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Quit Your Job In 6 Months Or Less – The Ultimate 9-5 Escape Plan

I used to wake up every day with one single question on my mind, “how many days are there before the weekend?”

I was counting down the days because I, like millions of people, hated my 9-5 job.

And this wasn’t just a mild dislike of my job either. I really, truly, deep down, despised almost everything about it. Waking up each day and realizing that I had to go to work was torture. I felt my stomach drop every Sunday when I realized Monday was soon to be here.

But since I’m not a trust fund baby, I needed the money. I also wasn’t aware of a better option. So I stuck it out.

That was in 2011. Today is a completely different story. Now I like what I do most of the time. I get to enjoy the freedom and free time that comes with owning a profitable business. I wake up without an alarm clock and often take time off in the middle of the week to go mountain biking.

I work fewer hours, enjoy that work more, and I make more money.

But in order to get to this point, I had to learn a few lessons. A lot, actually. It turns out that many of my assumptions about starting and running a business were completely wrong.

One of my biggest lessons came from having to wade through all of the get-rich-quick schemes. Everywhere I looked, someone was revealing a “secret” strategy for making easy money online or generating passive income with real estate.

The people sharing this information made it look like they are living the dream because they figured out some secret that you don’t know and that once you pay for them to reveal that secret, money will fall into your lap.

SPOILER ALERT: If it were that easy, everybody would do it!

But thankfully, there is a reliable way to escape your day job. And in this article, my goal is to help you see through that bullshit, so you can actually start a business and eventually quit your job, and do it all without risking your savings or overworking yourself.

Let’s start with a few of the major success-killing mistakes to avoid so you can one day give your boss the finger.

Avoid “Winner-Take-All” Businesses

I’ve been reading Nassim Taleb a lot lately, which seems to be helping me avoid stupid mistakes in life. That seems to be essential to succeed in business these days. It’s not about being smart. It’s about NOT being what Taleb calls a “sucker.”

And one of the biggest sucker moves is to start a business where the odds are stacked against you so heavily that you only have a sliver of a chance to succeed.

So what is “winner-take-all”?

It’s characterized by any business or event where only a small percentage of people enjoy the lion’s share of the rewards while everyone else goes home empty-handed.

Take the book publishing industry, for example. A few dozen authors sell millions of books, while 98% of books and authors only sell a few hundred copies (if any at all).

Or take a look at evolution. One species wins the genetic lottery, and the rest vanish forever. Some historians believe that we actually co-existed with Neanderthals at one point until we humans decided we didn’t want to share our planet anymore. Now there are billions of us, and none of them.

Or look at the tech industry, where you have a few companies that dominate the market. Take Amazon, for example. It’s long been, by far, the largest bookseller on earth. Now, it continues to disrupt entire industries and accounted for 49% of all e-commerce spending in 2019. Amazon is a giant among ants, and while it does have some competitors, they are few and far between.

Winner Take All Nassim Taleb

The same phenomenon applies to anything where a small advantage leads to disproportionate results. And more often than not, that advantage has to do with luck and circumstance. No matter how skilled you are, how prepared you are, or how hard you work, you still need a healthy dose of luck to win in an industry that is “winner-take-all.” Sure, Jeff Bezos is a smart dude, but plenty of others are just as smart and creative. They just didn’t win the business lottery.

Winners like Jeff get to buy giant yachts while other smart, hard-working, and very talented losers go get a job.

So you want to start an internet business? Create the next big app? Or, get a patent on some great idea you have for an invention? I wish you the best of luck. But if you want to guarantee your freedom in the next year, those are all terrible choices.

Sure, you may have recently heard a story of another guy getting rich from the app store. But what about the other ten thousand people who spent thirty grand to have their app developed and didn’t even make their money back? You didn’t hear about them because they’re not writing blog posts about how to get rich creating apps. They’re stuck in a day job trying to piece together their confidence.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to see things clearly when you only hear about the winners. So if you want to escape your day job anytime soon, don’t be a sucker and play a game where the odds are stacked in your favor.

Avoid “Passive Income” Opportunities

There’s no shortage of experts out there teaching you how to make easy money, whether that is through real estate, YouTube, drop shipping, or selling niche products on Amazon.

These can all be amazing ways to create freedom in your life. Even though there are some “winner-take-all” effects in these businesses, the odds are actually pretty good if you stick it out long enough.

But there’s the problem! You must stick with it for long enough. How long is long enough? It’s impossible to say. But, you should ask yourself…

Are you willing to work your day job for (at least) 3-5 more years while spending all of your nights and weekends building a passive income business?

