Starting your business while still having a full-time job with a regular pay check and benefits is a terrific approach to lessen the risks of starting your own business.
Here’s why: If you can launch your business while still working, you’ll have the best of both worlds. If you have a stable, predictable source of income, you’ll feel much more comfortable testing the waters with a new business with a great danger of failing in the first year.
Here are some simple Dos and Don’ts to assist you in managing the sometimes-difficult shift between preserving your reputation at work and following your passions in your own business.
Do’s
- Consider running your business part-time in addition to your regular job. This is an excellent strategy since it allows you to keep a constant flow of money and perks as you explore various ways to create consistent, predictable revenue from a side business. The burden of accumulating unpaid bills or depleting resources without a clear path to recovery is the last thing you need while striving to build your own business.
- Understand and follow the conditions of your work contract. This is especially important regarding inventions and intellectual property (IP) you generate as part of your job. Almost always, everything generated on company time with corporate resources belongs to the business. You’re not out of the woods even if you don’t have an employment contract. Consult the company’s employee manual for information on ownership of innovations and intellectual property. Is there no guide? Obtain a policy explanation from your human resources manager or another individual in that position.
- Put any surplus money aside. Make financial reserves from the money your business earns so that you may sustain yourself if and when you decide to leave your full-time job. Additionally, set specific spending and financial limits for your side business to guarantee you don’t go crazy with your expenses. If you quit your day job and save or invest the income from your side business, you can construct a safety net for future challenging times.
- Try to be as truthful as possible with your supervisor. If your sector is not a direct rival, check if you can make them a joint venture partner, a client, or a consumer. You can even persuade your boss to put money into your company or grant you ownership in a joint venture. If you could have an employer as a client, investor, or partner, consult an attorney for solid advice on proceeding lawfully.
- Carefully plan your time. If you want to continue doing your day job while building your side business, you will only have a little time for little hobbies. After establishing what’s essential and discussing it with key stakeholders and your family, develop a target list of all the duties and activities you’ll cut or eliminate to make time for your business.
Don’ts
- Do not send emails about your side business from company computers or email systems. Even if you utilize your webmail account to send an email, there are still difficulties because you are using their property for commercial reasons, which may result in future legal issues. Even if your emails are not transmitted over the company’s email system, they can monitor whatever keystrokes you’ve made.
- fight the temptation to quit your day job as your business grows. New companies go through life cycles; early success only ensures long-term success. After testing your company approach with actual, paying customers, you should witness months of consistent customer base growth. Before you consider quitting your day job to work full-time on your new venture, your side revenue should be greater than your essential expenditures.
- Choose the appropriate industry. If you can only work part-time initially, a business that does not allow for part-time involvement will not suit you. Starting a retail food company, for example, can be time-consuming. If you are not available and hands-on in the early stages, or if your partner is absent daily, you are setting yourself up for failure. If you’re looking for the ideal company to establish while keeping your day job, check out our list of over a hundred viable side companies.
- Avoid discussing your side project with coworkers at the office water cooler. This might be seen as workplace business marketing. One of your coworkers may take exception because you have a side business, which might lead to issues at work if they decide to bring it up to management before you can have the conversation. Discussions with your employer’s clients and suppliers are likewise banned during business hours.
- When right, feel free to go full-time into business. Part-time business ownership can be profitable, but the firm can only grow with your full-time commitment if you want to be a passive investor. If you’ve created a transparent market for your product and have a sustainable quantity of money from your growing customer base, it’s time to consider leaping to self-employment.
