If you’ve ever dreamed about quitting your job to chase your passion — no more bosses, no more KPIs, no more deadlines — this story is for you.
Because I’ve lived it. And I want to show you what it really looks like behind all the hype.
The Internet Makes It Look Easy
We’ve all seen the stories:
- A developer makes more money from a SaaS product than from their day job.
- An AI automation guru only works 3 hours a day and earns a week’s salary.
- A YouTuber gets 100,000 followers and rakes in thousands in ad revenue.
- A TikTok seller goes viral and pulls in 6- to 7-figure income.
- A course creator makes money teaching others how to make money.
I’ve seen them all — on blogs, Twitter, Medium, Reddit, and YouTube. Stories like:
- A 17-year-old makes more than you in a year using ChatGPT.
- A 26-year-old who quit everything, and now makes $26K/month.
- Steven Cravotta, making $40K/month building apps — and he’s not even a techie.
And every time, we feel a little spark. That could be me. Maybe I should quit too.
But is it really that easy?
My Own Leap in 2023
It was 2023. I had a stable job and a decent side hustle. My side hustle brought in a few dozen dollars a day, sometimes over $100. On good weeks, I could earn $1,000 or more.
I talked with my wife. She supported our kids, ran the household, and I only had evenings to work on the side business. Together, we had less than one full-time person’s bandwidth. But we believed — if we both committed, maybe we could scale it.
So I quit my job.
We even wrote a rough business plan. We felt ready.
If you’re in that same place — thinking about quitting — read on. Because things didn’t go as planned.
The First Few Months Felt Like Freedom
At first, it felt amazing. I had time. I could finally help around the house. My wife could focus more. I had no boss, no meetings, no reports. I could take my kids to the park on weekends. Even without a paycheck, we had savings. Life felt good.
But two months in — we had made $0.
We were working every day. Hard. Full-time. But unlike a job, there was no guaranteed paycheck. There was no income at all.
We weren’t worried yet. We believed the money would come. And eventually, it did.
Our First $560
Six months in, we got our first payment. $560. We celebrated. It felt like the beginning of something. We believed more would follow: $1,000 next month, maybe more after that.
But the next month? Nothing.
Still, we didn’t panic. We treated it like a company post-mortem. We reviewed, improved, retried.
But after a few more months, anxiety crept in. We were barely making anything. Nothing came close to that $560 again. After nearly a year, our total earnings were under $2,000. Nowhere near enough to cover living expenses.
The Real Mistake We Made
We panicked.
We abandoned our original idea. We pivoted. We tried new things. We stopped believing.
That was our biggest mistake.
We became scattered. Desperate. Distracted. And when your mindset shifts from building to surviving, everything falls apart.
Quitting wasn’t the mistake. Giving up our original focus was.
The Harsh Reality of Quitting Cold Turkey
Here’s the part no one talks about:
When you quit your job, your brain gets chaotic. You think you have endless time — but it gets filled with distractions, new ideas, too many to-dos. And the worst part?
The money never comes fast enough.
You might make something. But it won’t outpace your bills. The pressure mounts. And you realize that starting from zero is brutal.
Eventually, I had to get a job again.
Now I Do Both — And It’s Better
Today, I work a day job. I’ve carved out two focused hours a day. That’s it.
In those hours, I work on my SaaS tools. I write Medium articles. I post YouTube videos.
Yes, family stuff gets in the way. But I’m not stressed. I have income. I have peace. I can go slow. I can go smart.
I will succeed. Because I’m consistent. That already puts me ahead of 90% of people. And because I chose the AI space, I know I’m in the right lane.
My goal this year? Launch 10 micro SaaS products.
If you’re interested, follow along. I’ll be sharing everything — openly, honestly, just like this.
Let’s grow together.