If so, great. Stop reading and get to work. But if you’re like I was, you want the light at the end of the tunnel to at least be visible. It’s hard to imagine three years from now in enough detail to actually get motivated.

After I quit my job, I started listening to podcasts, and pretty soon, I stumbled on the idea of starting an internet business. The experts made it sound so easy, like I could just put in some hard work for a few months and coast out the rest of my life cashing big checks and working just a few hours per week.

“Life was going to be amazing!” I thought to myself. “Why isn’t everybody doing this!?”

So I got started, and I worked hard. REALLY HARD. I started learning how to build a website, wrote dozens of blog posts, and worked on my business with every free second I had.

Luckily, I didn’t put all of my eggs into that basket and started another business at the same time (more on that later) because all that hard work didn’t pay off until four years after getting started.

It’s funny, too, because every year, I’d tell my girlfriend, “it’s going to be so nice next year when this work starts paying off.” Then the next year would come, and success would still be just around the corner.

Are there people who do it faster? Yep. But they’re the exceptions. The outliers. The ones in the right place at the right time in the right niche with the right mentors. That’s called luck, my friend. You can’t replicate luck.

The truth is that it takes a LOT of time, effort, dedication, failure, and learning to create passive income. Much more than you’ll be lead to believe. Despite what the guru online says about his “new” strategy for growing businesses fast, making real money is not easy.

Is it worth it? Hell yes, it is. But if you’re looking to quit your job anytime soon, there are much faster and easier paths.

Here’s how to quit your job in the next six months

OK, so starting a business with a new, innovative idea is a bad choice. The odds of success are dismal.

And, trying to aim for the fences with passive income isn’t ideal either. The odds are better, but it takes way too long.

We need something faster. Something with better odds.

What if I told you there was a low-cost, low-risk, fast, and nearly guaranteed way to build a business that frees you from your job within this year?

There is, and it’s a straightforward concept…drumroll, please…

Start offering a service and charge money for it!

That’s it!

It doesn’t really matter what service either, as long as it pays well. You could build websites for small businesses. You could do wedding photography, video editing, manage social media, or even build excel spreadsheets if that’s what you’re good at.

Check out this guy. He drives around and shovels dog poop and makes a six-figure income doing it! It’s not glamorous, but at least he has his freedom.

Personally, I started a handyman business to replace my income (thus the reason for the name of this website). It wasn’t glamorous. But it was fun, and engaging, and it taught me many of the business skills I still use today. Plus, it gave me my freedom fast.

Why starting a service business is the fastest, easiest, and most reliable way to replace your income

First, let me make something clear. I’m not recommending you try to invent some new service. That would give you a low probability of success. I’m talking about taking a common service that there are probably hundreds of competitors for and offering that service.

The less sexy the service, the better.

What, there are already 25 wedding photographers in your area? Great! That means there is demand. When I started my handyman business, do you think I was among the first? Not even close. There were dozens, if not hundreds, in my city, but my business flourished anyway because there was plenty of demand.

Now, you’d think that if there were so much competition, it would be hard to compete. But, here’s a little secret about the service industry…most service providers suck!

The good ones are busy all the time, and the ones with availability are either just getting started or are terrible to work with. Or, they simply aren’t motivated to advertise and grow. That leaves a lot of opportunities for any driven newcomer to succeed (that’s you).

You don’t need any skills

Ok, we both know that’s not completely true. But you need a lot less skill than you think you do. You don’t have to be a world-class photographer to get paid to take pictures. All you need is a good camera and the ability to use it.

If you bought a camera today and spent the next two weeks watching YouTube videos about photography and then practicing what you learned, you’d be more than good enough to charge for your services.

Then, over time you’d get better, your service would improve, and you’d be able to make more money in less time.

Service businesses are low risk

Offering a service is about as low-risk as it gets. You don’t need employees. You can work from your home, your office, or wherever makes sense. And, it costs almost nothing to start.

You will need some tools, of course. But my guess is you already have some of the tools necessary for whatever service you have in mind.

But here’s the best part. If it doesn’t work and nobody hires you (which is unlikely if you do it right), just try something else! The only thing you lost was some time, and hopefully no more than a week or two.

Cash flow comes quickly

After leaving my job, I actually started two businesses simultaneously. One was HandymanStartup.com (this website), and the other was my actual handyman business.

Within weeks of starting my handyman business, I already had a $900 job. Within six months, I generated over $5,000 per month in revenue doing basic handyman services and almost replaced my old income! Keep in mind this was my first business, and I made a lot of mistakes. Had I known what I do now, that would have happened much sooner.

