MBA2594 Q&A Wednesday: How Do I Tell My Wife I Want to Quit My Job and Start a Business?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The $100 MBA Show - MBA2594 Q&A Wednesday: How Do I Tell My Wife I Want to Quit My Job and Start a Business?

Introduction

In episode MBA2594 of The $100 MBA Show, host Omar Zenhom tackles one of the most daunting challenges aspiring entrepreneurs face: how to communicate the decision to quit a stable job and embark on the uncertain journey of starting a business. Drawing from his extensive 20+ years of entrepreneurial experience, Zenhom offers a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to navigating this critical conversation, ensuring that listeners are well-prepared to seek the support of their loved ones.

Step 1: Have an Open and Honest Conversation

Zenhom emphasizes the importance of initiating a transparent dialogue with your partner. He states, “Starting a business is not a small change. It's a huge change... It affects everyone around you” (00:31). This foundational step is crucial for building trust and ensuring that your partner fully understands the magnitude of the transition. By being open, you create an environment where your partner can provide the necessary support, adapting to new schedules and potential sacrifices together.

Step 2: Come Prepared with a Plan

Moving beyond mere intentions, Zenhom advises entrepreneurs to present a well-thought-out plan. He highlights the necessity of validation, stating, “You have to have a plan to say, hey, this is my plan to validate this idea...” (03:15). This involves demonstrating how you intend to test your business concept, secure initial sales, and achieve profitability. By showcasing detailed strategies, such as pre-launch activities and customer acquisition tactics, you not only gain your partner’s confidence but also solidify your own commitment to the venture.

Step 3: Take Calculated Risks

Zenhom differentiates between reckless gambles and calculated risks. Sharing his personal experience, he recounts, “When I left my 9 to 5 job... I had to calculate the risk...” (07:44). Entrepreneurs are urged to thoroughly assess their financial standing, understand their runway, and develop backup plans. This approach mitigates fear and uncertainty, assuring your partner that every potential outcome has been considered and addressed.

Step 4: Include Your Significant Other in the Journey

Integration of your partner into your entrepreneurial journey is pivotal. Zenhom suggests, “One of the best ways to alleviate the worries they have is to make them a part of the process” (10:30). Regular check-ins, celebrating small wins, and openly discussing challenges foster a sense of shared responsibility and mutual support. This not only strengthens your relationship but also transforms the business endeavor into a collaborative effort.

Conclusion

Omar Zenhom wraps up the episode by reiterating the significance of effective communication and comprehensive planning when making the leap from employment to entrepreneurship. He underscores that if you can’t convincingly present your business idea to your closest supporter, you may need to refine your approach before seeking external validation. Zenhom encourages listeners to take proactive steps, such as setting deadlines to initiate these conversations, ensuring that they move forward with both confidence and clarity.

Notable Quotes

• “Starting a business is not a small change. It's a huge change... It affects everyone around you” – Omar Zenhom (00:31)
• “You have to have a plan to say, hey, this is my plan to validate this idea...” – Omar Zenhom (03:15)
• “When I left my 9 to 5 job... I had to calculate the risk...” – Omar Zenhom (07:44)
• “One of the best ways to alleviate the worries they have is to make them a part of the process” – Omar Zenhom (10:30)
• “If you can't have this conversation, you are not ready to start a business” – Omar Zenhom (12:00)

Final Thoughts

This episode serves as an invaluable resource for anyone contemplating the significant step of resigning from their current employment to pursue entrepreneurial ambitions. By following Zenhom’s structured approach—comprising open communication, detailed planning, calculated risk-taking, and inclusive partnership—you can navigate this transition with greater assurance and support. As Zenhom aptly concludes, preparation and transparency are key to gaining the trust and backing of those who matter most in your personal and professional life.

Transcript

[Jim]

And we're back, folks. It looks like Jim from sales just got in from his client lunch and he's got receipts.

[Colleague]

His next meeting is in two minutes. The team is asking, can he get through his expenses in that time?

[Jim]

He's going for it.

[Colleague]

Is that his phone?

[Jim]

He's snapping a pic. He's texting Ramp.

[Colleague]

Jim is fast, but this is unheard of.

[Jim]

That's it. He's done it. It's unbelievable.

[Ramp Advertiser]

On ramp, expenses are faster than ever. Just submit them with a text. Switch your business to ramp.com.

