How to Fire Your Boss
Although Donald Trump made the phrase, “You’re fired!” popular on his Apprentice TV program, nobody wants to hear someone tell them they’re fired. It’s demeaning, frightening and can be downright devastating.
You could even see it in the eyes of the participants of that show. While it was a chance to get their big break, they also knew that it was only a TV program.
Yet, when interviewed at the end of the show, after being rather rudely dismissed, some of them just couldn’t quite grasp the reality of what had just happened to them.
Some uttered the famous “Just wait. You haven’t heard the last of me. I’ll show ‘em!”
Some laughed it off. But I couldn’t help wondering if they weren’t a little hurt. They had apparently showed some promise; otherwise, I doubt they’d have been picked for the show in the first place.
But firing a boss is a different thing altogether.
Remember that old song “Take This Job and Shove It”? The song was a hit in 1977 for a country singer named Johnny Paycheck, and was probably the first time on record that somebody had publicly fired their boss. The idea caught on, and pretty soon lots of people could be heard saying they wanted to terminate their employer.
While the concept of self-employment wasn’t as popular in the late ’70’s as it is today, the desire to work for oneself, and have a home-based business is probably ages old. Everyone has some degree of yearning to be free from the confines of being a slave to someone else’s clock.
Think about your own employment status. How many times have you racked your brain, wishing you could come up with just one idea that would allow you to fire your boss? It happens to us all, at one time or another.
So how do you fire your boss? My suggestion would be “very carefully”. Be sure you don’t burn any bridges, and that you have a well-thought-out plan for making that break.
I’ve come up with some unbreakable rules for becoming your own boss, being self-employed, or starting a home-based business – whatever term you want to apply to it.
Rule #1- Get a plan
If you have a knee-jerk reaction, and quit your job on the spur of the moment, you’d better have money in the bank to live on, or have been working on a plan of action just in case you needed it.
If you know that you want to be out the door as soon as possible, try to develop an exit strategy at least six months prior to actually leaving.
Rule #2 – Do your research
Know exactly what you’ll have to do to replace basic essentials that were probably a part of your employment.
What will you do about medical insurance and retirement plans? You may be able to keep your insurance under COBRA, but can you afford the premiums?
I know of one instance where a man changed jobs, but had to pass a probationary period before getting insurance at his new job (which, by the way, is becoming more and more the standard).
He and his wife felt they simply could not afford to be without medical coverage for six months, so they opted for COBRA. The cost was a whopping $824 per month. That’s almost $5,000 for the six months!
And when you become self-employed, the rules for retirement accounts change. Be sure to find out what you’re entitled to, and then figure out what you can afford.
Making money now, but having no retirement money ten years from now could put you in some undesireable circumstances.
Rule #3 – Remember your obligations
Don’t forget about family members who are depending on you. Mortgages still have to be paid. You’ll still need utilities. Groceries still have to be bought.
If you’re married, your spouse may make enough to carry you through until you get your business going. But if you’re already just scraping by on two incomes, quitting your job could put you in more of a bind.
And don’t forget about the fact that lending institutions sometimes take a dim view of the self-employed unless you’ve been in business for yourself for a long time.
If you’re single, then you’ll just have to decide what will affect you, and what you can live with or without.
In the end, it’s up to you to go over the facts of the situation, and make the decision. If you’ve covered all your bases, and are really ready to make that break, then go for it. And tell your boss you’re not working there anymore.
-Teresa Beeman -
Shoestring Business Coach™
