The Exit Strategy Playbook: Replace Your "9-5"

This issue isn’t just for professionals leaving the corporate sector.

It’s for anyone with a side business (freelancer, founder, or creator) who’s ever thought … “could I do this full time?”

👋 Welcome back to Content to Commas, where your content becomes cash flow, growth has a playbook, and your personal brand is unforgettable.

So … I announced this week that I left my director-level job at a tech company to build my content business full-time.

It wasn’t an impulse decision either.

This was three years of reps, systems, and a decision I made with proof.

This week, you’ll get:

Let’s get to work 👇

— Brandon Smithwrick

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Most people think going full-time is one giant leap. In reality, it’s a series of small moves you make long before you ever quit.

The exit looks bold from the outside.

But from the inside, it's almost boring … because you’ve been building the proof and stacking the systems for years.

4 ideas that helped me:

1. Build the Foundation

A decision this big needs evidence, not vibes.

For me, proof looked like this: weekly growth, LinkedIn posts consistently reaching thousands, an inbox full of opportunities, and most importantly…invoices paid.

It wasn’t one viral week. It was the 6+ month average trending upwards.

Repetition matters too. Is your foundation compounding year over year? Trust, reputation, authority, cash flow, subscribers?

Keep score of this:

When the averages are strong, the decision is obvious.

2. Pipeline (non‑negotiable)

Passion won’t pay rent. Pipeline does.

I didn’t leave and think … “time to figure it out”.

When I quit, I already knew what I was doing in August, September, and October, as well as the projects I could launch once I had time.

Think in buckets, not one brand deal:

And truthfully, I had to be on track to 2X my corporate salary.

3) Runway Math (the equation + the real real)

Runway = (savings + confirmed client work + pipeline) ÷ AVG Monthly burn

Plus, with more time and better health, you can naturally grow whatever it is you’re building.

This wasn’t about a pay cut. I don’t believe in those.

It was about maximizing strategically. My salary had a ceiling, my business didn’t.

My average monthly take‑home already showed I was outpacing my day job.

Example:

If your runway is thin, adjust the burn or increase that confirmed revenue before you jump.

4) Readiness (the honest test)

Could I have done this earlier? Maybe.

Was I mentally ready? No.

A friend told me, “Stay until it doesn’t make sense.”

I wrote down what “doesn’t make sense” meant: hitting my averages, a 90‑day pipeline, a safe runway, and a calendar that let me be the healthiest version of me.

When those conditions were true, staying became the risk. That’s the inflection point for me.

Want to map your own exit strategy?

I built a full Exit Strategy Playbook in Notion. A fill-in-the-blank workbook you can copy to your own workspace.

Inside, you’ll track your runway, map your pipeline, and define the conditions that make leaving your 9-5 make sense.

👇 _{keep reading for more…}

There are many of us who want to go full-time with our passion project.

But make strategic decisions. Let repetition and results carry the weight.

This isn’t an overnight story. I was a “part‑time creator” for ~3 years.

Slow cooking. Silent wins. Weekly reps.

That’s what made the decision feel less like a leap and more like the next logical step.

Here’s a panel where I discussed part-time vs full-time with friends 👇

Here’s your guide if you want to do the same:

If you’re somewhere on this road, I’m rooting for you.

Reply and tell me which phase you’re working on, I’ll share what helped me.

And if you know someone who’s debating the leap, forward this … it could save them months.

Each week, I share strategies on brand building, monetization, growth, exclusive discounts, and cool events I’ll be at.

Here’s a curated list so you can catch up in minutes:

How to Land Your First Brand Deal: Whether you’re an aspiring influencer, UGC creator, or building a personal brand, this guide shows the exact steps to secure paid partnerships—even with zero experience.

Creatorpreneur Toolkit (60+ Tools): My vetted stack across creation, automation, analytics, and monetization—save time, skip the guesswork, build faster.