we're on the same page. Are we building the right business for us? The right lifestyle? Are we attracting the right customers? Are we building the right brand? Because normally when you're not working on a business with somebody or you're not starting something that's going to change your life, like becoming an entrepreneur, you're just going to work and the other person's going to work and you're making decisions on your own and you're not really including anybody in those decisions for the most part, other than maybe your colleagues. But the point here is that the other person, your partner in life, is not really in the know. And it's a muscle you need to build. It's something that you have to just get used to. And what I always say is that it's very hard to over communicate. It's very hard to over communicate is a good rule to have. So it's better to over communicate than to under communicate. Next. This one is super critical. You need to be honest about the risks. Maybe your partner is not really aware of the risks of business. Maybe they're not into entrepreneurship, they're not listening to the same podcasts or reading the same books as you, and they're kind of unaware of what kind of risks are involved. You need to communicate that it's something that you'll actually gain credibility from by actually just being honest, that there's no guarantee of success. It's important to acknowledge that upfront. This shows maturity, it shows humility, but also builds trust. Like I mentioned, I've had businesses fail. We had projects and products that failed. But because we were aligned on the risks from the start, we were able to handle those moments together, learn from them, and make a decision how we're going to move forward together. Now, even if your partner's not involved in the business, it's important for them to understand that it's not all going to be sunshine and rainbows, that there will be challenges and there will be failure. That's just par for the course. And it's okay for you to share those challenges and those failures as long as you also say, hey, this is what I failed at, this is what I learned, and this is what I'm going to do moving forward. And it just shows a bit of humility, but also shows that you are just being transparent about the situation so expectations are set properly. So be okay with having an open conversation about possibly failing, about not being as successful as you imagine. Right? Discuss what things can go wrong. Right? It's okay. We could do this without Any fear we haven't done anything yet, right? That we're just getting started. But discuss it. This can go wrong. People have failed in doing this. Sometimes I may need a few reps, a few tries in order for me to figure out what's the best way or the best course of action for me and my business. Now, I mentioned this earlier, but it's so important I need to emphasize it. Celebrate the wins along the way. Why does this matter? Well, celebrating milestones keeps you motivated, right? But also reinforces that the journey is worth it, right? Even there's some early wins, right? Landing a first client, like I mentioned, or a small milestone. These moments need to be celebrated, okay? They gave us so much fuel when we celebrated those wins, right? So I want you to do the same because you're gonna be sharing some of the challenges, but you also need to not forget to share the wins. And by the way, the longer you do this, the more important this is because you start forgetting that, hey, that's actually a pretty cool win, right? And to them, that's a huge win because they're not involved in the day to day. So remember, sharing wins is just as important as sharing the challenges. Maybe agree on doing something when you have a significant win, whether it's reaching a new revenue milestone or getting a new big client or account or whatever it might be. You know, you might say, hey, anytime we celebrate a pretty significant win, let's do something. Let's go out for ice cream or something. Or let's go for a walk and enjoy some time together alone. Don't be afraid to get silly and have a little mini dance party. It's okay. Enjoy. Mark the occasion with some celebration. So, Eddie, telling your wife you're quitting your job and starting a business is a big conversation, but it's also an opportunity. It's an opportunity for you to build trust and align with your partner. To be open, to be honest, but also to be consistent with that conversation or that communication. I should say, be consistent with not being like the once and done thing. Make sure that you're constantly communicating your wins or challenges, but also reiterating your vision. Make sure you're holding yourself accountable. And again, like I said, celebrate some wins along the way. This isn't just your journey, it's a shared one. Because you share a life with somebody and it's important for them to be in the know with what's going on. You'll benefit, the business will benefit, and of course your partner will benefit because they're a part of your life. They're a part of this journey as well. Thanks for tuning in to the $100 MBA Show. If you're watching this podcast episode on YouTube, make sure you hit subscribe and we have all our links to our website where you can consume more and more episodes over 2000 episodes. Also, if you want to submit a question, just go to 100mba.netq and we'll answer it right here on Q and A Wednesday. Thank you so much Eddie for submitting your question. Thank you so much for listening for watching and learning from Eddie's question and I'll see you in the next episode.

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