Embrace the Simple Life: My Journey from the Corporate Office to Main Street

He meant more than swinging a bat in a baseball game. It describes the fear we feel inside when we think about taking a big risk in life and how we shouldn’t let that fear stop us. There is a reason this quote still rings true after nearly a century. Leaving Corporate America to purchase a business can be one of the scariest leaps of faith we’ll ever take, but we can’t let the fear stop us from swinging.

My Life On the Corporate Ladder

I have spent years on the Corporate Ladder predominantly in Tech Sales. I left Miami for New York in 2010 and never looked back. I’ve made a healthy 6-figure income and was satisfied with what I was doing. I started a family and that’s where things started to change for me.

Have you ever seen the movie, “Office Space?” Well, when I returned from paternity leave, I felt like the guy who was hypnotized. Nothing felt the same. I wanted more time with my family. I wanted to spend more time outdoors. I wanted to feel like I was a part of a community.

Like many who chose a corporate career path, I worked long hours, weekends, and holidays to ensure my sales reports looked fantastic and my close rate was exemplary. Closing the next deal has always been a top priority. My normal routine is working from 8:30-6, heading home, and getting a little exercise in. While at work, I’m doing a mix of prospecting, moving deals through the pipeline, marketing, hiring and developing new hires, and jockeying for promotions.

Whether your path led you to become an executive in a Fortune 500 company, a Developer in Cloud Computing, or a career as a Top Tech Salesman, climbing the abrasive rungs of the Corporate Ladder can sometimes get to be too much. And it has gotten that way for me.

You get to a point where you ask yourself, 

“Is it worth the time, stress, and sacrifice it takes to keep this grip? Is the money worth the time I will never get back? What’s the end game? More hours, more responsibility, and less time to spend with my family?”

Feeling established in the Corporate World and having your path seemingly carved out can give a false sense of safety. A salary that affords a certain lifestyle is nice but provides a false sense of pride. This is because you work for someone else’s gain. The money you earn is leftover from someone else’s profit. Where is my legacy in all this?  

I appreciate my current company and every business I’ve worked at along the way, but like so many others, I’m feeling burnt out by the pace and the non-stop hustle. Letting go of the Corporate Ladder and taking a leap to forge a brand-new path is scary, to be honest. But the promise of true fulfillment is calling me: A more meaningful work/life balance, a deeper sense of purpose, and personal success running my own venture. I’ve spent my career helping small businesses and now I want one of my own.

Having an Awakening and Making a Decision

Leaving the Corporate World and buying an established business in a smaller town might not sound like a grand slam to everyone. For those like me who have had an awakening and feel the need to get more out of life, however, this could be the most important choice we will ever make.

Leaving a corporate position and moving to a smaller town to buy a business is a significant career and lifestyle change. It offers both risks and rewards. Giving up a set position at a stable job for the possibility of autonomy and a more fulfilling life is a tempting proposition. Working for yourself, spending more time with your family, and becoming part of a tight-knit community offers the fulfillment most only dream about.

Making a decision, however, should be based on more than a dream. You may want to sell flowers, but in a beautiful and fragrant floral community, your wares might strike out with the locals. Therefore, this decision should be based on thorough market research, a strategic business model, and rigorous financial planning.

To be perfectly clear, my journey is just beginning. While I have made a decision, I am currently holding my official position until I acquire my new business, but I have done my due diligence and have crafted a solid blueprint for each stage of this journey. Along the way, I will stumble and make mistakes and hopefully, you will be here for it. 

I offer a log of my journey for all to see; my follies and my triumphs. My failures and my successes. I am logging it all because I want you to learn from my mistakes and avoid my pitfalls. I’m giving you a direct path to the finish line, without having to navigate a minefield. I’m taking the leap first and giving you the goods along the way. 

Here’s what I’ve learned so far.

 How to Leave Corporate America to Buy a Small Business

Once you decide to go for that home run, you must perform the appropriate research before leaving your position. This ensures you maintain an income while you move from base to base. Having your ducks in a row and never counting your chickens before they hatch are critical perspectives during this time. 

Be sure to fulfill your obligations to your current company and do your job to the best of your ability. This isn’t about spite or revenge, it’s about personal fulfillment and getting the most out of life. Stick to your principles and always do right by others.

Now on to the research.

