If you're thinking about quitting your job to build an AI business, the first question is whether you want to run a business or you just really hate your boss. You can get a different boss. A business comes with customers, and now several people can email you asking where something is.
If you came from the video, here's the longer version. These are the things I'd want sorted before you hand in your notice, plus a worksheet to fill in tonight.
Five things to sort out first
Get paid once while you still have a paycheck
Go through the whole thing end to end: find the customer, do the work, send the invoice, get paid. Until you've done it once, you don't know which part is hard. For a lot of people it's finding the customer, not building the product. You can build the first version after work. You don't have to quit before you're allowed to start. (Check your employment agreement before you do side work, especially in the same industry.)
Add up what your job is paying for
Obviously your salary, but maybe also your health insurance, retirement match, phone or laptop. Look up the actual cost of replacing each one on your own before you leave, and write it down. That number, not your old salary, is what the business has to cover.
Plan for a late invoice
Don't make a plan that only works if every customer pays on time. If your biggest client pays a month late, can you still cover your bills? If the answer is no, you need more set aside or more than one client before you go.
Have money set aside for the slow stretch
Income from your own business comes in unevenly. FINRA notes that people with variable income may need a bigger emergency reserve than the usual three to six months of expenses. Keep your personal emergency fund separate from the business's money.
Decide your fallback before you need it
Pick the point, ahead of time, when you'd take on contract work or start looking for another job. It's much easier to set that line when you're calm than when your account is low.
Fill this in before you decide
Copy this into your notes and fill in every line. If you can't answer one yet, that's the thing to work on next.
Why I want to leave (be honest): [ ]
First paying customer: [name / date paid / amount]
What my job pays for, and what it costs to replace:
Salary I actually need each month: $[ ]
Health insurance on my own: $[ ]
Other benefits (retirement, gear): $[ ]
Total the business has to cover: $[ ]
If my biggest client paid a month late, I'd cover bills with: [ ]
Money set aside for the slow stretch: $[ ] (separate from business cash)
My fallback: if [ ] by [date], I'll [take contract work / job hunt].If you want a second opinion, paste your filled-in worksheet into an AI assistant with this prompt. It's good at spotting the line you skipped.
I'm thinking about leaving my job to run my AI business full time.
Here's my worksheet: [paste it].
Ask me the questions I haven't answered yet. Point out any cost I've
left out and any part of the plan that only works if everything goes
right. Don't tell me whether to quit. Help me see what I'm missing.This is a list of things to think through, not a rule for when it's safe to quit. There's no savings number that works for everyone, and what makes sense depends on your costs, your business and your employer.
Once money starts coming in, work out how much you can actually pay yourself. And if you haven't landed that first customer yet, start with building and selling your first digital product.