There are so many things to learn about how to start a business while working full-time.
I started See Girl Work as a “side-hustle” while working full-time. I began blogging, using social media, networking and trying to figure out the logistic of starting a business while working full-time.
I made a lot of mistakes I made along the way. Lots of failing forward. I wasted a lot of money doing stupid things. There were a lot of trial and error.
But I also learned lessons, no one would have taught me in school. I met so many amazing people and forged wonderful relationships that I still carry with me.
There are so many things to learn about how to start a business while working full-time. With the internet, online tools, e-commerce solutions and plenty of guides, podcasts and e-courses, it’s easy to get started from the comfort of your own home.
But it’s also easy to get overwhelmed, anxious and scared.
For me—I didn’t have a lot to lose, but you might not be in the same place. You might have kids to support, a home to pay for, a car, insurance and other financial responsibilities.
It would be impossible to maintain your lifestyle, quit your day job and figure out how to make full-time money from a new online business.
There are definitely steps to take and I wanted to share my take on how to start a business while working full-time.
1. Be Prepared to Put in the Work
Starting a business while working full-time will require a lot of work. Since you’re working during the day, be prepared to give up your evenings and weekends in order to get your online business started.
That might mean no more Netflix, less time for hobbies, less time with your partner, skipping vacation and less time for general social hanging out.
When Emily Weiss, the founder of Into The Gloss and beauty brand Glossier, started her blog while still full-time at Vogue, she worked in the mornings before work, rising as early as 5:00am to ensure she was posting three time a week.
“It wouldn’t [have been] possible without passion,” she says. “Unless you are totally obsessed with what you’re doing, it’s hard to wake up at [5 o’clock] in the morning.”
Whether you need to come a morning person or work all night, create a schedule around your full-time job and other responsibilities. Be prepared to put in the work to get your side business off the ground.
2. Talk to People and Get Networking
You can’t start a business while working full-time without clients. Social media alone won’t capture the trust you need from people in order to convert them into paying clients.
Especially if you’re a service-based business, it will be important to talk to people and get networking. You have to meet people. You have to work the room, introduce yourself, your biz, socialize and hand out your business card.
Use LinkedIn or Bumble Biz to reach out to people. Network strategically and with intention. Attend networking events by yourself and try to attend events that will bring out a diverse crowd of people with various professional backgrounds.
When you attend networking events with a friend, you’re most likely going to stick with them the whole evening in a corner chit chatting instead of meeting new people.
3. Define Your Business Vision + Mission
As a side-hustler with a full-time job, developing your vision and identifying the purpose and goals will help your new business be articulate, it will help you attract more of your dream clients, and it will help you be clear on your intentions when it comes to your business goals. Spend time on developing your business vision statement, mission statement and goals.
4. Position Your Brand
Brand positioning is the process of positioning your brand in the minds of your clients. It’s how an organization is perceived in the minds of its target audience. In other words, what do you offer or do different from all the other businesses that provide the same products or services?
Central to this process is researching and getting familiar with your clients and their pain points, understanding how your values are going to help them solve their pain points and understanding what your business needs to convey to make them know, like and trust you.
5. Optimize Your Online Identity
When you have identified your business vision and mission and when you have developed your brand values, optimize your online identity so that others will know what your business is about.
This doesn’t mean creating a brand identity with a graphic designer or picking out a colour palette for a logo. What this means is updating the way you speak and interact with your audience on social media.
Instead of sharing Rhianna memes on Twitter, start sharing content that is related to your business. Follow people in a similar niche as you and re-post their content. Follow prospective clients that you’d love to work with.
Even if you can’t change your LinkedIn profile right away because of your day job, you can still start sharing content on Twitter and LinkedIn that’s related to the side-hustle you’re working on during evenings and weekends.
When you’re starting your business while working full-time, you’re more likely to get your first clients through either networking or being active on your personal social media channels.
That’s why it’s more important to optimize your personal online identity more so than it is to create a new business website or social media accounts under your business name.
6. Start Blogging
Sharing other people’s content on social media is great, but sharing content through your own blog is the best way to brand yourself as an expert in your niche.
Publish content that revolves around your business. Whatever problem your business is solving, your blog posts should also be able to solve some of those same problems too.
Your blog should illustrate to potential clients that you are an expert in your area of business. Your content should be useful to potential clients.
You should also be sure to create your content on a consistent basis. Use a blog editorial calendar to set up a schedule and content for each week.
7. Review Your Finances
It takes money to make money, but in the beginning your business won’t be profitable. You’ll be paying for blog hosting, maybe some business cards and attending networking events. That all costs money.
Do some research online to understand how much your start-up costs will be. Review your current income from your day gig and make a financial plan to figure how much you can invest in your side-business. Be realistic with your budget and financial commitments.
As you invest in your business, keep track of your expenses, but be lean in your spending. Know the difference capital expenditures (such as a new computer) and operating costs (such as office supplies). Ultimately, your goal should be to make more than you spend.
8. Set Daily, Weekly and Monthly Goals
What do you need to do today to grow your business? What do you need to do by the end of the week to grow your business? What do you need to do by the end of the month to grow your business? Use a monthly planner to write down your daily, weekly and monthly goals.
9. Set Realistic Quotas and Track Your Progress
When you start a business while working full-time, it’s important to set realistic quotas. But your quotas might not be profit-driven.
In this case, consider setting an activity-based sales quota. This is when you can achieve a quantifiable activity, such as making a number of phone calls or attending a number of networking events, that will indirectly lead to revenue coming in for your business.
Define your goal, identify how you need to position yourself to achieve it, then decide how you’re going to know if you are successful in that goal. Use an activity log to track your progress.
Your quota might look like this: set a goal of researching and cold calling 20 prospective clients. Intend to speak with at least five key decision-makers. Secure two in-person meetings.
Even if you don’t land that client right away, your activity log will show progress and that client might be in touch later on down the road.
In the process you’ll perfect your business pitch, you’ll grow your network and you’ll really start to hone in on your ideal client. Wash, condition and repeat.
10. Know Your Day Job’s Policies on Part-time Work
According to new research, it’s estimated that 2.5 million Canadians, or about 9% of the adult population, have embraced the “5-to-9’er” lifestyle.
Smart employers understand that putting a ban on outside projects can push employees underground and create a culture of sneaking around.
But before you assume your company won’t support you in starting your side-business, find out for sure.
Read through the fine print in your employment contract and the company handbook to make sure you’re legally in the clear.
Make sure there isn’t a potential conflict of interest or specific policies such as a non-compete clause.