Market Research

Coming out of the dugout, you need a plan. Decide on the type of business you want to buy. Is it currently thriving or losing money? Let’s presume it is not doing well. First, make sure it aligns with your interests, skills, and passions. The businesses offerings must also align with the needs of the local population. When performing market research, look at local demographics and existing businesses. Then it’s wise to identify gaps in services or performance regarding the business you want to purchase. This is where your corporate skills will shine their brightest.

Leverage the knowledge you’ve acquired throughout your corporate tenure to capitalize on these service gaps and identify where your skills will be valued most by the local population.

Now, you can base the areas you research on things you want to experience in your new lifestyle. Community activities and outdoor events are great for families. Skiing in the winter and holiday events can feel magical. So, exploring small towns with a climate that nurtures your desired lifestyle can be preferable. Remember, it’s not just a career change but a lifestyle change as well.

According to Crunchbase, when it comes to market research, important steps to keep in mind are setting clear objectives, identifying your target audience, and identifying opportunities and challenges. Remember, it’s a good idea to listen to the pros and influencers who have made the leap and found success. 

Developing a Viable Business Plan

Developing a business plan takes clarity of vision so keep your eye on the ball. With focus and careful planning, you’ll have the perfect revised business model to get your new venture up to standards in no time.

According to Crowdspring, you should keep it simple and focused, define your operational processes, create a strong marketing plan, address legal and regulatory considerations, and plan for scalability and growth. This will ensure all bases are covered.

To paraphrase successful entrepreneur, Mark Cuban, you need to save enough money to cover “12 months of living and business expenses.” This is sound advice. Before the Big Move, network with the locals to help your business gain traction when your doors open, but be prepared to delve into your savings until things swing into action.

When it comes to operational processes and your actual venture, whether it be selling flowers, opening a cafe, or being the first tech store in Smalltown, USA, creating a budget for materials, overhead, and personal expenses exposes areas of risk and vulnerability and allows you to address these areas before moving on to the Financial Planning stage. You can read my Beginner’s Guide to Business Plan Development for a complete breakdown and a step-by-step how-to for actionable advice.

Financial Planning

Once you complete all market research and have a viable business plan, financial planning is next up to the plate. Now, I don’t have a background in finance so you’ve been warned, but believe me, it’s completely doable. If I can do it, so can you. It just takes thorough research, careful planning, and thinking ahead. 

According to Kevin Lao, financial planner and founder of Imagine Financial Security located in St. Augustine, Florida, in an interview with CNBC, 

“Business expenses include things like the cost of establishing an entity such as a limited liability company (LLC) if necessary, and paying for equipment and services like bookkeeping software or buying a new computer. You may also need to buy your own health insurance and set up your own plan for retirement savings, benefits you’d generally get through an employer.“

Creating and executing a sound financial plan will help you on a day-to-day basis, allowing you to focus more fully on the moment instead of worrying about striking out.

Now’s also the time for crowdfunding or any type of seeding if applicable from pre-seed, seed, to series A funding. I’ll get more into the details of fundraising in a later entry. But for now, just know that acquiring all the funds you can to go toward your new venture happens during this stage.

Not the least of which, is marketing. As a rule of thumb, investing 30% of your revenue into marketing is standard. So, you’ll want to forecast your potential average revenue, minus 30%, and add that to your Capital Investment on hand before you leave. Again, we’ll get more into the financials in another entry.

Once you have your financial plan laid out, a viable business plan tailored to an established business, and your market research in hand, you’re officially heading to third base, so close to sliding into home. 

While I don’t get the chance to play much baseball these days, I’m looking forward to having the time very soon. Then teaching my children. This is what I yearn for. Not having the most time on the clock or having my name on a plaque hanging on an office wall. Again, I am not spiteful, in fact, I am grateful to my current employer. I am happy that I was given the chance to represent the brand, get to know my coworkers, and make the living that I have. 

This is about navigating changes as my life unfolds before me. It’s about wanting more for me and my family. It’s about having more time to spend with them and building a legacy for my children in a safe community. It’s about finding inner peace, slowing things down, and finding myself again in a brand-new place.

Things I Hope You Take With You

Making a career and life transition like this is an adventure. I know that it will have its bad moments but it will also have good moments, great moments, and new memories to carry from this point on. Through adversity, we grow stronger and more capable. Forging a new path takes sacrifice and courage. But in the end, we are better for it, and hopefully more success in ways we never thought possible. Like The Babe said, “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.”