[Omar Zenhom]

How do you tell your husband, your wife, your partner in life, you're ready to leave your 9 to 5 job and start your own business? This is one of the biggest, scariest conversations you'll ever have, and it's also one of the most important. In today's Q and A Wednesday episode, we answer a question from Toni asking, how do I tell my wife I want to quit my job and start a business? Well, you're in luck. I'm going to break it down step by step so you can have this conversation right away and set the foundation to support you as you move forward in your business with confidence. I know a little bit about this because as you may know, my wife is my co founder. I gotta talk about business all the time with my wife. So I'm gonna give you some pointers on how to have that initial conversation about business, about quitting your job, about moving into a new direction in your life. Welcome Back to the $100 MBA Show. I'm your host, Omar Zenholm, where we bring you practical business lessons three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, to help you start, grow and scale your business. Tony asked today's Q and A Wednesday's question about talking to his wife about quitting his job and starting a business. First of all, this is a good question because anybody who's starting this journey is going to have to grapple with this question. It's not just about your business. It's about your life and the relationships in your life. So let's jump right into step one right now. And the first step is to have an open and honest conversation with your partner in life. Starting a business is not a small change. It's a huge change. And you're changing your life in a big way. You will change in a big way, so you best believe it's going to affect more than just you. It's everyone around you. It's your immediate family, it's your friends. So you want to make sure the people that are closest to you are a part of this, they're involved. Why is having an honest conversation, a transparent conversation, so important? Well, the first thing it does is it builds trust in you and, and what you want to do. The second thing it does, it gives your husband, your wife, your partner in life, the opportunity to support you. And trust me, you're going to need that support. You don't want them in the dark. You want them to be in the know so that when you're making choices, sacrifices along the way, they understand why and they're there to back you up. Your business journey will be challenging, guaranteed. And having that backing of the people that are closest to you, it can make all the difference. For example, if you are dedicating a part of the weekend to work on your business and they know that's a scheduled time that you have to do that, they're going to support you. They're not going to say, hey, we have plans, we got to do something. They know during this time you are busy and they'll work around it so that you get what you need to get done. If you don't communicate this, you can't expect them to support you. Step 2. Come prepared to the conversation with a plan. This conversation isn't just about sharing your dreams and your hopes. It's about showing that you've thought this through and you have a plan. Why does being prepared matter? Well, you're not just asking for permission or if they're okay with it. You're asking for trust. That trust is something that you earn by showing that you've considered the risks, the challenges ahead, what lies ahead in the path of entrepreneurship? What do I want you to include in this conversation? First one is you need to include the concept of validation. How do you know your business idea has potential? You have to share your plans for testing and validating it. You can't just expect them to be like, okay, you're going to just lose your job and hope we make money. No, you have to actually say, hey, this is my plan to validate this idea, to see if this has legs. This is my minimal vital product. It'll be done. Then this is how I'm validating. I'm doing like a pre launch, I'm having, you know, a sign up sheet for people to get on the waiting list. I'm going to see the interest. They're running some ads to that page. You have to have a plan to say, hey, I'm validating this idea. I'm not just shooting in the dark and I have A plan to pivot. If things don't work out, this makes them feel okay. You are actually thinking this through. It's not like you're just hoping your dream works without any validation. The second thing I want you to bring this conversation is your plan to make your first few sales. How will you make your initial sales for your business at the end of the day, if they can see that the plan forward to make money, it doesn't sound so crazy. So if you walk them through the plan, like, hey, I have a pre launch plan and I'm going to get X amount of emails. Let's say you say I'm going to get a hundred people on my email list, then I'll email those people my initial launch offer. The launch offer is X amount of dollars. If I convert at 5%, I'll get five sales. And this is what five sales equals. You can show that you did the research. What's the percent of conversion on emails to sales? This is going to make a big difference. It's going to change the mood of conversation. The third thing you're going to add to the conversation is your profitability timeline. Show them when and how you expect to reach profitability. There's going to be investment involved. It might not be a lot of money, but you need to make sure they know that, hey, you're not just throwing money at this idea with no clear sign or sight of profitability. Show them, at what point are you profitable? How many sales does it take? How long will that take to make that many sales? Walk them through as if you're pitching to an investor because they are investing their trust, their time, their attention, and probably their money too. If you're going to take a cut back in lifestyle to make this happen, the fourth thing is Runway. You're going to explain how long you can sustain whatever way you are financially supporting your family right now. Every family is different. Whatever you contribute now, how long will it take before you run out of the money that you normally are contributing? Because at the start you're not going to be making any money. It's going to take some time for you to make some sales and make some money. It could take a few months, maybe even a year. Do you have enough Runway, enough savings or a plan to extend your Runway to cover those losses from a family economic point of view? And that last point, that's really what's worrying them is that are they going to have to sacrifice a lot for this change? It's scary to feel like maybe they're going to be out of pocket or maybe they're going to have to downgrade their life. If that's the case, if you have to do that, then have that conversation. And what does that look like? You can't just ignore these worries, these feelings, address them, and you're going to be way better off. Here's the bottom line. The reason why this conversation is so important is that is if you can't sell your business idea to your husband, your wife or partner, how will you sell it to your first customer? How are you going to actually convince a stranger that has no vested interest in your success to believe in you and your product?

[Jim]

And we're back, folks. It looks like Jim from sales just got in from his client lunch and he's got receipts.

[Colleague]

His next meeting is in two minutes. The team is asking, can he get through his expenses in that time?

[Jim]

He's going for it.

[Colleague]

Is that his phone?

