Quitting your job to start a startup

Should you quit your job straight away?

Nothing forces you to drop everything on day one. Many founders start in the evenings and at weekends to meet potential customers, test a mock-up and find a co-founder before taking the leap.

Keeping your salary during this phase reduces financial pressure and leads to better decisions, as long as you respect your employment contract and do not use your employer’s resources.

To structure this test phase, use our guide to validating a startup idea.

What steps should you take before leaving your job?

1. 1Reread your employment contract and any collective agreement that applies to it.
2. 2Validate the problem and the demand with potential customers.
3. 3Find and test your co-founders, for example with a co-founder trial period.
4. 4Work out your personal needs and how long it will take before you can pay yourself.
5. 5Choose the exit route best suited to your situation.
6. 6Set a realistic leaving date, taking your notice period into account.

Resigning, negotiated exit, leave or part-time: what are the options?

There are several ways to leave or adjust your job, each with its own conditions and consequences, to be checked against your situation. In France, for example, the main options look like this:

As for any entitlement to unemployment insurance or support schemes for new business founders, the rules depend on your background and change regularly. In France, check with France Travail (the public employment service) before making your decision; elsewhere, ask the equivalent body in your country.

In France, the rupture conventionnelle is provided for by article L1237-11 of the Labour Code and must be approved by the labour administration, while leave or part-time work to start a business is provided for by article L3142-105, subject to a length-of-service condition.

How do you prepare your finances?

A startup often takes longer than expected to pay its founders a salary, so it is better to leave with a comfortable margin.

• ✓Calculate your essential monthly expenses.
• ✓Build up savings covering several months, ideally more than your initial estimate.
• ✓Reduce heavy financial commitments before you leave.
• ✓Talk the project through with the people around you, whose budget also depends on it.
• ✓Assess the resources the project could draw on: first customers, grants, interest-free founder loans, fundraising.

To find out when and how to pay yourself once the company exists, read our guide to founder salary.

How do you tell your employer and meet your obligations?

Your departure will go more smoothly if it is prepared and announced transparently, in line with your contractual commitments.

• Exclusivity clause: it may restrict any other activity while you are employed, so reread it before you start.
• Non-compete clause: it may apply after you leave, so check its scope and conditions.
• Confidentiality and loyalty: do not take any files, data or customers from your employer.
• Intellectual property: do not develop your project with your employer’s equipment or on their time.

How do you organise the transition with your co-founders?

Co-founders do not always leave their jobs at the same time, which can create tension if commitments are not clear.

• ✓Agree together on the date each of you goes full-time.
• ✓Write down how much time each person commits during the transition.
• ✓Link the equity split to actual commitment, with vesting.
• ✓Plan what happens if one co-founder decides not to leave their job after all.