As a long time entrepreneur I have been through this on the other side several times and I never had the luxury of the choice that you have since I have been self-employed my whole adult life.

If you really mean that you want to do this with integrity than I would suggest you do not take ANY clients or employees with you. Find your own. Yes that means it will be harder. Living with integrity is always more difficult isn't it? Otherwise more of us would do so. And there's a less likelihood that your previous employer will sue you.

This will probably mean that it will take longer for you to reach breakeven/profitability. If you are right about your service and the marketplace then the short term pain this causes will be more than offset in the long run.

As the owner of your own business you will be surprised at add'l costs you might not have been aware of as an employee. And all the headaches of running the company will be yours as well. I'm not sure what state you are in so I don't know about any potential tax liabilities that you may or may not have planned for. As a simple for instance the company has an 8% payroll tax cost (company contribution for SS and medicare). What about marketing and sales costs? Have you properly accounted for those? They are usually higher than planned for.

My experience has been that it "takes longer and costs more" than expected. Projections are naturally on the rosy side otherwise you wouldn't do it in the 1st place. Do you have an accountant and a good lawyer in place? Have you accounted for their costs as well. Revenue targets usually take longer to hit than expected.

Good luck to you and I hope you do choose the path of integrity. Very few do.

Become a consultant to the industry. You do not have to manufacture or sell a product to be self-employed. You have great ideas and marketing acumen. Consultants earn more per year than employees by a mile.

You can continue your e-marketing pursuits with other people's products until you are ready to design your own and find a sub-contractor to manufacture it.

My daughter-in-law did that with a brand of salsa that she made at home and sold to local markets until she was told that it was illegal to use a home kitchen. She rented a space from a short-hours restaurant with a professional kitchen as a second phase. She hired increasing staff to do the work so production went to 25X what she started at and sales were ahaead of production.

The third phase was selling the recipe and the name to a brand name manufacturer. She could have used that money to start up another venture but chose to back other ideas outside of the food arena.

It can be done. Just make certain you are in a financial position to move out from the protection of a salary. It may take a couple of years to get up to speed.

I did that with real estate. I turned cash into condos and rent them. I gross 11.7 % return on investment with almost no time involved. The return will increase as prices rise and then there is return on capital when I sell. I got in at the bottom of a great opportunity. As the building was sold out, prices already have risen over 20% for sale of the units and I came in in July from what I paid.

Do not jump. Check all your circumstances. Yours isn't a business that requires you to put up today. Check with othjers who have been there and done that. Use the Chamber of Commerce as a base for finding out the financial trends in that industry for consultants.

Best of luck.

WCB

I really like the feedback Milt and Rick have provided.

I would suggest you think 12-18 months reserve to be on the safe side.

Gordon

Whooo! Some scenario there,

I walked in where,you needed some come back.

My advise:

Is,take your worst out come, make it,your best point to start from.

Quit thinking,Our and We,then put,the Me in there,and let that become I,and go on from there.

As long as you are safe behind someone else,you'll never be the one doing well at anything.

Be it business or saveing lives.

You,have to get your feet,wet to swim,or drown,that's what makes a person attempt the deep end of the pool.

I,myself,have done what I wanted,all my life.I searched out people with money and,I Helped people with plans that have made them plenty of money,I've got a couple,cups of coffee,1000.000.00 thank you bonus's a year for 35 years.

Good thing they got there stuff together,and quit asking how?

I learned to swim @14 years old,had a great teacher,and the laws at that time,were bendable.

What has change sence then?I got older.They have,your money,in their pocket.Tell them,to give,it,to you.Not take your money.Trick them.Just tell them.That's,how I,get paid.FREE advice no charge.

Too,simple huh?.....ok. Ok!Think about it.

I like you!Madd hatter?

And,I'm Crazy with the heat and under the table,it's FREE.

Got it from an old office building,that we closed.

i've sold insurance to commercial clients for several decades and will give you advice from an insurance perspective. the rest of you tbd-ers can skip this or read only if you have insomnia!

before starting your biz, find out what your insurance costs are so you can put that into your expenses equation. you will need to insure your stock & inventory, your operations, your work premises and product liability. also, if your state requires this, work comp, health ins and short term disability for your employees.

your insurance premiums are based on your exposures and believe it or not, the other tenants in your building. if your neighbor tenants are dynamite mfrs, then that will boost up your premium, likewise if you rent in a frame bldg, as opposed to concrete construction.

OK this is INS 101, if you need more info, feel free to email me..i'll be glad to help.