1520: [Part 1] Why I Finally Quit My Job And 8 Life Lessons I Learned In The Process by Steve Chou on Entrepreneurial Dreams

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[00:00:30] This is Optimal Work Daily. Why I Finally Quit My Job And 8 Life Lessons I Learned In The Process. Part 1 by Steve Chou of MyWifeQuitHerJob.com

[00:00:41] For the past 5 years, I've been asked the following question over and over again. Steve, why do you still have a day job? Why do you work when your businesses generate so much money?

[00:00:51] Well, several weeks ago, I finally gave notice at my job. Soon, I will no longer be an engineering director of microprocessor design.

[00:00:58] Soon, I will be giving up a skill that I've studied for as long as I can remember.

[00:01:03] After working at the same company for 17 years, all of a sudden, I'm going to have an extra 32 to 40 hours free that I'll need to figure out what to do with.

[00:01:11] The funny thing is that most people don't like their jobs, but I can honestly say I loved mine.

[00:01:16] All of my colleagues and peers were all Stanford or MIT PhDs, and I was consistently challenged every single day.

[00:01:23] In fact, I've written at length in the past on why I never considered quitting.

[00:01:27] But a couple of recent epiphanies finally pushed me over the edge.

[00:01:31] For one thing, I've come to realize that my kids are getting older at an insanely fast pace, and I don't want to miss any of it.

[00:01:37] Right now, they are at a golden age where they actually want to hang out with me, and who knows how long that will last.

[00:01:42] In addition, as they've gotten older, their activities have grown exponentially, and I want to be more involved.

[00:01:47] I'm even considering coaching some of their sports teams.

[00:01:50] Bottom line, I started all of my businesses to spend more time with family, and I don't want to lose track of that vision.

[00:01:56] But it's been tough.

[00:01:58] Even though my businesses don't require more than 12 to 15 hours per week to maintain,

[00:02:02] I'm constantly bombarded with new opportunities that are difficult to turn down.

[00:02:06] For example, I started my conference, The Sellers Summit, with my friend Tony Anderson on a whim,

[00:02:12] because it was something that I've always wanted to do.

[00:02:14] Now that I'm no longer working as a hardware engineer, I've also been searching for something technical to fill the void.

[00:02:20] So, starting sometime in July, I'll be working with a friend to start a small software company.

[00:02:25] Actually, calling it a software company is a bit of a stretch.

[00:02:28] Initially, we plan on creating some tools to help e-commerce sellers with their businesses,

[00:02:33] but it could lead to something bigger.

[00:02:35] Anyway, I'm definitely at a crossroads in my life,

[00:02:37] and I wanted to take a quick moment to reflect on some of the major lessons I've learned leading up to this point.

[00:02:43] Here are some words of wisdom from a random Chinese guy on the internet.

[00:02:47] Always have a backup plan.

[00:02:49] Even if you are happy with your job and the current status quo,

[00:02:52] you should always have a backup plan because you never know when your priorities will change.

[00:02:56] For the past 17 years, I've been very happy at my day job,

[00:02:59] and could have realistically worked there for another 17 years.

[00:03:02] But my kids completely changed the picture.

[00:03:05] If you want to be in control of your own destiny, and if you want flexibility in your life,

[00:03:09] then you need to have an alternative income on the side.

[00:03:12] No excuses.

[00:03:13] There are 168 hours in a week.

[00:03:16] You spend roughly 56 hours sleeping, 40 hours working,

[00:03:19] 36 hours eating, showering, taking care of yourself,

[00:03:22] which still leaves 36 hours to do whatever you want.

[00:03:26] Take advantage of this time to plant your seeds of wealth before you need the money.

[00:03:30] I started MyWifeQuitHerJob.com six years before I needed the income.

[00:03:34] My wife and I started BumblebeeLinens.com a full year before my wife knew she was going to quit.

[00:03:40] Anything that is easy will not lead to long-term success.

[00:03:44] After running my blog for the past seven years,

[00:03:46] I've encountered so many people who want to get rich quick,

[00:03:49] and their first question to me is always,

[00:03:51] what is the fastest way to make money?

[00:03:53] What's the easiest way to start?

[00:03:55] Unfortunately, this is the absolute wrong way to approach a business.

[00:03:59] In fact, I would go so far as to say that the easier your path,

[00:04:02] the less sustainable your business model.

[00:04:04] Let's take blogging as an example.

[00:04:06] There are hundreds of thousands of people who have started blogs in search of great riches

[00:04:10] because it's easy to do so.