Now compare that to starting an online business. It took me exactly three years and two months to break $5k in a single month in my online business. Then, it took me another two years before that happened consistently. So it took me over five years to hit the revenue that my handyman business was generating in a matter of six months.

Would you rather wait six months or five years to quit your job?

Income over time for various businesses

Once you quit your job, you can use your newfound free time to go after bigger ideas

Maybe you want to have a bigger impact on the world. I’m not saying to run a service business for the rest of your life. I’m just saying that it’s a really effective 9-5 escape tool.

The beautiful thing about running a service business is you can work as much or as little as you want (assuming you have your marketing in order.) You can also increase your rates and find ways to make more money in fewer hours. As you increase your rates, you are able to make more money in less time.

That allows you to work fewer hours and gives you more time to invest toward other dreams.

After being in business for over a year as a handyman, I started scheduling jobs more efficiently, and I increased my rates. Because of this, I was able to generate a full-time income while working just three days per week. That gave me the time to learn new things, grow this business, or just go snowboarding and camping more often.

Maybe you’d want to use that extra time to play your luck at riskier business opportunities. Maybe you’d want to travel the world. Maybe you’d just want more time with your kids. Whatever it is, you first need to take control of your time because you’ll never get that kind of freedom as an employee.

This isn’t supposed to be glamorous, it’s supposed to work

The ideas I share in this article aren’t sexy. I’m not promising you fancy cars, rubbing shoulders with celebrities, or even a beach house. And for some, that’s a deal-breaker.

We all want fast, easy money. We all love the idea of sipping drinks on a beach while the chips keep stacking in the bank. That’s why all of the so-called “experts” promise these things. They know that’s what gets you to buy their stuff.

But if you’re serious about quitting your job anytime soon, avoid that stuff like the plague and start a proven business model.

In just a few weeks, you’ll be generating a healthy side income of $1,000 or more. A few months later and you’ll be faced with a much better problem to have – how to tell your boss you quit.

Then, once you have your freedom and some actual business skills, you can go after bigger dreams. Or, you can just sleep in for a while.

Thumbnail image for The Handyman Startup Podcast

Now, listen to the podcast version of this article, which includes extra content and example businesses. Listen right here or on your favorite podcast app!

HS025 – The fastest and most reliable way to escape your day job

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Leave a Comment

  • Bob Wnenk August 23, 2017

    I am just about 5 months into my handyman business and things are starting to come together. I advertise very little at the moment cause I have a lawsuit going from when I got injured at my previous place of employment. I plan to do more when things are settled. Thanks for all the great material I have gotten. Looking forward to reading and learning more.

    • Dan Perry August 24, 2017

      Congrats on the progress, Bob!

    • Ethan Thomas June 23, 2019

      That’s the best! Suing the place where you used to work and following your dreams afterwards! I’m sorry you got injured but nothing feels better than taking more money from your previous place of employment! Use the money to fund your Business!

  • Shawn Lass August 23, 2017

    I am now in my 3rd month of doing this full time. I am booked up until the end of September as of right now, and I have turned down some work. I thank you for all your advice, I took to heart all of it. Website, uniform, FB page, vehicle decals & business cards. I am finally doing what I love to do as a full time job and couldnt be happier. And the bonus part, I am making great money. Thank you again.

    • Dan Perry August 24, 2017

      That’s awesome Shawn! So glad to hear it.

  • matt stern August 24, 2017

    Dan,

    As always, you hit the nail on the head (not intended as a handyman pun).
    I started my first business over 30 years ago, which was a service business in the IT industry. Exactly as you said, with little startup cost and I started seeing revenue quickly. I built that into almost a million dollar per year venture, and then the bottom slowly started dropping out. Long story short, I’m in the Home Improvement industry now and am seeing pretty much the same indications of growth — but without the likelihood of it all evaporating down the line.

    I always like the people who are an “overnight sensation” (that was 25 years in the making). There are no shortcuts, or get rich quick schemes. At least none that are legal and actually work.

    Keep up the great articles and work. You’ve certainly got it together.

    • Dan Perry August 24, 2017

      Thanks Matt. And I agree, I don’t see the need for handyman services evaporating anytime soon!

  • Tait Leaney September 5, 2017

    Dan,

    You are on the money once again. Solid gold advice. Once you take that leap, a whole new world opens up to you.

    Tait

  • Randal DeHart September 21, 2017

    Dan, Another great article. I especially liked the graph Service Business Income and Passive income.

