Want to free yourself from the 9–5 and be your own boss? 

You’re in the right place.

Today, you’ll learn:

• If you should take the leap and quit your job
• The 29 best (+well-paying) careers to be your own boss  
• 8 steps to become your own boss

Let’s dive right in!

What does it mean to be your own boss? 

The definition of “being your own boss” is: 

“Have full control of a business or enterprise : have no boss except for oneself”

You probably want to be your own boss because you want: 

• Flexibility to work wherever, whenever
• Freedom to pursue your passion
• The ability to make an impact in your industry

You’re not alone! 

There are over 582 million entrepreneurs worldwide, and about 29% of them become entrepreneurs so they can be their own bosses.

I’m one of them – and I used to be in your shoes. 

When I was still in my 9-5, I’d call my mom every week to tell her that I wanted to quit my job.

But I persisted in my job and built my business on the side – after all, I had worked hard to get where I was. Once I had a comfortable income (six figures), I was finally able to hand in my notice…and never look back!

But is this the right path for you? Let’s take a look. 

Should YOU be your own boss? 

Not everyone is born an entrepreneur. But entrepreneurship is a skill you can learn. 

More specifically, there are certain traits that every successful entrepreneur shares. 

Top ones include: 

• Willingness to fail: You will fail as an entrepreneur. But the key to succeeding as one is to not let that stop you. Instead, shift your thinking from, “Will this work for me?” to “How will this work for me?” 
• Discipline: You need to show up consistently to become your own boss. Approach your business like a job from day one. 
• Perseverance: This is one of the most important entrepreneurial traits. Focus on where you are now and where you want to go – and then figure out a way to make things work for you. 
• Curiosity: By getting curious, you become a better problem solver and more creative. Both are traits you absolutely need if you want to grow a business. 

All of these skills are learnable – and now you know what skills to improve.

However, should you even become your own boss? 

There are a few telltale signs…

• You want more impact: You feel like you’re not achieving your potential at your job. A business can help you have far more impact.
• You want more freedom: A job takes up a lot of your time. A business, once you’ve grown it to that point, will help you achieve freedom and flexibility. However, it does take hard work to get there. 
• You have big dreams: If you feel restricted in your job, becoming your own boss is a way to build your life in your own way. 

But what are some jobs you can take on to become your own boss? That’s what we’ll look at next. 

The best careers to become your own boss

These are some of the best jobs and businesses if you want to become your own boss. Specifically, service-based businesses are some of the best businesses to start because you can get started right away with the skills you have.

Freelancing 

As a freelancer, you provide a done-for-you service for money.

For example, web design, virtual assisting, copywriting, photography, and so on. 

Because freelancing has low upfront costs and you can use your existing skills, it’s surprisingly profitable. You can get started on a platform like Upwork.

Consulting 

Consulting is similar to freelancing, but instead of a done-for-you service, you’re selling your advice and expertise. 

It’s common for consultants to work in the same field as their 9-5. 

Think HR consulting, IT consulting, and PR consulting.

This is a highly profitable business model because you’re using your existing skills and you can charge high-ticket prices for your services. (Most of my students start with a $1,500 package.)  

I also started my business in consulting and coaching. I first offered paid advertising consulting before moving on to business coaching. 

Coaching

A coaching business is one of the best online businesses you can start. 

You can get started straight away with your knowledge so it can be wildly profitable.

Coaching business ideas include: 

• Relationship coaching
• Fitness coaching
• Health coaching
• Business coaching
• Career coaching

Online courses 

There are few business models as profitable as selling online courses. 

After all, you can teach what you know to hundreds or even thousands of people with one product.

Note, though: I don’t recommend starting out with online courses. But a course business is a great business move for coaches, consultants, and freelancers who want to scale their businesses. 

Ecommerce store

An ecommerce business is a company that sells physical or digital products online.

This type of business can be highly profitable and fulfilling. 

However, it takes work to develop, source, store, and distribute your products. 

For physical products, that could involve design, warehousing, and shipping, which drive up your investment. 

Virtual assistant

As a virtual assistant, you work with clients to help with all kinds of administrative tasks, from managing emails to doing customer support. 

A virtual assistant position typically pays $25/hour. However, if you have specific skills, you can ask for around $50-$75. Those types of skills mean you’re an expert on certain administrative or marketing tools. 

Social media management 

A social media manager manages other businesses’ social media presence. 

You typically get really good at managing one social media platform (YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn…) and then sell your services to businesses who want to grow on that platform. 

