{"id":11571,"date":"2015-03-03T14:00:49","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T19:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.wework.com\/?p=11571"},"modified":"2020-04-03T18:00:50","modified_gmt":"2020-04-03T22:00:50","slug":"losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur","title":{"rendered":"Losing my day job helped me become a better entrepreneur"},"content":{"rendered":"

For 17 years, I worked at the United Nations. While it was an honor to meet four presidents, including President Obama, be up close to the Pope, stand next to Iranian President Ahmadinejad, I hated my job.<\/p>\n

Like many of you, I have burning inside me the desire and need to create, to innovate and work with great people. Where I was working at the United Nations, this was not always the case. Sure, some people were awesome and we had elements of creativity and innovation, but overall I felt stifled.<\/p>\n

At the UN, I started two businesses: SmallBizTechnology.com and the Small Business Summit. The United Nations has clear rules against any outside employment or having one\u2019s own business, without permission. I had this permission, but after a few years it was revoked.<\/p>\n

I had to make a choice: grow my passion, my venture, my baby \u2014 or be fired.<\/p>\n

On a Wednesday, I was told that Friday would be my last day working at the United Nations. I was fired.<\/p>\n

I remember the fear gripping me when I realized that I\u2019d no longer receive a check from the United Nations every month \u2014 that from that moment on, I\u2019d have to enter full-time entrepreneurship and hustle like crazy (later on, this hustle idea would birth my third venture, Smart Hustle Magazine<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Each month, my wife\u00a0\u2014 who was a full-time mom \u2014 would let me know how much less money we had in the bank. It was scary.<\/p>\n

However, the day I was fired, my creativity, hustle, and passion kicked into overdrive, and the entrepreneur within me came even more alive. I was able to focus entirely on my business and build it like never before.<\/p>\n

Being at the United Nations had been hurting my business.<\/p>\n

Within a few months of being fired, I received more speaking engagements, more sponsors came on board, and more opportunities for paid writing opened up. Business exploded. Not only did my business grow, but I even sold my second venture, the Small Business Summit.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the lesson here?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re going to really, truly grow your business, you must let go of your full-time job and turn your \u201cpart-time\u201d venture into a full-time one. Gary Vaynerchuk writes about this here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So how do you survive when you leave your day job to focus on your venture?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Save up money so you can live for six to 12 months. If you can\u2019t save up money, stay with a caring friend or relative.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    While at your day job, test selling as much as you can of what you make to prove the concept.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Be insane about your business. If you have friends who want to watch movies on the weekend or go clubbing, you\u2019ll have to put them on pause while you focus on your business.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n