    Warm Regards,
    Randal DeHart

  • Daniel September 23, 2017

    I used to dream of quitting my job. That was until I found something that I liked doing. Working in property management I can say I no longer dread Monday mornings

    • Dan Perry September 23, 2017

      I find that fascinating. What is it about your new job that you enjoy?

  • Peter October 27, 2017

    I’ve been doing the Handyman work on the side since earlier this year. Just put in my two week notice at a place I’ve been needing to quit for a while now. You’re website and advice are definitely worth while. Thank you for taking the time to write about your experiences and sharing them.

  • Zevi Berger July 12, 2018

    I’m 23 and want to open a handyman business and quit my warehouse job. Problem is, I really don’t have much experience. I’m a handy person but I rent an apartment so I don’t even do many repairs to give me experience. That’s what’s keeping me from advertising. Do I need to wait, or should I just advertise anyway? I need guidance.

    • Dan Perry July 12, 2018

      Is there a service you are good at? All you need is one service you are good at to start a business. You don’t need to know how to do everything.

      • Ethan Thomas June 23, 2019

        Agreed! You only need to know how to do one thing to have a successful service business.

  • Mike July 28, 2018

    There’s some good info here. Thank you for sharing. I think service oriented businesses are the way to go. I used to work for a company and the owner was being counseled by the people that started 1800gotjunk and nurse next door. There’s always going to be a need for people needing services at their home or on the fly. It’s the convenience aspect too. Like having grocery stores deliver groceries to your home, you don’t have to go anywhere. I quit my job 3 years ago and started a service-oriented business out of my basement. I now lease a small office in a business park, and just this year, I hired an office manager. To start the business, I hired 20 independent contractors to do all the work. That’s really the best way to make the most money. If you’re the one man shop then you get booked up and you can only make money the hour you’re working. Instead, if I have 20 people billing customers between the hours of 9 to 5 pm on a Monday thats a lot more in revenue. I usually charge customers $125 per hour and I pay the independent contractor $25 to $40 per hour. It depends on their experience and what they can do. I now make $110k per year, more than when I quit my job. I’m no longer micro managed, I don’t have to put on a uniform, I don’t have to sit in hours of traffic, and I get to make the rules. It’s fun, but can also be stressful at times. It’s nice when I have a friend in town and they want to go fishing, kayaking, to a brewery, I can just go and I don’t have to take time off through a manager. To anyone that wants to be an entrepreneur, I would say never give up, ever. Before my current venture, I had started another company. With that company, I went 6 months and never had a lead or any interest, $0 in sales. I went back to the drawing board, and did some research, which brought me to my current company now that I’ve been running for 3 years.

  • John Redmond September 29, 2018

    What are some handyman skills I could market or should I be able to install or repair everything around a customers home?

  • Jeremy Lewis October 2, 2018

    I love your honesty, enthusiasm and transparency. Your no-bullshit approach to your website and I’m sure to your business as well is a welcome relief and a breath of fresh air among the blogs and businesses that tell you only what you want to hear.

    My family is going on a week long vacation starting this weekend and with your blog as my support I plan on pulling the trigger on becoming a handyman. Thanks for all that you do!

    I would love to see a more recent financial report by the way, you’ve shown us the growth from year one to two, but how is the business faring now?

  • ted lambert November 26, 2018

    Would live updates

  • Heidi Prudente December 5, 2019

    Thanks for this candid advice! My husband started a painting business after we sold our restaurant. He is doing great, I handle his bookkeeping, proposals, etc. I was searching to find some advice (while at MY 9-5) to grow the business so that he can get off the ladder so much and I can get out of HERE! I literally loathe working in a corporate atmosphere but…it is what it is. I continue to find the advice to market, follow-up, hire, use subcontractors, etc., but I am stuck here all day and don’t have the time to do it. My biggest issue seems to be getting reliable workers who don’t expect you to pay them in cash. My salary includes both of our health insurance so it’s a lot to give up. Any advice??

    • Dan Perry December 5, 2019

      Sounds like you are already on the right track. Just keep moving forward, learning, and applying consistent effort toward your goal. Nothing happens overnight and anything worth having is not going to be easy. Don’t take on too much at once. Just identify the next small step you can make to systemize your business and focus on doing that until it’s done. Then go to the next thing. If you do that for long enough eventually you will have your freedom.

  • Brittany R Mullen January 6, 2020

    Hi, I am a carpenter and would like to start my own small business of small house fix its. I have the knowledge of how to build and fix things but have the slightest idea on how to start a business.

