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Never before in history have we experienced such a rapid growth in the number of young entrepreneurs who’ve begun working for themselves. Read on Steps to Starting a Business While Working Full-Time.
From app developers, to freelance content marketers, business consultants, writers, and startup founders, there’s no shortage of people willing to take large calculated risks in the name of creating their own self-employed dream careers. What’s more, is that many of these solopreneurs are very quickly growing their small businesses into the millions.
Starting and growing a successful business is very difficult. Pulling it off while you’re still employed full-time and bringing in an income for yourself is even more trying.
Here are 5 steps to starting your own business while you keep your full-time job.
Steps to Starting a Business While Working Full-Time
1. Think of a Strategy
You can’t start something without having a clear vision. It takes some time to map out a business strategy. This should tell you where you want to go, what you want to accomplish and how you are going to plan to achieve your goals. Starting a business starts with creating a detailed business plan with realistic steps.
The steps start with: the basic concept about your business, a strategy for how you want things to get done, details about your target market, what products or services you are going to offer, your financial needs, setting goals per month, per year with realistic deadlines.
Try to get feedback from your peers and potential customers about your ideas. Listening to advice before you start your business can save you time, money and frustration in the long run.
2. Find the Right Balance
Try to find a balance and don’t do too much at once, because that will suffer your work performance. Try to avoid any temptation to work on your personal projects at work, and refrain from using office supplies, equipment or other job-based resources to get your own business going.
3. Start Networking
Successful entrepreneurs invest in networking opportunities whenever and wherever possible. Here’s how to network when you have a full-time job too.
Use your current employer, as long as the company doesn’t conflict with your future business. Your boss and colleagues can be a good resource for meeting the right people. Word of mouth is still one of the best ways to promote your own business. So let everyone you know about your company.
Join any kind of chamber of commerce, they will offer you the opportunity to network. Find professional organizations, both local and national, and attend events.
Create websites and use social media and be active on it to your advantage.
4. Make Time for Family and loved ones
Instead of leaping straight into your business projects after work, take some time to enjoy yourself and your loved ones.
Do whatever relaxes you, whether it’s a walk in the park with your dog or making a home-cooked meal with your spouse. Happy home life is just as important to the success of your company as everything else you’re doing.
5. Know When It’s Time to Take the Leap
At some point, it can become overwhelming. When exactly that will happen is up to you, but you’ll need to consider a few things first:
- Do you have sufficient savings to fall back on if your company doesn’t earn a profit for a while?
- Are you emotionally ready to leave the safety nest of a full-time position for the uncertain future of entrepreneurship?
Once you’ve done your research, created a business plan and tested the idea out with a few colleagues and friends, you may be ready to say goodbye to your 9-to-5 position. Only you can decide when the time is right and there are never any guarantees out quitting your job for good is necessary if you want to succeed in your business long term.
Conclusion Steps to Starting a Business While Working Full-Time
There are advantages to running your own business while holding down a full-time position, the most important of those being that you’ll have the startup cash and resources to keep your new company afloat.
Get your business plan together and allocate enough time to work on your new project before or after work. By prioritizing your efforts, you’ll be able to create a business with the support of your loved ones.