You can work as a freelancer (done for you) or consultant (advisory). 

Tutoring

Tutoring is a way for you to stop working for others if you have a teaching background. You’ll tutor clients privately on platforms like Preply. 

Tutoring can have very different incomes depending on the clients they work with and the subject they teach. The average is $25-$80/hour. If you do SAT or test prep tutoring, you’ll often earn between $45-$100/hour. 

Selling printables 

Printables and other digital products are a “passive” and scalable income stream. (I say “passive” because no business idea is truly passive – they all require some amount of work.)

Note: You will need to sell a good number of printables to make an income that lets you quit your job. 

Think about it: If you sell a printable at $50, you need to sell 100 of them to get to $5,000/month. To sell that many printables, you need a relatively big audience…and building one takes time. 

If you want to quit your job fast, look at the ideas on this list you can start with the existing skills you have. 

Selling your own artwork

You can sell your own artwork and crafts on a platform like Etsy. 

For example, a few products include jewelry, paintings, and candles. The problem, like with any business that sells physical products, is to make enough sales.

Graphic design

If you have a design background, becoming a graphic designer is an option for you. Graphic designers work on logos, websites, social media content, packages, and other graphics clients need. 

Web design

Web design, like graphic design, is an option for you if you know design. However, web designers, who design websites, often need technical skills, like HTML5 and CSS. That said, if you build websites on a platform like Squarespace you often don’t need a lot of technical knowledge. 

Bookkeeping

If you have work experience as a bookkeeper, you can use those skills to become your own boss. Bookkeeping doesn’t require any formal education. But you can get certified by the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers (AIPB). 

Freelance writing

A freelance writer creates content (blog posts, whitepapers, ebooks, social media posts, technical content…) for clients. You’ll often be able to ask for higher rates if you specialize in a niche like health or tech. 

Event planning

As an event planner, you help plan people’s events, including corporate events or weddings. This career is best suited for you if you love organizing and setting up events. 

Health coaching

Health coaches help their clients in various ways. For example, you might help your clients lose weight, reduce their stress levels, or eat healthier. 

Take my student David, who helps people improve their health with herbs. 

I have a guide on how to become a health coach here. 

Yoga instructor

If you have yoga instructor training, you can start teaching yoga classes. To create a flexible business, teach online so that you’re not confined to one location. 

Parenting coaching

A parenting coach helps parents manage parenthood. For example, sleep coaching, breastfeeding coaching, and ADHD coaching are forms of parenting coaching. 

If you have experience with parenting challenges, take a look at parenting coaching as an option. 

Financial advisor

A financial advisor helps people manage their money better. Another alternative is financial coaching. Note: If you offer investment advice or sell financial products, you often need a license. 

Handyman

Enjoy working with your hands? As a handyman you don’t need to have any specific degree. However, you might need to get training for things like electrical work. You can get started on a platform like TaskRabbit.

Relationship coaching 

A relationship coach helps people find love or couples improve their relationships. One example is my student Ruby, who went from being a matchmaker at eHarmony to starting her own business. 

Read my relationship coaching guide here. 

Music teacher 

If you sing or play an instrument, you can teach others to do the same. Plus, these days, plenty of people hire music teachers online – so if you want to keep your flexibility, you don’t have to offer in-person services. Platforms like Forte and Yousician help you find clients. 

Personal trainer

A personal trainer helps people get fit. For example, if you’re a PT who helps clients build muscle mass or train for a marathon, those are both niches you can get started in. You can work in a local gym or get clients online. 

Speaker 

Love speaking? Then, you can become a professional speaking and earn your income from speaking gigs. And to increase your income, sell coaching or consulting. 

Real estate investor

A real estate investor invests in real estate property, including single family and multihousing. You can either specialize in short-term vacation rentals or long-term rentals. 

My student Ryan built his own real estate portfolio from scratch and now teaches others how to do it: 

Interior designer 

If you have successfully designed a place (for example, your own home), you can use that as your portfolio to start your interior design business. 

Video editor 

A video editor edits video content. Plenty of businesses need video content for their marketing channels (including YouTube), so this service is in demand – especially if you know how to keep an audience engaged. 

Personal stylist

If you love styling people, you could become a personal stylist and image consultant. So you help people improve their style, find the right pieces, and improve their confidence and brand. 

For example, my friend Cassandra Sethi has years of experience and now offers personal stylist services:  

AI consultant

Everyone is learning to navigate AI and that’s where AI consulting comes in. For instance, help teams improve their productivity by using AI or teach people how to use prompts to get AI to do what they want. 

