What getting laid off taught me about starting a business

January is a dangerous month for dreamers.

You're scrolling Instagram, seeing all the "I quit my job to chase my dreams!" posts, and you're thinking, "Maybe this is my year."

You've been dreaming about starting your online boutique. You've got the Pinterest boards. The business name picked out. The ideas flowing.

And you're wondering if you should just do it. Quit. Leap. Go all in.

But before you do, I want to tell you a story.

In 2003, I was a programmer at a bank. Computer Information Systems degree. Stable paycheck. The kind of job your parents brag about at dinner parties.

And then one day, I got laid off.

I remember sitting there thinking, "What now?"

I could've panicked. I could've sent out resumes and tried to get back to safety as fast as possible.

But instead, I did something that changed my entire life.

I wrote a business plan.

I sat down and mapped out my first business—a food franchise. I applied for an SBA loan. And I started building.

That business led to another. And another. A 10-bay auto repair shop. A childcare center. Multiple brick-and-mortar boutique locations. An online boutique. I even sold real estate for a couple years.

I've had 5 SBA loans. Thousands of employees. Ran multiple 7-figure businesses at the same time.

And here's the thing I want you to understand:

Getting laid off was one of the best things that ever happened to me.

Not because losing my job was easy. But because it forced me to get strategic. It forced me to plan. To build something real instead of just daydreaming about it.

Here's what I see happening over and over:

Someone gets inspired in January. They quit their job. They're ready to go all in on their dream.

But they don't have a plan. They don't have a runway. They don't have systems.

And within 60 days, they're stressed, broke, and desperate.

Their dream business becomes a nightmare because now it's not about creativity or freedom—it's about scrambling to make rent.

That desperation shows up in everything they do. Their marketing feels pushy. Their messaging is off. They make decisions out of fear instead of strategy.

And eventually, they give up. Not because their idea was bad. But because they ran out of money before they figured it out.

Whether you're working full-time right now or you're between jobs or you're a stay-at-home mom squeezing in business dreams during naptime, here's what I want you to know:

You don't need to quit your job to start your business.

You need a plan. You need systems. You need to build it the right way.

Here's how:

You don't need 8 hours. You need focused, intentional action.

When I was juggling employees, clients, and multiple locations, I still found 30 minutes a day to work on my business instead of just in it.

Use that time to:

The secret isn't more time. It's better tools.

You don't need:

You need:

That's it.

Test products without holding inventory. Start with print-on-demand so you're not sitting on boxes in your garage. Find suppliers who dropship so you can validate your idea before you invest big.

Start small. Prove it works. Then scale.

This is the mistake that costs people months of momentum.

They wait until their store is perfect. Until they have 50 products listed. Until everything is "ready."

And then they launch to crickets.

Here's the truth: Your audience takes longer to build than your business does.

Start your email list today. Even if you have nothing to sell yet.

Schedule your social media content so you're showing up consistently without it taking over your life.

Share your journey. Document what you're learning. Let people get invested in your story.

By the time you're ready to launch, you'll have people who are excited to buy from you.

I didn't build multiple 7-figure businesses by working 80-hour weeks.

I built them with systems.

Email automation so I'm not manually sending every message. Customer service bots so I'm not answering the same questions 47 times a day. Email capture tools so I'm building my list on autopilot.

Systems give you freedom. Hustle gives you burnout.

And if you're building this while working full-time or raising kids? You need systems even more.

It's not "Should I quit my job?"

It's "Am I building something that works so that when I'm ready, I can walk away with confidence?"

If 2026 is the year you're finally going to start that online business, launch that digital product, or turn your idea into income, I'm cheering you on.

But I'm also coaching you: Don't leap without a plan.

Build it smart. Build it sustainable. Build it in a way that sets you up for real success, not just a good Instagram story.

I've been coaching women through this exact journey since 2019.

As a Shopify Partner, I've helped set up thousands of online stores. I've walked through the SBA loan process personally five times. I've built businesses from scratch, purchased them from other owners, scaled them to 7 figures, hired thousands of employees, and learned every lesson the hard way so you don't have to.

Now, I help women like you turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality—without the overwhelm, the guesswork, or the financial panic.

If you're ready to build your business the right way in 2026, hit reply and let me know where you're at right now.

Tell me:

I read every single reply. And if I can help, I'll tell you how.

Let's make 2026 the year you stop dreaming and start building.

✨ Carina

If you want to dive deeper, I've got over 250 free videos on my YouTube channel covering everything from setting up your store to running ads to scaling to 6 figures.

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