[00:04:12] All you need is $3.95 a month, and you can launch your own WordPress site.

[00:04:15] But because the barriers to entry are so low,

[00:04:18] there's a ridiculous amount of competition,

[00:04:20] and you have to do something extraordinary to stand out in the crowd.

[00:04:23] The people who succeed at blogging today are those who either started when it was much less saturated,

[00:04:28] or those who are doing something incredible that makes them stand out.

[00:04:31] The world of e-commerce is no different.

[00:04:34] Right now, Amazon is hot,

[00:04:36] but I give it a few more years until the platform becomes completely saturated with random sellers.

[00:04:41] You can either hop on early, right now,

[00:04:43] or you can wait until it gets much more difficult.

[00:04:46] When my wife and I started Bumblebee Linens,

[00:04:48] we made a commitment to sell products that were a pain in the butt to fulfill.

[00:04:51] Doing custom embroidery sucks.

[00:04:54] Not only are the machines expensive,

[00:04:56] but it also requires some expertise to stitch out embroidered designs in volume.

[00:05:00] But custom embroidery on demand is a value add that allows our little shop to stand out.

[00:05:06] Design matters.

[00:05:08] The design of your website matters,

[00:05:10] and I was just reminded of this important lesson three months ago

[00:05:13] when my mastermind colleagues ripped my site to shreds.

[00:05:15] If you have your own brand and web property,

[00:05:18] you can't neglect the aesthetics and usability of your site.

[00:05:22] Customers who shop in your store evaluate whether they are going to buy from you

[00:05:25] within the first five seconds,

[00:05:27] so you really have to make those seconds count.

[00:05:29] By having an attractive and usable design,

[00:05:31] you can drastically increase the likelihood of a purchase.

[00:05:34] If you haven't read my post already,

[00:05:36] I recently wrote about how my last site redesign

[00:05:38] resulted in a 42% increase in conversions.

[00:05:41] Check it out.

[00:05:43] Never call yourself an expert.

[00:05:45] When I first launched my e-commerce course back in 2011,

[00:05:48] everyone started calling me an e-commerce guru,

[00:05:50] and I fell into the trap of playing that role.

[00:05:53] But here's the thing.

[00:05:54] As soon as you start believing that you're an expert in your field,

[00:05:57] your mind instantly shuts off.

[00:05:59] All of a sudden, you find yourself less willing to learn new things

[00:06:02] because you feel like you know everything already.

[00:06:04] And what's worse,

[00:06:05] being an expert makes it difficult to openly admit that you don't know something

[00:06:09] because everybody expects you to be a master in your field.

[00:06:12] So here's my advice,

[00:06:13] even if you are awesome at what you do.

[00:06:15] Tell yourself that you don't know everything there is to know about a subject.

[00:06:19] You can learn from everyone regardless of skill level.

[00:06:22] You are a student just like everyone else.

[00:06:24] And you must keep up with the latest trends in order to stay relevant.

[00:06:28] If you tell yourself these things every day,

[00:06:30] you will keep an open mind and constantly learn.

[00:06:33] To be continued.

[00:06:38] You just listened to part one of the post titled,

[00:06:41] Why I Finally Quit My Job and Eight Life Lessons I Learned in the Process

[00:06:45] by Steve Chu of mywifequitherjob.com.

[00:06:49] And thank you to Steve for letting us read his content.

[00:06:52] When his wife became pregnant and she planned to stay home with the baby,

[00:06:56] they knew that they'd need to find more income.

[00:06:58] So they started a little online store called Bumblebee Linens.

[00:07:01] And I need Steve and his wife to come work for my business because

[00:07:04] in just one year,

[00:07:06] they were able to replace his wife's salary of $100,000 per year.

[00:07:10] And they started My Wife Quit Her Job to document it all,

[00:07:13] including income reports.

[00:07:14] And now, as you heard,

[00:07:15] he was able to leave his job too.

[00:07:17] So it's not just his wife who quit her job anymore.

[00:07:20] Also, like you heard in the post,

[00:07:21] he started the Sellers Summit,

[00:07:23] which is virtual this year.

[00:07:25] And you can learn more about that at SellersSummit.com.

[00:07:29] And I think that's going to do it for today.

[00:07:31] I hope you have a happy Thursday if you're listening in real time.

[00:07:34] Thank you so much for being a subscriber to the show

[00:07:36] and have a great rest of your day.

[00:07:38] I'll see you back here tomorrow,

[00:07:39] where we'll finish up this post

[00:07:41] and where your optimal life awaits.