If you've been laid off, you're thinking about leaving your job, or you just can't stop wondering whether you could actually do this, you've probably asked yourself this question more than once. The trouble is that most people answer it with a gut feeling, and gut feelings tend to say either "go for it" or "never mind." This free worksheet walks you through the honest version, step by step, in about 30 minutes.

What you’ll walk away with

• Your real runway. How many months you can go before you need new income, including the costs people forget, like health insurance and taxes on severance.

• What your idea is likely to cost. What it takes to get started, how long until someone pays you, and the smaller, cheaper version you could test first.

• The path that fits you. Go all in, start lean, build it alongside a paycheck, or "not yet" with a real date to revisit.

• One next step. Something concrete you'll do in the next seven days.

Who it's for

Anyone thinking about starting a business after a layoff or a job change, whether you have an idea yet or not. No business background needed.

Get the free worksheet

About me

I'm Morgan Schreiber. I didn't grow up around business, and nobody handed me a playbook, so I figured it out by asking a lot of questions and getting plenty of things wrong. I built this worksheet, and The Real Business Program, so you don't have to do it the slow way.