You’re not making enough money at your primary job. You want more work-life balance. You’re tired of fielding frustrating customers or micromanaging supervisors.
It’s the figurative (and sometimes literal) million-dollar question these days: how can you start a business while keeping your day job?
We will take a look at the financial, spiritual, and personal details you need to ask yourself before juggling your day job with a side gig. When done wrong, starting a business can be a thankless endeavor…and when done right, it can be the best decision you ever made.
Are You Unhappy With Your Primary Job?
Forbes revealed in a 2019 report more than half of Americans today are unsatisfied with their job. That’s not just a quality-of-life issue…that’s a crisis.
So much of your everyday life is wrapped up in your primary job. It’s how you pay your bills and gain access to education. When your primary job feels more like a barrier than a launching pad, every detail in your life is bound to suffer.
The most common reasons why American workers today want greener pastures include:
- Little to no personal stake in their role
- Lacking a voice
- Few healthcare benefits
- Long commutes
- No room for growth
“Rather than waiting passively for success to whisk you away, it’s time to create your own version of success. When you are proactively taking steps every day, you have a better chance of realizing your goals. After all, it’s far more productive than watching other people achieve success.”
How To Get Started
Knowing what you’re unhappy with is a great place to start. List five goals you want to achieve with the creation of your small business: this can include eliminating the commute, working with better clients, and having more downtime. The more specific, the better!
Do You Need to Make More Money?
It’s perfectly understandable to leave a job because it’s not giving you financial support. It’s hard to enjoy an abundant, meaningful life when you’re struggling to pay your bills.
Bank Of America conducted a 2019 survey that found a staggering 82% of small business owners making more money once they decided to go the entrepreneur route. You don’t have to take the plunge into complete entrepreneurship, of course, but it’s a route that could prove fulfilling a few years down the line.
Side jobs are appealing because you can ease into these waters without completely compromising your income.
How To Get Started
It’s hard to make money that isn’t there. Research the major and minor players in your industry of choice: look at how much they make annually and which customers often buy from them. This will help you with planning out products, services, prices, and your marketing campaign.
“If your business can’t pay its bills, it’s going to fail. Because most entrepreneurs are not financially literate, it can quickly go wrong. Many small business owners go into business not for their love of crushing numbers but for their goal to make the world better with their products.”
Related: How to Live an Abundant Life
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Is Your Work-Life Balance Suffering?
No life was meant to be lived under constant stress and fear of what the next day can bring. Your work-life balance could benefit mightily from having the breathing room that comes with a side business.
Gartner found work-life balance among American employees to be valued even more than health benefits. That means more time spent with their families, enjoying hobbies, or managing side gigs.
If your work-life balance is lacking, a side business can offer you:
- The option to set your own hours
- Diversify your income (aka not ‘putting all your eggs in one basket’)
- More personal fulfillment
If your small business isn’t executed correctly, however, you run the risk of:
- Becoming overworked (aka not ‘turning off’ at the end of the day)
- Indirectly paying more money in an effort to make money (advertisements, fees, etc)
- Increasing your risk of burnout
How To Get Started
Your primary job will take precedence. Make a list of your day-to-day hours and how much you can afford to shave off in favor of your side business. Even if that’s just five hours a week, that’s a start!
Related: A Foolproof Plan to Boost Your Confidence
Do You Have Dreams Waiting To Be Achieved?
Have you been coming up with designs for the next great product in your industry of choice? Do you often think about how issues in your niche could be better?
These are a big sign you have a dream that isn’t being realized.
Did you know Millennials and Gen Zers are nearly 200% more likely to have a side job these days? Over the years small businessowners have become more bold, eager to take control of their goals instead of waiting for the world to right itself.
How To Get Started
All successful dreams start with confidence. Write down three things you have to offer your particular industry: this can be technical skill, personality, creativity, punctuality, or a strong sense of ethics. These qualities will help form your mission statement and keep you focused.
“You’ve seen the cliché “power” pose of CEOs, with them leaning back with outstretched legs and looking up with their hands behind the head. If you’re standing, put both feet flat on the floor, chest out and shoulders back. Play the part. If you act confident on the outside, you’ll feel more confident on the inside.”
Related: Bring Your Dreams to Life by Creating a Personal Mission Statement
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Is Starting a Business Worth It?
It’s extremely daunting to start a business, even a side business adjacent to your primary job. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth it.
When you start a business you truly take life into your own two hands. You command more control over your income and gain specialized insight into your industry that wasn’t possible before. Personal fulfillment is an especially apt reason to get started with a side gig, even if it’s a simple $50 or $100 a month.
How To Get Started
Ask for professional help. Proctor Gallagher Consultant is deeply familiar with the pain points of beginning small businessowners. From building good business habits to dissecting your personal motivation, we’re ready to meet you where you are.