  • David Bailey March 5, 2020

    Starting a Handyman service could use some good advise.

  • Nick Fagen March 5, 2020

    Dan I recently came across your podcasts and have been listening and taking in your information very thoroughly. I’m 19 years old, I work a 9-5 job at a truck accessory shop in Iowa. As much as I enjoy a lot of the work I do. I am just dissatisfied after 3 years at the same job I want to do something different. A job where I am in control, a job that challenges me, a job that can have me doing something different every day of the week. I was raised around home improvement projects and have done many small jobs on the side throughout the past few years that I have gained a decently diverse skill set. I have always wanted to be a business owner and I personally feel like I have the qualities to do so. I am just still too timid to dive in. What advice can you give to someone that is just scared to pull the trigger, and what are some essentials to think about before doing so.

    • Dan Perry March 6, 2020

      You are young so try not to let the fear of making mistakes hold you back. The worst case scenario is that it doesn’t work out. But even then it’s not a big deal (unless you have kids and a family already). Start it up on the side while you still have your job. Understand that you will inevitably face challenges no matter how much thinking and preparing you do. You will never avoid all mistakes. The biggest mistake you can make is to sit on the sidelines and NOT try.

  • Brian Darnell March 20, 2020

    Just planning on getting something started and gathering all the information that I can. This kind of thinking streamlines with my plans. I’d really like to learn more about the marketing section and will look at some of your articles. Really impressed with your YouTube videos so far!

  • Tim September 10, 2020

    I haven’t watched the video just yet but wanted to know if starting a handyman business requires to be certified in anything specifically? Are there licenses and insurances that need to be involved before setting off and providing a “service” for potential customers, etc? What are the legalities involved?

    • Dan Perry September 11, 2020

      Hey Tim, I cover that information in other articles on my website. Take a look around and you’ll find them pretty easily.

      -Dan

  • Erik Story December 11, 2020

    Hi, it’s been a long time since I posted here. Years ago I had already started my handyman business but was looking to grow it or at least run it better. So I bought one of Dan’s books, and read everything on this website, to help me get on the right track. Then, when I decided to start specializing in one trade, I bought his video course on building a website. I just want to say that Dan knows what the heck he’s talking about. The website that he urges us each to build (and taught me how to build) does what he said it would. My business is at the point where I no longer advertise. I now only work part-time, by choice. I turn down jobs. I don’t go out and give free estimates. I should mention that I did advertise for a while — just a simple, inexpensive google ad — but I don’t need to any more. Most of my work comes from repeat clients and referrals, and the rest from people who find my website by searching for my specialty (I have almost no yelp presence, and couldn’t care less). Deciding to specialize in a high-paying trade — one in which I am highly qualified — is the smartest thing I ever did professionally, and I developed the guts to do it thanks to the stuff Dan talked about. In short, I followed a lot of Dan’s advice, and tailored my business to fit my lifestyle, and now I couldn’t be happier. I’m not saying any of the things here to brag, because I know that’s when the universe just loooves to smack a guy down. I’m saying it because I think Dan’s products and advice are great guides to help you build the business and lifestyle you deserve.

  • Kay February 1, 2021

    I think this “6 month” business advise only seems to work for a handyman business. I’ve started a personal care service that is in high demand right now and with going on almost 2 years there’s no way I can support myself on this income alone yet. I still need to rely on my 9-5 to pay the bills. I agree that a service business will probably see the fastest return on investment but I doubt for most people it will only take 6 months to see that level of success.

    • Dan Perry February 9, 2021

      Good point Kay. That six months is more of a full time effort. If you are only doing part time, then it will take significantly longer. Also, your marketing will play a big part in how fast things take off.

  • Andy February 14, 2021

    Hi, Dan,

    Health Insurance for my family is still a concern. How did you handle the health insurance coverage during your first months as a business owner?

    • Dan Perry February 26, 2021

      I paid for it out of pocket. The ideal situation is having a spouse who has a job with benefits, though.

  • JASON BALLENSKY June 13, 2021

    I have tools and have skills in several areas of home remodeling and repair. I have been told several times after I lost my job in 2020 to start a handyman service. The requirements here will take some time, I like the Idea that I should do smaller jobs while learning to get me Gen Con license. I have a good friend that has a RE license and we have been talking about flipping homes. Any info you can give me or advice is greatly appreciated. Thank You

  • NATHAN GRACE February 3, 2022

    Starting a repair business today!

    • Dan Perry February 14, 2022

      That’s great, Nathan!
      -Dan

  • Anna March 7, 2022

    I need to quit my job fast!