Strategies on how to start a small business while working your 9-5

Why Starting a Business While Working Full Time is a Good Idea! And 5 Strategies to Help you Cope.

⏱️Estimated Reading Time: 9 Mins
Last Updated: May 2022​

in this article:
Do you have a dream of being an entrepreneur?

For those that have always dreamed of being an entrepreneur since you were young, or those of you who want to remove the compensation cap for what kind of money you can earn, but you too scared to pull the trigger or leave your 9-5, this article is for you.  Entrepreneurship has become sexy in the last decade, along with the burn the bridges, quit your job and go for it mentality.  But I see things a little bit differently:

• You should definitely go for it, but reduce your risk and do it slowly on the side while working your 9-5.
• I give you 5 strategies to support you while you juggle your new business and your regular employment.
• Plus videos and resources that you can binge on to help you follow your dreams.

If you have always had a dream to start a business and be your own boss you should absolutely go for it!! It is easier today than ever before to enter the market place without the traditional barriers and on top of that the amount of potential customers is growing daily. However, there seems to be this all or nothing mentality where you quit your job immediately, jump all in,  burn the bridges and the boats and sink or swim when starting a business.  For most us that strategy is just too risky, we have families or bills to pay and let's face it, we need some room to fail at the beginning, to learn and adjust, that's all part of the process.
 
So, please move forward with your business, do not let anything stop you, but minimize your risk and downside. That is what a smart business person does, they try to grow the upside while minimzing their risk and the downside.  So stay in your full-time job that keeps your bills paid and food on the table and start working on your business on the side and grow it slowly over time.  Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will your business.  
 
Make no mistake, this won't be easy, this will take an additional commitment on your side along with a significant time investment.  And in this case you will have to be the one to ensure you keep yourself motivated to continue on when things get tough. But how bad do you want the life you want? An investment now can change your future.  Or think of it this way, what happens if you change nothing?  Where will you be in 2, 5, 10 years….same spot, if you continue as you are now.  Now let's look at it another way and ask yourself ~ What if I go for it and I actually succeed?  Then where would I be in 2, 5, 10 years?  ? ? ? You get the picture.

With all that said, here are 5 strategies to help you cope as you start your business while working full-time:
 
1.    Mindset 

This is probably the most important thing to consider and to put in the work on if you are going to be successful in your business.  For women especially we have so many limiting beliefs that have become ingrained in our subconscious and we tend to talk ourselves out of what we want to do the most. In order to have the ability to continue making progress on your business especially as time passes and as things get difficult you need to be able to overcome your own negative self-talk. To help you do this I have provided you a great podcast episode below from Jenna Kutcher that will walk you through the top limiting beliefs that are holding you back and how to get move past them so you can move forward with creating a business and life that you love. 
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2.     Visualize 

I know that I have talked about the importance of visualization in other posts, and I bring it up here again because I think it is crucial to your success.  If you are going to be get through the difficult times (And trust me there will be some) and give up some short term pleasures for long term results you are going to need dreams that inspire you to take action every day. You need to remind yourself of the big picture, why you are doing this, and what it will mean in your life. I suggest:

• Clearly define and write out the goal(s) you are trying to achieve - make it measurable, how will you know if you succeeded.
• Then write why you NEED to accomplish this goal.  How would this change your life, tie your emotions into it, feel as if you have already made it, how do you feel?
• Create a dream board with pictures that represent what that future will look like and hang it somewhere you can see it each day
• Then every morning
  • Read your goals and why they are important to you.
  • Close your eyes and visualize your life as if you have already achieved it.  Really picture it, how would it feel, see it as if you were already there and believe it.
  • Look at your dream board ~ see your future and what it represents.
  • Then write down at least one action (no matter how small) that you can do that day to move your toward that goal.

