Starting a Business While Keeping Your Day Job
by Danny Brown on February 21st, 2008
With the country in the grip of an ever-growing recession, and with interest rates high and the dollar weak, there’s no such thing as a “job for life” nowadays. Whereas in the past you could expect to work at the same company until you retired, this is becoming less realistic in today’s workplace. This has led to more and more people starting their own business and working for themselves.
Yet it’s not as simple as just quitting your day job and opening shop – you need to make sure you have a solid business plan and know what’s needed to succeed. The best way to do it is to work your own business on the side while you get established, keeping your 9-to-5 job as a safety net until you’re ready to go full-time. There are other factors that will help you build your own business while still having the steady income of your regular job.
Use Your Experience
Why do you think your current employer is successful at what they do? It’s because they know their strengths and play to them. So use the same business model for yourself – if your strength lies in solving problems, perhaps you can set up a consultancy for corporate problems. Or if you’re a computer whiz, why not set up an I.T. solutions company, or similar? Starting a business is hard enough, so use the experience you have to give you a far better chance.
Work Weekends
Although you might enjoy having weekends off, you can make better use of them by working on your business. This won’t impact on your day-to-day job, and you can start to slowly build up your business. Other options include using your vacation time to attend trade shows, where you can meet experts and arrange potential sales partners.
Test the Market
One of the benefits of going to trade shows is you can see if there’s actually a need for the service you’re looking to provide. After all, you want to make sure any business you start will be successful, so you need to know there’s going to be an audience for it. Sign up for trade publications as well, and ask friends and family if they would use your product or service (but make sure they’re honest!).
Use Your Home Effectively
Whatever business you’re looking to start, it’s more than likely you’re either going to need office space or storage space; so you need to organize your home effectively. If you need an office, take over a complete room and make it yours (space allowing). It needs to be somewhere away from noise and distraction, and make sure it’s organized – a work desk, filing cabinet and all-in-one printer are a must. Similarly, use your garage for keeping any stock, but make sure you’re using excellent security measures to protect it.
Although it will be hard at first, as long as you’re realistic, have a good strong business plan and are prepared to be patient, you will eventually find yourself in a position where hopefully you can turn your part-time side work into a full-time job.
