Creating a Timeline Exit Strategy For Confidence in Leaving Your Teaching Career and Starting Your Microschool, Learning Pod, Preschool or Tutoring Business
Posted on January 30, 2023 by Makenzie Oliver
For years I had dreamt of being a teacher. All the birthdays and Christmases I considered to be “the best” were the ones where my parents would gift me all the school supplies a little girl would need to set up her imaginary classroom! You better believe, when I became a mother and was then able to take my sweet girls to school with me, both beautiful worlds collided! As a mom and a teacher, I loved nothing more than to drive my sweet girls to school and see them throughout the day!
But then, over the years, my heart became more and more torn. I was in love with the idea of being a teacher, a leader, a mom on a mission, but my hunger for something more was not being fulfilled. Where was my passion for teaching? Why did I feel so unfulfilled? Why do I want more when I have all I need? I felt guilt, shame and downright SAD!
I know what it’s like to love what you do and love who you do it with (a great school, fun teammates, wonderful students, caring administrators).
I also know how it feels to have the joy taken right out from under you when you realize what you are doing is NOT serving the bigger purpose in which you are here on this earth for.
I also know how scary it is to think you are called to do something different but you have no idea where to begin! I know the dreaded feeling of telling the people you love and care for that your heart has changed, your life has shifted and you are ready to jump ship (or at least you THINK you are)!
I was stuck in Paralysis for 5 years before making the change- leaving public school education and starting my own school. For years I wanted to start a preschool, but my daughters were growing up! I began thinking this dream was no longer attainable.
I needed a Timeline Exit Strategy to help me work out the details and make a plan!
Afterall, I am a teacher and I DO NEED A PLAN!
Teacher of the Year Award 2018
I was feeling burned out. Teaching in Florida isn’t a walk in the park - especially when you teach third grade and the pressure of mandatory retention weighs heavily on you.
As an instructional coach, I found myself being more of a therapist than an instructional mentor - our teachers were hurting and I didn’t know how to help! I would take walks and cry, “Why has my love for teaching gone away? What am I suppose to do now?”
After many conversations with my husband, he finally said, “We have to start writing these things out and seeing if this could actually become a reality.”
My husband would capture my ideas in a notebook, and for several years we would laugh and daydream about all the possibilities. We even got our sweet little girls in on the dream planning!
During the years of becoming an instructional coach, I became frustrated thinking that would ease my itch for leadership and impact would help my heart want to stay in education. After all, I got my MASTERS degree! How could I jump ship? I thought I was going to be a principal! Now I want to quit? This can’t be normal!!
All I could think about was retirement, health insurance and benefits- surely those could sustain me during the hard days, right? My thinking was so boxy. I was stuck in fear.
Yes, those questions and thoughts are legitimate reasons for some to stay, but I also knew there were many entrepreneurs who had to let go of those fears to be where they are now. But for years, I didn't have the confidence to let go.
Fear began to resonate as I started thinking of leaving my career as a teacher. I couldn’t even think of a career that I would be interested in, or better yet- good at! But as time went on, I could not escape the overwhelming feeling that it was time to make a change. But where would I go? What would I do? How do I start over? How do I step away from my security? What if I fail? Little did I know, God had me right where I needed to be. In a situation of surrender and trust.
Less than one year after leaving my teaching career, we were given the opportunity to begin homeschooling our daughters and start a small school-right out of our living room-that has grown exponentially over the past three years! I remember telling my principal whom I absolutely loved, “I’m leaving, and I don’t know where I’m going. But I do know that I am called to do something different, but I don’t know exactly what it is just yet.”
I was scared. But it was clear in my heart, I had to go. I didn't even have a school at this time. I didn’t have a plan!! But I knew the step of obedience was the first and most important step to what God had in store!
I knew I had to let go, but I didn’t know how! If only someone would have helped me with my mindset, a strategy and gave me a little glimmer of hope that there would be an incredible life journey on the other side of “letting go”, my “Exit Strategy” of leaving public school would have been a lot smoother!
No matter how many years you have put into education- whether you are just beginning this incredible career- or you’ve been invested for the past 5, 10, 20,30 years- it’s never too late to make a change and pursue the dream you have had placed in your heart. What would you do if you knew you wouldn't fail? Are you quiet quitting and don’t even realize it?
I know what you are thinking…
“I need to make a plan! I need a strategy for leaving my teaching career! I need to learn how to start a business: a tutoring business, a microschool, a homeschooling business, or a learning pod!”
I know you feel ready but also scared and nervous. I know what it feels like to need clarity, dates, actions, steps, and a roadmap! Download our freebie - 8 Steps To Building Your Business.
I know you want to tell others about your dream and amazing ideas, but you don’t know how to do so when you have one foot in the door and one foot out! I also know you want to make sure-without a doubt- your idea and plan will work. Afterall, you’re thinking of all those people who may laugh at your idea or even try to keep you away from pursuing your dream (but don’t worry - they’re not as big and scary as you may think!)
