Wannabe your own boss? Starting a business is hard work

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Ever think about being your own boss? Launching a business is no easy feat, but FOX 13 consumer reporter Sorboni Banerjee followed the stories of three bay area entrepreneurs who managed to leave their steady jobs to launch their dream job.

Heyden Ayure is a deejay, but used to be a police officer.

Chantail Williams is a salon owner specializing in natural hair and braids, but she was once a school teacher.

And Britanny Anderson is a professional photographer of newborn babies, but once worked as a nurse in the NICU.

“I just was afraid,” Anderson said. “Can I do it? Can I actually leave my job… and follow my heart and my dreams?”

She took the leap after her son was born and realized she could. But leaving the stability of a full time job and insurance and 401K is something that weighed heavily on her mind.

It's the same question Chantail Williams had to weigh.

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“I saw a lack in stylists who could do my kind of hair,” she said. ‘”It was really different. I was unsure. I was used to seeing, every two weeks, my income, but I knew my passion was important to me. I couldn’t let it go.”

But if your passion doesn’t pay, it might not be okay. Williams said she was on a financial roller coaster for a while. And Heyden Ayure will tell you, it takes serious planning to march to your own beat.

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Ayure, Williams and Anderson all said they saved up ahead of time.

“You need to have enough money to sustain yourself for two years. Anything could happen,” Ayure said.

They also suggest keeping your old job until the new is sustainable.

Now, Chantail is going to add educational hair care seminars to the services at her salon, Classic Hair Therapy.

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Britanny Anderson Photography is going from an in-home studio to storefront.

And Heyden-Sensation is booking up his weekends as a professional DJ.

They all say they couldn't have done it alone. And since it can take between two and 10 years for a small business to start putting money in the owner's pocket, the support system is key.