I went through major burnout myself a couple years ago so I took a completely different job and moved the family halfway across the country. If you aren’t happy with what you are doing, do something else. I tend to stay on the safe side though, making sure you have something locked in before quitting so I also agree with doing it at night and on weekends until you get a base of operations, a bucket of clients, and the confidence that it will in fact work the way you want it to. Being broke is no fun. The wife and I want to start a restaurant someday, so it’s just a matter of winning the lottery, some good grants, or some serious investors. Until I get the capital, it’s a dream, but someday…
My recommendation would be to put it off for a year. Continue to work at your present job, but start saving like crazy. See if you can live on what you plan to be bringing home in the new situation and sock away all the extra money. You’ll probably find that the job isn’t quite so unbearable if you have a light at the end of the tunnel, something you’re working toward, rather than just working. Then, when you’re ready to try this, ask your boss if you can work part-time (especially if you can keep your insurance). That will still give you some leeway.
As for a business idea - my niece’s daycare had a program where you could order meals from a menu of 2 or 3 entrees and the meals would be ready when you picked your child up. That could be a good source of regular income. The daycare didn’t operate the service, they just allowed the caterer to do it. You could even have a website where the people could place their orders.
StG
Are you sure that your unhappiness is from your job?
Because if it is not then you will be just as unhappy working for yourself.
Also make sure MR.J is OK with this. A business failure can kill a marriage. (trust me I know)
Be sure to check out government plans that actually help people start their own business.
FWIW jarbabyj, I say go for it. Life is too short to spend your time at a job your unhappy with. I’m doing something in my life right now to try to change my career and if it happens my life probably won’t ever be the same. But if I don’t take the risk and life just continues on as it is (which isn’t so wonderful) I know I will look back and regret that I didn’t even try.
Hope it all works out for ya’.
Give it a shot! You sound really jazzed about it. Do your homework and mind the caveats here, but if you go into it with your whole heart, you should do well. In addition to Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow, I would add Barbara Winters’ Making a Living Without a Job. Lots of advice and inspiration.
Anecdote time: In 1995 I quit the job I hated to go freelance in a field I’d never worked in before. I had only two clients, and so had to take two part-time jobs to round things out, and Mr. S carried me a bit for a while. Fast-forward to 2002: I am swamped and regularly turn down work, and I make about the same as I did at the “real job” with much less stress. I am also the primary breadwinner now, as Mr. S just quit the sucky factory job he had to take after being downsized last year. It’s my turn to carry him for a while (while he figures out his own self-employment bag), and we’re doing fine. In the meantime, I have a houseboy to boss around, and he’s doing a great job.
Anecdote #2: I have a friend who’s a single mom of 2 kids, spotty child support. She’s always struggled, but she’s starting her own natural soaps/bath products business and she’s like a new person. It may take her a while to get it off the ground, but she has a lot of prospects. I say good for her.
Regret sucks.
I guess it would depend, for me, on my current salary…
Your job sounds faboo, and it does give you time to write…
People kill for jobs like yours…
But doing something you LOVE would be fun, but I guess you can love something until you do it full time for little reward…
But the baby thing??? What about beneifts and all that?
Eh, try the part-time thingy and see how it goes. We all wish you good luck on it though.
I support doing something you love, but I think people sometimes are afraid to decide that their life is pretty darned good.
I don’t get any benefits from work. Mr. jar has all my health, dental and optical insurance. We have 401k’s set up, and auto, home and life insurance.
I am definitely going to do it part time for a while. It really makes me happy and excited. I’m working on a data base of contacts and a business plan right now.
hmmm…
perhaps I should send out samples of baked goods to loyal dopers… 
BBJ, I understand that my job sounds faboo…and it really is FABOO, until you’ve typed up the exact same term sheet every month for six years just to update one number. It’s a good job…but tedious…and I feel my brain atrophy every day.
J
I think everything in St. Germaine’s post is a good idea. Putting it off for a little while while you save like a madwoman would really give you a leg up when you started up your business. And it might make that last year or so of office lackeying a little more bearable if you know you’re working toward living your dream.
As for the meals you pick up at the daycare center…damn but that’s a good idea! And I bet that would work out well with what I’ve heard about your business concept.
jarbabyj Do it! If cooking makes you happy, do it. My husband and I are both professional cooks and we don’t do it for the money or the prestige, but because that’s who we are. Right now we’re living on one cook’s income 'cause we have two small children and can’t afford daycare, but I miss it and we get by. It sounds like you’re not going in blindly. You said you know the hours and the hard work professional cooking involves, so go for it. If you want some financial advice, my brother is a CPA and lives down town, I can’t remember the name of the neighborhood, but if you email me, I’m sure he’d love to talk to you about it.
I’ll try not to hijack this thread too much.
from Career Center site
Yes, architects make shitty money. And its mostly our fault, in the sense that we (in general) don’t educate the clients on what we as a design professional can provide in additional value.
Owners and senior partners make OK money. Superstar architects make great money (but can be assholes to work for, so I’ve heard) but regular architects don’t make much. I’m a drafter/intern, just out of school, 4 years of experience, and I’m making now what I started at out of school in programming. (25k). When I become registered, I will get a bump. A small one.
Good luck jarbabyj. Planning, research, realistic expectations, starting part-time - these are all great ideas. Bottom line - you must do what makes you happy. Work shouldn’t be the worst part of the day.