 
For a more detailed explanation on visualization and manifesting your dreams along with a free printable guide check out my previous post ~ HERE
 
3.      Plan it. 

What are the major steps that you need to take in order to start your business and reach your goals.  This will seem like a massive endeavor but in order to keep it under control you are then going to "chunk" those major projects down into manageable tasks.  For example, let's say one of your major milestones is to create a website for your business.  Some examples of how you would break down this task into smaller actions is:

• Search up the best website builders that there are on the market and choose one that suits your skill level.
• Search for domain names.
• Search for domain hosting.
• Calculate the total costs to create and maintain website and create budget.
• Look up website building tutorials on YouTube to educate yourself on the tool that you chose.
• Etc.

 
Now each step seems (and is) manageable and does not seem so daunting and now you can track how completing each step is bringing your closer to your ultimate goal and you have a clear overall plan to follow as you create your small business.
 
Then, on Sunday each week, create your plan for the following week.  Consider your work schedule and family responsibilities and be realistic.  Then schedule the tasks you will do for your business into your calendar tackling the highest leverage item first for each milestone making sure you are gaining momentum in each area. Remember, make sure to put them in your calendar because if they are not in your schedule they are not real! 
 
Tip ~

• Give yourself a little more time than you think it will take, this is new for you, and the learning curve is something that needs to be factored in, it always take a little longer than you think it will. 
• Commit to those time blocks as you would any other appointment or meeting you would have at your regular job, these things are important to your future, treat them as such.
• What can you delegate?  All the tasks do not need to be done by you and in fact, some shouldn't be because they may not fall into your core competence and can be done better by someone else.  So what can you give to someone else to do or hire them to do?
• Make sure to celebrate your accomplishments at the end of each week.  This will help you keep the momentum and allow you to see your progress towards your goals.

 
If you want to see the exact process with examples on how to do this "chunking" method and project breakdown check out the video below. It is based on the Tony Robbins rapid learning method and goes through how to take your major goals and break them down into a manageable process.
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4.      Leverage Technology 

Why not benefit from all of the new tools that are available for free online to help you better leverage your time?  There are so many solutions available out there that you have probably never even heard of, you just need to look for them.  Schedule a block of time to research what tools are available for your specific needs to make the process easier, you will be surprised by what you find.  To get you started here is a list of free tools that you could utilize for your small business:
 

• Evernote - To keep track of your notes and sync across your devices 
• Later - To schedule and automate your social media posts 
• Weebly - To build your website or blog 
• Mailchimp - To automate your emails, grow your email list and for marketing campaigns 
• Pixabay - Pictues to use in your marketing with no attribution necessary 
• Google Analytics - To track your website visitors and get audience data 
• Canva - To create any type of creative content you may need

 
5.     What is if were Easy?  
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I heard this advice on multiple different mediums from Tim Ferris and I found it so profound.  He says,  every time you are going to approach a task as yourself ~ What if it were easy?
 
Every time we look at taking on a new project our mind immediately goes to all of the challenges, the difficulties, the unknown and you are automatically in a position of stress.  But when you seriously ask yourself this question you are re-framing it in a way that sets you up for success.  So take a block of uninterrupted time to brainstorm in your journal all of the ways that you could easily accomplish your goal.
 
Check out this interview with Chase Jarvis and Tim Ferris where he discusses this method more in detail, starting at 9:35.

I really hope you pursue your dreams of starting your own business. And, being the smart lady that I know you are, that you do so while minimizing your risk. Implementing the above steps will help you cope as you juggle between your responsibilities and will give you the clarity and mental courage to move ahead while you,
 
Design YOUR Life ~ Be Authentic. Be You. Be Sharp
 
Please reach out, I would love your feedback.  Did you find this helpful?  What tools do you use to help you build your business while working a full time job?

Start a Business

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Sources: 

• Subscribe to Goal Digger Podcast ~ https://lnns.co/LfM4pmJ3eFP
• Subscribe to Project Life Mastery on YouTube ~ https://youtu.be/uPaiwpeg8-E
• Subscribe to Chase Jarvis on YouTube ~ https://youtu.be/PtrL9qnLypk