Sometimes I feel a bit schizophrenic, on one hand encouraging people to not stress so much about leaving their corporate job to start a business, and on the other hand feeling extremely uncomfortable about all the "start a business in 30 days in your bathrobe" nonsense that permeates the internet.

Sparked by a blog post my good friend and fellow entrepreneur coach Philippa Kennealy wrote called Can you maintain your income as an entrepreneurial physician? , I invited Philippa as a guest for this week's podcast on realistic expectations for making money in your startup business.

Like anything in life, you will have people at every end of the spectrum, some who get lucky making tons on money in their first year, and others who take a decade to make serious cash.

In this 38-minute interview, I talk to Philippa about:

1. Her own experience building both a coaching practice and a coaching business (there is a difference, which she explains!)
2. What she learned by launching The Entrepreneurial MD , a coaching business focused on helping physicians learn business skills, enhance their medical practices and start new businesses
3. They key questions to ask before launching a business
4. Realistic timeframes for getting your income flowing after launching your business
   

Our advice may seem a bit conservative to some of you who have big plans to make a huge sum of money your first year in business.  My response is threefold:

1. If you can make a  huge sum of money your first year in business, do it.  Don't let us or anyone else stop you.
2. Faster is not always better.  There are really great things that result from taking the time to plan and launch a business.  For people that have a lower tolerance for risk (financial and otherwise), slow and steady growth, sometimes on the side of a gig as an employee, can be a lot less scary and more rewarding than an all-or-nothing sprint for the finish line.  You learn a lot by doing and testing a lot of things.
   
3. If you think it is easy to make huge piles of money, you may want to test your assumptions.  Real world testing is the best ... launch a small product, do a consulting gig or two, try to get some new clients on the side of your day job.  I hope I am wrong and response #1 applies to you.  But I would rather you temper your optimism with realism than fall on your face and lose more than you need to.
   

I am curious what you think of the conversation.  Please tell me at the blog!  www.escapefromcubiclenation.com