So How do you gain the clarity needed for confidence in leaving your current teaching career to start your very own business? You need a Timeline Exit Strategyde 146 that will help you work backwards and create milestones for success.
Let’s talk money, plans, and some great business basics! All the things I wish I would have had years ago! My greatest hope is that you will be able to step out of analysis paralysis and move into action so you can make a BIG AND POWERFUL CHANGE! If you’re like me, You can't stop thinking about how different YOUR LIFE would be if you were able to teach the way God created you to be!
Starting your own business will allow you to do what you love while also making a significant income and impact And here’s the hard truth: You’ll have to LET GO even though you don't have the details and it's scary. But the cost of holding on is too risky.
Now let’s begin creating your Timeline Exit Strategy!
Do The Heart Work
Create Your Timeline
Get Your Money Mindset Ready
Start Making Your Project Lists
Ask Yourself, “Who can help me?
Step 1: And the MOST VALUABLE STEP! DO NOT OVERLOOK THIS!
What do you want? I know it sounds “simple”, but it’s hard. It’s your “heart work”. You have to start here. You must OBSESS over it. Its the driving force. Give yourself the gift of brainstorming, talking about it, writing it out. It's your idea and it's not worthless. Its there for a reason. It's a gift you give others. Spend as much time capturing your thoughts and visions as you need. You can continue to add and multiply those thoughts. Yes, I give you permission to go and buy that cute new notebook you’ve been dying to get your hands on!
Step 2: Create Your Timeline!
When do you want this by? When would you like to START your business or STOP what you are doing so you can gain a better sense of clarity and control? STOP thinking about how much money you have, need, etc. This STEP is NOT for money pinching and budget proposals. Are you planning on starting your school or business in the next 8 months? YOu can do anything in 8 months. You can do anything in 30 days. It’s time to get LASER FOCUSED.
Step 2A: Start Working Backwards And Give Yourself 3 Milestones For Each Month
Example: August - Start School, Enroll 10 Students
July - Summer Camp and Open House
June - Summer Camp, Marketing in Community, Planning for August
Step 2B: Declare a D-Day
A “Done Day.” Mark it on your calendar. “This is the day I let my principal know I am done and on the road to somewhere new and exciting!”
When will you tell your school? This is a must-do. You have to let go. You will be missing out on your potential by not letting go and grabbing hold of what is to come. You need to be able to talk and share your ideas with others.
Exit gracefully. Be honest. Tell others. They can help you. Prideful. Be vulnerable. This is scary. It's a dream. I've always wanted to do this. Write a nice letter to your administration. Too final? You can get a job somewhere else.
People will be perplexed. Others may try to hold you back. You have to be strong. Be Excitedl, Happy and Thankful! You can happily tell others,
“This is how I am going to start out….
This is how I want it to look in the end…
I appreciate your support so much!”
Step 2C: Take Days Off!!
You must make time to work on your dream. It’s okay. You can step away. All those extra days you have built up. They are yours. Take them. Use them.
Step 3: Get Your Money Mindset Ready
What do you need to know financially? Everybody is different! What is the “nagging invisible voice” that is making you scared financially? Become self aware of this! It is CRITICAL.
Numbers give us clarity. THE MOST EXCTIING PART (when I sit down to coach others) is determining their numbers- how much they need to make, want to make and how they will actually meet those numbers! I love the opportunity to get so granular and specific: “How much money do I need to make this happen? What's my MUST HAVE number?” If you would like to sit side by side and work out all the details and clarify the numbers you must have to walk away and feel secure, it would be my honor to work with you! Book your coaching session on our website.
You can also think of ways to give yourself an opportunity to make money while also advertising for your new business (You can earn extra money and prospects for your school by tutoring, running summer camps, summer tutoring, and enrichment programs). JOIN OUR FACEBOOK GROUP FOR MORE IDEAS!
Step 4: Start Making Your Project Lists
Lists. Yes, Lists. Even if You don’t know the priority. Get those thoughts out of your head! You will need a “Project Notebook” a 50 cent notebook will work well for this, and so will a FREE Google Doc. Your lists can be simple questions used as headers, or a brain dump of ideas such as:
“What I need to know”
“How I will make additional income?”
Location Ideas.
Tutoring Services
Summer Camps
Legalities of Business
Step 5: Ask Yourself, “WHO can help me with this?”
By not telling others your dream or your vision, you can be missing a very important group of people who will help you, encourage you and be your word of mouth marketers. Surround yourself with those who will listen. Don’t hold on to every person’s advice. This is YOUR DREAM. YOUR VISION. YOUR LIFE! Find life-givers! Don’t be afraid to ask questions, and never be afraid to invest in yourself, your dream or your vision. Every bit of time, energy and money will come back tenfold as a result of your obedience to step out in faith. Every decision brings us to our next place in life. Let go and embrace what God has in store for you.
