Why starting a business alongside a 9-5 job is possible
Posted: Tue 9th Jan 2018
Maybe you've always wanted to start your own business, or maybe you've just been struck by a eureka moment.
Whichever it is, it's time to get this thing off the ground. And this is fine if you're loaded, have paid off your mortgage and don't have bills to pay.
But for the majority of us, there's no feasible way to just quit your job and enter headfirst into a new profession that you have no idea if it will or not succeed. And this is where so many people stop.
Ideas are brushed away, forced to the back of the mind, logistics of the situation overweighing the desire to start that business. What if you can't get food on the table? What if the mortgage can't be paid?
But this is where people also need to stop and realise that both can be possible.
Why and how you can do it
In fact, you can work a full-time job and also start your own business.
Before you rush straight to it, you need to be prepared that it will require a lot of hard work and determination and there will be times you want to throw in the towel.
A day that starts at 9 and ends at 5 will become a distant dream and weekends spent languidly on the sofa watching films will become replaced with early starts with the laptop.
Yet no matter how hard and how stressful and how many times you ask yourself just why you've put yourself through this, it is always worth it. And it can be done.
After all, if you're doing something you love, you never work a day again of your life.
While this is a bit of a 'rose-tinted glasses' statement, when you know you are working for your own goal and for something you want to achieve - and only you can do - it doesn't feel so much like hard work.
Preparing to run a side hustle
Before you start up your side hustle, make sure you can realistically juggle both.
If your work requires lots of very late finishes, early starts and weekends in, it mightn't be the most practical arrangement and you don't want to burn yourself out.
You could always give it a go for a couple of months, see how it is and if you are serious about your venture and it is too much to do much, find a simpler full-time job with regular hours you can rely on.
You will also need to ensure you are on solid legal ground with your employer.
Don't go out and create a competitor to your current employment; not only can this cause a host of legal issues, but can also terminate your relationship and employment which is never a good start.
You will also need to test your idea like mad. Make sure it is something that people want, and the idea is feasible.
Do some market research, ask your family and friends, do online polls and surveys, speak to potential future consumers.
Once you have this done and a solid idea to go off, make sure you are strict with yourself - but not too strict.
Ensure you give yourself concrete goals with realistic timings to complete them.
By setting and sticking to these you know you are on track and can keep on top of a workload.
You do need to ensure you allow yourself downtime too, however. Make sure to schedule in time with family and friends otherwise you will soon resent your idea and burn yourself to the ground.
Whenever you feel like giving up, just remember why you started. Remember this is your goal and your dream and whatever happens you can never look back and think "what if?".
Starting your own business while working full time gives you the safety net that if your idea doesn't work as well as planned or develop as quickly as you hoped, you aren't in any financial ruin.
You can pay for the things you need and also test your idea, try the business and put in your all without the stress. It is hard there is no doubt about it, but it is all worth it.
There is nothing better than being your own boss, creating your own success and knowing you are working hard to achieve your own dream.
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