    Surround yourself with smart people who can advise you, whether they\u2019re one-off advisors who you have a coffee with or a small board who you turn to on a regular basis.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  5. Ask yourself: can your \u201cday job\u201d turn into one of your clients?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    And remember, you should not<\/em> leave your full-time job without a plan and considering your finances, especially if you have a family to support. However, do know that it\u2019s almost impossible to give your business a fighting chance if you\u2019re working for someone else as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    For 17 years, I worked at the United Nations. While it was an honor to meet four presidents, including President Obama, be up close to the Pope, stand next to Iranian President Ahmadinejad, I hated my job. Like many of you, I have burning inside me the desire and need to create, to innovate and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1441,"featured_media":11577,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLosing my day job helped me become a better entrepreneur<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ramon Ray worked at the UN for nearly 20 years. Though it paid the bills, it stifled his creativity. Getting fired only helped his entrepreneur career.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Losing my day job helped me become a better entrepreneur\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ramon Ray worked at the UN for nearly 20 years. Though it paid the bills, it stifled his creativity. Getting fired only helped his entrepreneur career.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ideas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-03-03T19:00:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-03T22:00:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/03\/losing-my-job-better-entrepreneur-.jpg?fit=1280%2C720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ramon Ray\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ramon Ray\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Ramon Ray\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/85a9f4bae32fb70b6ca0f3cbf7bd530a\"},\"headline\":\"Losing my day job helped me become a better entrepreneur\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-03T19:00:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-03T22:00:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur\"},\"wordCount\":577,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/03\/losing-my-job-better-entrepreneur-.jpg?fit=1280%2C720\",\"articleSection\":[\"Professional Development\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur\",\"name\":\"Losing my day job helped me become a better entrepreneur\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/03\/losing-my-job-better-entrepreneur-.jpg?fit=1280%2C720\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-03T19:00:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-03T22:00:50+00:00\",\"description\":\"Ramon Ray worked at the UN for nearly 20 years. Though it paid the bills, it stifled his creativity. Getting fired only helped his entrepreneur career.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/03\/losing-my-job-better-entrepreneur-.jpg?fit=1280%2C720\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/03\/losing-my-job-better-entrepreneur-.jpg?fit=1280%2C720\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"\/ideas\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Professional Development\",\"item\":\"\/ideas\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Losing my day job helped me become a better entrepreneur\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/\",\"name\":\"Ideas\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization\",\"name\":\"WeWork\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55\",\"width\":55,\"height\":55,\"caption\":\"WeWork\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/85a9f4bae32fb70b6ca0f3cbf7bd530a\",\"name\":\"Ramon Ray\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e8ff09ca01b6bf0e4d398c0f38b662bc55ffd70b59f284156bbf67b5d31a227?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e8ff09ca01b6bf0e4d398c0f38b662bc55ffd70b59f284156bbf67b5d31a227?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ramon Ray\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/author\/ramon-ray\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Losing my day job helped me become a better entrepreneur","description":"Ramon Ray worked at the UN for nearly 20 years. Though it paid the bills, it stifled his creativity. Getting fired only helped his entrepreneur career.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Losing my day job helped me become a better entrepreneur","og_description":"Ramon Ray worked at the UN for nearly 20 years. Though it paid the bills, it stifled his creativity. Getting fired only helped his entrepreneur career.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur","og_site_name":"Ideas","article_published_time":"2015-03-03T19:00:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-04-03T22:00:50+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/03\/losing-my-job-better-entrepreneur-.jpg?fit=1280%2C720","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ramon Ray","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ramon Ray","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur"},"author":{"name":"Ramon Ray","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/85a9f4bae32fb70b6ca0f3cbf7bd530a"},"headline":"Losing my day job helped me become a better entrepreneur","datePublished":"2015-03-03T19:00:49+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-03T22:00:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur"},"wordCount":577,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/03\/losing-my-job-better-entrepreneur-.jpg?fit=1280%2C720","articleSection":["Professional Development"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur","name":"Losing my day job helped me become a better entrepreneur","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/03\/losing-my-job-better-entrepreneur-.jpg?fit=1280%2C720","datePublished":"2015-03-03T19:00:49+00:00","dateModified":"2020-04-03T22:00:50+00:00","description":"Ramon Ray worked at the UN for nearly 20 years. Though it paid the bills, it stifled his creativity. Getting fired only helped his entrepreneur career.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/03\/losing-my-job-better-entrepreneur-.jpg?fit=1280%2C720","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/03\/losing-my-job-better-entrepreneur-.jpg?fit=1280%2C720","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/professional-development\/losing-day-job-helped-become-better-entrepreneur#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"\/ideas"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Professional Development","item":"\/ideas"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Losing my day job helped me become a better entrepreneur"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/","name":"Ideas","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#organization","name":"WeWork","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/04\/welogo_black_55x55.jpg?fit=55%2C55","width":55,"height":55,"caption":"WeWork"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/85a9f4bae32fb70b6ca0f3cbf7bd530a","name":"Ramon Ray","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e8ff09ca01b6bf0e4d398c0f38b662bc55ffd70b59f284156bbf67b5d31a227?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e8ff09ca01b6bf0e4d398c0f38b662bc55ffd70b59f284156bbf67b5d31a227?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Ramon Ray"},"url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/author\/ramon-ray"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2015\/03\/losing-my-job-better-entrepreneur-.jpg?fit=1280%2C720","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1441"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11571"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48741,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11571\/revisions\/48741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wework.com\/ideas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}