Podcaster

If you want to create and monetize content, podcasts are one way to do so. Of course, you need to build up an audience (which can take time). But once you have one, brand partnerships and Patreon subscriptions are a few ways you can earn money. 

Blogger

Blogging is similar to podcasting, but instead of sharing your content on a podcast, you share it on a blog. You will need a niche and to grow your traffic and audience to a point where you can make enough money to quit your job. 

Affiliate marketer 

Finally, affiliate marketing means that you promote products and get a commission for every sale you make. Often, affiliate marketers are content creators, so you could promote products on your podcast or blog.

That’s it, those are the top jobs for you if you want to quit your day job.

But what are the advantages and disadvantages of being your own boss? 

Let’s find out. 

What are the pros and cons of being your own boss?

Here are the pros and cons of being your own boss:

Pros

• Flexibility: No commutes, opening times, or set to-do lists. You have the flexibility to work however you want.
• Freedom: You have the freedom to pursue work you’re interested in. Plus you can work anytime from anywhere in the world.
• Higher income: There is no limit as to how much you can earn. 
• Impact: You can transform the lives of your clients by building a strong brand. 

Cons

• No steady paycheck: You’re not guaranteed to make sales. You also don’t have benefits like retirement plans, sick leave, health insurance, and maternity leave. 
• More responsibilities: As an entrepreneur, you are the accountant, designer, marketer, sales manager, and CEO on top of your main client work. 
• Hard work: Even though you don’t have to work 24/7, being an entrepreneur is hard work

How to become your own boss in 8 simple steps

To become your own boss, you need to follow eight key steps:

1. Find a business idea

Now, you might be thinking “How could I start a business? I don’t have the next big idea.”

Don’t worry – you don’t need to invent the next Amazon to be your own boss. 

The truth is the best idea for you is already inside you.

Think about it. You’ve learned skills from your day job, hobbies, and major life experiences – they’re all valuable. 

And as you begin this journey of becoming your own boss, you want to make it as simple as possible for yourself. 

How? Monetize your existing skills. That way, you don’t have to invest money in developing a product or getting more education. 

So what kind of businesses use your existing skills? 

The top three are:

• Coaching
• Consulting
• Freelancing

Coaching/consulting was my choice when I wanted to quit my 9-5. 

See, I knew I wanted to get started as fast as possible without learning new skills so I identified a problem I could solve with the skills I already had. 

After a couple of years of trial and error, I landed on digital advertising consulting, because I had experience working on digital ads in my day job.

And it worked! Four months after starting that business, I made enough to quit my day job and become my own boss. 

Now it’s your turn: 

Can you identify a problem people have that you can solve with your skills? 

But you also need a niche – a target audience. That’s what we’ll look at next. 

2. Decide on a niche

Let’s make this simple: 

A good niche combines your skills with market demand. 

First, your skills. 

Brainstorm all of the skills you’ve learned so far that could be viable business ideas.

I mentioned that eventually I chose digital advertising… but I didn’t start there. 

My very first business was Excel consulting. I knew a lot about spreadsheets because of my day job. But did I want to build a business around spreadsheets – the least favorite part of my job? The answer was no.

Then I tried career coaching. Having climbed the corporate ladder as an introvert, I had some great insight that could help others. 

But that didn’t work out either because I knew I eventually wanted to help people start businesses rather than advance in their careers. 

But with digital advertising, my third idea, I was able to work in a field I enjoyed and use my experience to help small business owners. 

Still stuck? Check out this video on finding a profitable niche.

Next up: Market research.

3. Do market research 

Now you have a business idea, is there a demand for it? 

Or an even bigger question: Do people want to pay for it?

To figure this out, start with the market you want to work with. 

So ask yourself:

• Who might need your services? For example, as a career consultant, you could work with new college grads, mid-level career women, or executives at Fortune 500 companies. 
• Who can pay for your services? Following from our previous example, college grads have less income, so they wouldn’t necessarily be ideal. Whereas someone with a bit more work experience could afford your services. 
• Who relates to you? You might want to work with top-level executives but what would draw them to you? Do you have experience working with execs? 

This is the process my student Spencer Snakard went through. She was a high-level executive in her corporate career but didn’t feel fulfilled. So she created a mindset coaching program for entrepreneurs and leaders who want to live better lives. 

Once you have a market in mind, you need to make sure they want what you’re selling. 

A simple way to do that is to look for similar businesses to yours. 

Are coaching, consulting, or freelancing businesses in your niche doing well? 

