The start-up series: should you leave your day job for a side hustle?

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16th Sep 2019

Barre Body and Bende founder, Emma Seibold, has launched a six-part start-up series that aims to help you take your idea from a seedling to a blossoming business. In this series, Seibold will share her journey, as well as the tips, tricks, and lessons she’s learnt along the way. Read on for part one. 

When is it a good time to leave your day job for a side hustle? That’s a tricky one, so let me rephrase it: is it ever a good time to leave your job for a side hustle? In my case, it was an easy choice because when I decided to start Barre Body, I had already quit my job and was a new mum. Let me paint the picture for you.  

After my own Eat Pray Love story in my late 20s, where I had separated from a long-term partner, been made redundant from my high-paying marketing job, gone to India to practice yoga, gotten Dengue fever and sold my house, I took a role in a start up, Urban Remedy Cleanse, and worked for a group of investors to popularise juice cleansing in Australia. It was one of the most amazing roles I’ve ever had, but when I accidentally fell pregnant to the man of my dreams (my now-hubby), we decided to move to Melbourne and start a recruitment agency.

And then we had the idea for Barre Body and the plans all changed. I knew it was a magical kind of idea and that the time was right in Australia to bring the barre method to life. But I was very nervous and there were so many reasons and inner objections that I had to overcome. Let’s workshop some of them together, as I’m sure some of them will apply to you.

I asked this of my dad in the early stages when we were thinking of opening Barre Body and he said to me: “What’s the worst thing that can happen? You’ll lose some money and have to get another job. You will always get another job. So I recommend you ask the same question of yourself. What’s the worst that could happen and can you get another job if things don’t work out as planned?”

I have a very short answer to this and you need to be able to say this to yourself if you are going to be strong enough to cope with the challenges of being in business for yourself. Who cares? At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter what other people think. Just what you think of yourself. 

I listened to a great audiobook the other day and the founder said you should work out what you’ll need for the first six months of business and then double it. I tend to agree, but that’s not how we did it. We put every dollar of savings we had into opening the first Barre Body studio to the extent that we had no idea how we would pay the second month’s rent or the rent on our apartment, but luckily it all worked out for us and my husband’s recruitment business was able to support us for a little while. 

If you are a risk-taker, that approach might appeal to you and if not, maybe you should consider continuing to work on your business while still working in your full-time or part-time job. I know lots of people who do this in the beginning until they feel confident (or at least hopeful) they can support the business and themselves financially. At some point, if you want to make a real go of it, you have to dive in. 

You can always find someone who is more qualified or experienced than you. In my case, there were so many more experienced teachers than me in the world. At the time I opened Barre Body, I had only been teaching yoga for two years and had only just learnt the barre technique. I knew very little about opening a studio – only that I wanted to create a space infused with love and joy. So that’s what I did. There was a very healthy dose of “fake it ’til you make it”. 

You might. It’s a risk that every new business has to take and the counter question that I offer you to ponder instead is: “If I don’t do this, will I wish that I had?” I also encourage you to try to keep your costs as low as possible. In the beginning, I did everything for Barre Body – I designed the logo, I built the website, I did the customer service, I taught 10 classes per week, I cleaned the studio, I did the books (somewhat questionably). I did everything and what I didn’t know how to do, I Googled and soon learnt.  

This is a very common fear with a new business. If you’ve done your research (and you must do your research), you should have a good idea as to the likelihood of people wanting what you are selling. It’s natural to feel nervous and worried, but in my experience, fear means that you are being brave and if you weren’t fearful, you probably haven’t considered the risks. As the saying goes, feel the fear and do it anyway. 

This was huge for me. A little-known secret is that I had never ever taken a ballet class in my life before opening Barre Body, except for a few when I lived the US at six years old. My dad recounts the story of going to pick me up from ballet class and seeing all the little girls lined up at the barre in their tutus obediently doing plies while I was twirling around in circles on the other side of the room looking at myself in the mirror. Such is the extent of my ballet career. 

I was very worried that people would think I was a fraud, but I proved by my actions and results that I wasn’t. I learnt how to be an exceptional barre teacher (and businesswoman) on the job, all the while pretending I already was. Again, fake it until you make it. It’s a tried and tested path to success for many.   

If that’s your mantra, you’ll always find excuses to wait. At some point, you must dive in. I did and it was the very best decision I have ever made. 

Helpful? I hope so! Stay tuned for the part two of the start-up series.

Emma Seibold is the founder of Barre Body and Bende. Follow her on Instagram at @emmaseibold.