Make an “after hours” schedule – Getting serious about your new business means making certain time commitments in order to get it off the ground. Whether it’s getting up a couple hours early or working late in the evenings or working ten hours on weekends, put a regular work schedule down on paper and stick to it. Motivation tends to wane when other engagements take precedence over what should be considered “work time”. So, stay focused and treat your after hours schedule as you would a second job.

Create a business plan – One of the most important things you can do for yourself and your new business is to create a business plan. This will force you to get realistic about the funds needed as well as the monthly expenses and the weekly hours needed in order to get your business running. You might find that you don’t need as much start-cash as you originally thought or that you’ll need to keep your full-time job for at least another year in order to build up some investment money.

Consider enlisting help – You may find that bringing on a partner will help to get your business off the ground (and you out of the rat race) even faster. Of course, entering into a partnership isn’t for everyone, and the idea shouldn’t be taken lightly. However, bringing on a partner with the same goals and who brings complimentary skills to the business could be one of the best decisions you ever made.

Think about when you could leave your job – Give yourself a motivating goal to reach. What will it take in order for you to work for yourself full time? Fifty orders a month? Three hundred website visitors a day? $5,000 in sales per week? Giving yourself this concrete goal will help to boost your motivation and hopefully get you to that point even faster. Be sure to take into consideration things like cost of health and dental insurance – as well as anything else that your full-time company is currently taking care of.

While the thought of quitting your job to work for yourself may sound both exciting and terrifying, preparing a plan can help make the transition easier. With a carefully thought out work plan and clear goals, all the guessing is gone and you’ll have real figures to base your decisions on. For most people, starting a business in their spare time makes the most sense and takes some of the financial risk and worry out of the equation. There are plenty of business owners who still clock in at a regular job in order to keep their benefits, regular salary and to share in the comradery of the workplace. Once your business is off the ground and showing signs of success, you’ll have the option of choosing to keep your full-time job or to devote all your working hours to your new business.

Gain experience – Getting a job in the field you are interested in is the best way to get experience behind the scenes. While your day job will take up most of your workweek, you may decide to get a part-time job on the weekends or a couple nights during the week. While you won’t be making much money, it’s the experience that will be important to you, so take advantage of every learning experience and try to become familiar with as many parts of the business as you can.

Take classes – Taking evening courses at the local college will get you one step closer to your dream of opening a business in your new career industry. Whether you’re working towards a degree, certification or more in-depth knowledge of the industry, taking classes will point you towards your goal.

Talk to experts – Use your networking skills to talk to as many industry and business experts as you can. Even online there are plenty of groups and forums you can get involved in to help guide you towards your goal. Visit the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) website (www.sba.gov) and learn about business mentoring programs in your local area. It doesn’t matter if you don’t get paired with a mentor within your industry, any advice from a successful business owner will be helpful in turning your dreams into a reality.

Yes, it’s true; this isn’t an overnight plan to get you out of the rat race and into business ownership. But, for most, that isn’t a realistic course of action. Instead, use the next year or two as a golden opportunity to save money, learn about your new industry and gain the degree or certification that’s required.

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.