Quitting 1 Career at 57 to Start Another

Bill Robson is 57 and lives in Sammamish, Washington. Last year, he quit his career in computer engineering to write a book and start a business. We spoke recently about his transition.

Tell me about your career.
I spent 35 years doing commercial software and analytics, I worked for big companies, and at the beginning of last year I decided I had enough of that corporate world. I wanted to be a writer. But when I said I wanted to be an author, I know I’m not alone in that pursuit, I wanted a backup plan. So I left my job, and last summer I sat down and wrote my first novel. I found a publisher, we worked together throughout the fall, and the book was launched in December 2013. We’re scheduling now for the retail market. At the same time, as a backup plan, I opened my own business: residential inspection business for real estate.

Tell me more about your business.
I’m a member of the real estate association, so we do classes like that for realtors and get them up to speed on inspection law. And I do teaching with the small business association. They helped me get my business started, and as I went through that I decided I wanted to give back, so I teach project management for small businesses. I talk to people like me how to prepare for that transition between the corporate world where you show up and they give you a paycheck at the end of the week, to doing it all on your own. A lot of people think they are ready for that transition, but it’s harder than they think.

How long were you planning your exit?
I started planning my exit, serious planning, probably six months before. One of the things most people are lacking — everyone has the emotional side of the plan, that comes pretty easy — but it’s preparation from the family (if you don’t have the right support things can get tough really quick), and there needs to be financial planning — there’s just tons to plan. And I know that’s where a lot of people lose their focus. It’s really easy to say I want to do this and try really hard, it’s another thing to make it viable from the beginning.

Why inspection?
When I was a kid I built houses for a living in Arizona and put myself through engineering school. I really enjoyed the process of building houses, that at the end of the day I could walk to the end of the driveway and say I did that. I like being around the construction business. I like meeting new people. I like meeting new people and helping them out. I have experience in the building trades, most people aren’t. I’d say probably 80 to 85 percent of the people I meet in the business don’t know anything about the house. So it’s fun for me to help people make wise decisions on a house. And it’s important to have a growing business. This area is growing, so from a practical standpoint, the entire industry is growing, the opportunity was ripe, my interest was there, and it fit my personality. From a practicality and a logical standpoint, it worked.

Do you have a pension from when you worked, or other retirement savings?
No pension or benefits, that’s one of the sad sides of things. There are certain places that do have pensions and retirement. My companies always used 401(k)s so I do have those savings set aside throughout the years. I haven’t tapped into 401(k) money yet and I’m hoping I don’t, because I’m still several years away from being able to get at that money without a huge tax penalty. My wife is still working and so we have her income and her insurance, most importantly. But I need this business to survive.

And your wife supports your decision to start your own business?
She does, and I think that’s one of the most important things you have to have. Most people underestimate the time it takes to get any kind of separate business going. Even something that is well thought out and you’ve done everything right, it still takes time. My anecdotal information I have from a lot of the classes I do is that people way underestimate how much it takes. My experience has just been that’s not the case. You really need to plan for a one year entry into the market, the time it takes to build up your advertising, build up your clientele. When you’ve had a business for 10 years, you forget how long it took you to get started. When you’ve had one for two years, you still remember the bumps and bruises.

What are your hours like right now?
I’ve really gone from one full-time business to two. The book right now, we’re just getting ready to do the retail push. I’m meeting with my publisher, we just did some revisions, and now we’re talking to bookstores. And with my business, I’m trying to get into some large organizations, meeting with business organizations. The part that’s fun is that you’re doing it on your own time. It’s not, get up at 5, brush your teeth, go to your desk, do what they tell you to do, at the end of the day go home. You can fit the natural rhythm of the business around you: working 55 or 70 hours a week, seeing that time come back to fit my schedule. I’ve always worked the typical 9-to-5, five days a week job. With this work, everything flattens out and spreads out over seven days, but I get to do things when I want to do them, and make time for things that are important to me.

Will you ever make as much money as you did when you worked full-time?
I know I won’t with the inspection business — I never intended it — but if the book takes off the way I want it to, who knows.

Are you stressed about not making as much money right now?
You have to look at it as a transitory event. If I went into it a year ago and I said I was going to work two different things with the same intensity and effort and I’m going to get a part time salary for it, you’d have to say — you’re crazy! But you have to look at the end goal. It’s a transitory step towards what you want to do. You have to be able to say, at some point, my desired salary goal is this, and work your way toward it. And if you can pull that off, it’s extraordinary. I think that’s the key, to set a goal, achieve it, and then look back and say, “I did that.”

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