Are your ideal clients seeking services like yours on LinkedIn, Reddit, or Facebook groups? 

These will help you figure out if there’s a market ready and waiting for your services.

4. Figure out when to quit

Now you have a validated business idea, you’re ready to hand in your notice, right?

Not so fast! 

So many new entrepreneurs leave their 9-5 way too soon. 

Some manage to survive… but very few do. Most of them end up back in a day job, because of financial stress. 

So when will you be ready to quit your job? 

Here’s a simple framework I call the 3-2-1 rule. You’re ready to quit your job when:

• 3 – You’ve had at least 3 months of consistent sales
• 2 – You’re making 2x your expenses
• 1 – You’ve saved 1 year of expenses in savings

Even achieving one of these will make it way more likely that your business will succeed. 

How do you do that? 

You need a sales system that reliably brings you new clients.

That’s what I teach my students in my flagship course Employee to Entrepreneur. 

Once you’ve set up the system, your main job is to drive people through the system to make consistent sales. 

But it takes time to build, and that’s why you shouldn’t walk out of your job yet. 

Instead, you have the freedom and flexibility to experiment with your business when you have a 9-5 to support you. 

When you are ready to leave, do it professionally.

Hand in your business on time and still show up to do your job well. 

Don’t burn your bridges because you never know how your old bosses may help you in the future.

In the next section, let’s talk about finances.

5. Understand your finances 

Question: How well do you know your finances?

Now’s the time to get up close and personal with all of your living costs. 

That includes:

• Rent
• Bills
• Groceries
• Child/pet care
• Savings
• “Fun” spending

When I was building my business on the side of my 9-5, I cut my expenses as much as I could so I could reinvest in my business. 

But how much money does your business really need?

A coaching, freelancing, and consulting business don’t cost much to start or run. 

If you work a day job while building your business, you can invest into your business relatively risk-free – while supporting your life with your salary. 

Very few people work well with a “burn the bridges” mentality and that’s also why not having a salary to support your life can be detrimental to your business.

I talk more about what it takes to invest in your business here:

6. Learn how to run a business (but don’t overdo it!)

Are you thinking?:

“Luisa, I have never run a business before. Where do I even start?”

Look, there are a ton of resources out there on how to build a business. 

You could:

• Follow business blogs – like the one you’re reading right now 
• Take courses
• Read books 
• Work with a business coach or consultant 

But don’t overdo it. 

Because the truth is learning is overrated. 

Yes, you should invest in yourself and your business.

I spent over $60,000 on coaching, consulting, and courses to help me learn how to build a successful business when I built my business. 

However, I didn’t spend an amount that would’ve been risky to me at the time. (I was in a six-figure job.) 

And I made sure I was taking action on what I was learning to make sure my business was growing. 

Bottom line: It’s only by taking action that you’ll figure out what works for you.

Next, let’s look at how to set up your business.

7. Set up your business 

How do you legally set up your business? 

It depends on the type of business you’re starting. 

If you’re starting a business solo, the two main legal structures are: 

• Sole proprietorship
• Limited liability company (LLC)

(You can learn more about them here.)

Most coaches, consultants, and freelancers start with sole proprietorship because there’s less paperwork. On the other hand, ecommerce businesses are best as LLCs. 

In short, don’t overcomplicate it. 

There’s an easy option for every business and you can always change the legal structure later on (many people do.)

8. Find your first clients 

Ready to land your first client? Here are some great ideas:

• Reach out to your network: Let your family, friends, and colleagues know about your services. Adding a referral incentive will boost your chances of getting clients.
• Master a social media platform: Choose one platform to create high-quality, valuable content that will resonate with your audience. 
• Guest host on industry podcasts: Reach out to podcasts in your niche and pitch ideas so you can position yourself as an expert. 
• Write blogs for industry publications: Pitch article ideas to relevant industry blogs to get your name out there.
• Pitch your services: Find potential clients on LinkedIn or Google and offer a free session.

Remember, you don’t need to do all of this at once. I tell my students to focus on one strategy at a time. 

Need more advice on booking clients? Check out my video:

Next steps 

So, there you have it! Now you know how to be your own boss.

Need help getting there? 

My flagship course, Employee to Entrepreneur, is for you. 

This is my tried-and-tested blueprint for building a service-based business that’ll let you quit your corporate job and feel more fulfilled. 

Sounds good? Sign up here.

Read more:

The Top Fears of Starting a Business + How to Overcome Them

The Most Successful Online Business Ideas

How to Built a Business While Working