In today’s iPod and iPhone-obsessed world, everyone wants to eat, breathe and sleep Apple. Apple is for many people, their dream company to work at, Well, I used to work for Apple, but I quit! That being said, what would you have done? Work at Apple or take the plunge into self-employment? Working for someone else provides for several things: a consistent income, a predictable schedule, excellent benefits and a upbeat work environment.

Ever since I was 10 years old (I’m 23 now), I had always wanted to work for Apple. They were my favorite company growing up, and when I got the opportunity work for them, I jumped at the chance. Looking back, I highly enjoyed working at Apple, but there was definitely something missing.

Working at Apple was definitely more fun that jobs I have had in the past - being around all those fun toys was entertaining and it was interesting to sell to the general public. There were also many drawbacks, such as flat pay, no commission and rude customers. In actuality, even though I was working for my dream company, I still felt unfulfilled working there.

As fun as it was working at Apple, I still felt like I wasn’t in control of my financial future. While I was working there, I was also trying to run my web design business on the side. Between this and school, I could not handle all of the work. At that point, I decided to quit Apple and run my business full-time.

Quitting Apple to run my own business was probably the best decision I have ever made. I now live a completely stress-free life, make way more money than I ever have, and enjoy a laid back schedule of my own making. I am now in complete control of my future and it feels great.

Leaving what is predictable and comfortable is very hard to do for many people, and believe me, I was a little nervous for the first few months. Was I going to be able to pay my bills? Would I have enough money for food? Those were some initial legitimate worries of being self-employed

I suppose I could have done a better job at planning to quit. That would have definitely helped ease a lot of the initial worry of being able to make it on my own. Several months after I quit, I wrote an article entitled, “5 Steps To Take Towards Self Employment.” Optimally, before someone quits their day job, they should have at least six months of living expenses saved up. I only had two months, but hey, I had to take the risk, and I am glad it payed off.

This post was guest blogged by Nate Whitehill. He runs a blog about business, blog and web development.