[Jim]

He's snapping a pick. He's texting.

[Colleague]

Ramp Jim is fast, but this is unheard of.

[Jim]

That's it. He's done it. It's unbelievable.

[Ramp Advertiser]

On ramp, expenses are faster than ever. Just submit them with a text. Switch your business to ramp.com.

[Omar Zenhom]

Step three. I want to talk about calculated risk. Leaving your job isn't about taking a wild leap. It's about taking a calculated risk. When I left my 9 to 5 job as a teacher for over 12 years, I was a highly successful educator. I was a head of department at the university. When I left that career, I had to calculate the risk of when I leave this job and go into full time entrepreneurship, I got to do some math. How much money do I have? How much will it last? How much money do I need to start my new thing? I got to calculate. What am I playing with here? So understanding calculated risk means that you've done a few things. You've done the math, you have a backup plan. What happens if you run out of Runway and you're not making any money with your business? Is your backup plan going back to work? Is your backup plan consulting? You have to have some sort of backup plan, even just in theory. Also, calculated risk is understanding that, hey, I want to start small of my business. I don't invest too much money until I build momentum, make some profits and then reinvest those profits. I don't need to spend too much in the beginning. I want to spend as minimal as possible to get myself some traction. Listen, it's your obligation to speak to the people that are closest to you and, and show them that you're minimizing risk and maximizing the chances of your success. If you are not willing to do this, then I'm telling you right now, you are not ready to take this leap yet. Because this is an uncomfortable conversation. But it gets much harder than this. Your confidence in your plan will also inspire confidence in your partner and in yourself. And the way I feel about communicating anything with my own wife, with my own partner in life, with the people that are closest to me is that I have nothing to lose by communicating this. I have nothing to lose by just sharing this plan with somebody. It's out there. Now. You are saying to the world, I want this and that's important. Step four is to include your significant other in the journey. Now, your partner in life doesn't have to be your co founder in business like Nicole and I are co founders. But one of the best ways to alleviate the worries they have is to make them a part of the process. Don't leave them in the dark. Transparency about your plan and what you're doing and how it's going reduces fear. And sharing your wins and even your challenges makes it a shared journey and not a solo mission. It's better for you. Now that's good and all, but let's have a real plan. How do you make sure you're including your partner in the journey? One way you could do is just set a weekly check in to update them on your progress on what's going on. This could be a Sunday morning thing while you're having breakfast Sunday morning, that's the conversation. It doesn't have to be this like one hour long meeting with minutes. It could be a literal, you know, 10 to 15 minute catch up. This is a chance for you to celebrate some small wins together, to build some excitement, but also get some feedback and be open to that. Open to that person's opinion. You're going to make the decision, of course, but it's nice to get other opinions to inform that decision and be open about the ups and downs. Okay? It shows you're realistic, shows that you are committed too. When you share the down, say, hey, I had a bit of a challenge, but you know what, it's okay. I learned from it. This is what I'm going to do this week. Moving forward. Don't just share the wins because that just doesn't seem real when your partner feels included, they'll be less worried and they'll be more supportive. Here's the truth to Tony and everybody else. Like I said before, if you can't have this conversation, you are not ready to start a business. Why? Because entrepreneurship is all about selling. Selling your vision, your product, your value. If you can't sell the idea to a person who knows you best, you've got work to do. And remember, this conversation isn't just about them trusting you. It's about you believing in yourself to say these things out loud. I hope today's lesson was helpful, but let me summarize to make this super simple so you know what to do. Number one, have an honest conversation with your partner. Make sure that you're transparent. Their support will be essential. Number two, come prepared with a detailed plan that shows you thought this through. Number three Take a calculated risk. Right? Not all risks are equal. Take a calculated risk, not a blind leap. And number four, include them in the journey to build trust and reduce stress and fear. Thanks for tuning in to the $100 MBA show. If you want to go deeper with starting and growing and scaling your business, then you're going to want to sign up for my weekly newsletter. It's my way to coach you from afar. Every week I send you three things. One thing to think about. It's like a thought experiment. Something to do and then something to learn. And this ensures that you have something to help you grow week after week. It's totally free. All you gotta do is just sign up on our website, 1-00- MBA-NET. Just sign up for any of our freebies, leave your name and email address and you'll get our weekly newsletter. Thanks so much for listening. You got this. If you haven't had this conversation yet with your partner, now's the time. Okay, Take inspiration from this lesson and start preparing this conversation. Put a deadline to yourself next week. In one week, you're going to have this conversation. Prepare, do your research and present to your partner. And you're going to feel so much better afterwards. Thanks again and I'll see you in the next episode.

[Ramp Representative]

Got a 7am meeting on a Monday expensing breakfast because it's in policy wasting all afternoon submitting an expense report for that breakfast. If your company used Ramp, you could submit expenses with just a text.

[Omar Zenhom]

Yay.

[Ramp Representative]

Free your team from expense reports today.

[Ramp Advertiser]

Switch your business to ramp.com.