How many times have we all said, “If only I had more time then I could get more done in my business?” The solution is not getting more time – we all have the same amount. We’re all tied to the same 24 hours in a day. The key is to manage the time we do have and make it work more effectively for us.
Even if you think you don’t have time to take on anything else, you might be surprised to discover how much time you’re actually wasting during the day. You can start an online business whether you hold down a full-time job or not.
Sometimes when it comes to starting a business, many people have the mental picture that it’s all or nothing – that to be their own boss, they have to take the plunge, quit their day job and put all of their effort into building an online business.
Who came up with this idea?! I dunno, but let’s put an end to this myth!
Gain 10 Hours A Week to Work on Your Business While Holding Down A Job
If you have a job, you can still build an empire. I firmly believe you can work part-time on your entrepreneurial venture, until you can make enough to support yourself going full-time. Here’s how:
Use Your Benefits
If you have a day job that pays the bills and provides you with health benefits, keep the job while you work on launching and growing your business part-time.
I repeat, keep your day job and use the benefits as part of your cushion. Use those health benefits to improve your health. Have you been meaning to join a gym, and your company reimburses the expense or decreases your healthcare costs if you do? Kill 2 birds with one stone, join a gym, get healthy and lower your health costs. Kids need braces? Get them. Have you been putting off that dental appointment? Just goooo…
If you can take educational classes and get company reimbursement, take classes that will help you to run your business later. For example, many administrative professionals can take MS Office classes and be reimbursed by their company. Upgrade your skills on the company’s dime. Yeah, I said that!
If your company will pay for you to be a member of a networking organization, by all means join and make connections. All of these company benefits that you have worked for will benefit you and your business in the long run, so don’t waste them.
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Maximize Before AND During Work Hours
Can you get up an hour earlier in the mornings to work on your business? Are you wasting time hitting the snooze button or piddling around in the morning? Use that wasted time to do some reading, training, research, etc. or schedule client calls early in the day if need be.
Can you spend your lunch hour working on your business? If you’re not taking a lunch break at work because you’re too busy, I am giving you permission to stop being so busy working for someone else and put that effort into your own business.
Take a lunch break and get to work for yourself. Listen to an audiobook while taking a walk during lunch. Try to find a quiet corner at work (or close by) and get your work done. Heck, if you have to sit in your car to work on your phone or laptop, so be it!
If you can commute to work via train, carpool or other method where someone else is in charge of driving, you can work on it then, too. If your business will be online, you’ll be able to access it anywhere. Even if your business is not virtual, it’s critical to keep your documents in the cloud via Dropbox, Google Docs, etc. to ensure 24 hour access.
Sidebar: I have Dropbox synced on my phone, laptop and tablet so I have access to my docs whenever I need them. I highly recommend doing this!
Related Article: 5 Ways to Use Dropbox Every Day
Nights and Weekend Are Important Too
Can you temporarily give up the hours you used to spend sitting in front of the television? If you think you don’t waste time watching tv, log how much time you watch tv for the next 10 days. You might be surprised at how much time you spend watching tv, or catching up to no one in particular on social media, aka surfing your timeline. Most people can carve out at least 1 hour after work to work on business by cutting back on tv and Facebook.
I won’t throw in the cliche “give up one hour of sleep at night to work on the business” because quite frankly I need my sleep, and most people aren’t getting enough good rest anyway! But… I highly recommend you commit to work at least two weekends out of each month.
It seems like a lot of time, but if you work it around your day job and stick with it, you can steadily increase your income with your online business until you can comfortably afford to let go of the job you now have.
If it was easy, everybody would do it. Being a full time entrepreneur is not easy. The question is, how bad do you want it?
Believe it or not, this is how many of entrepreneurs started their online businesses, myself included. Yes, I used to schedule client calls before my day job started. Yes, I used to work during lunch breaks. I made the best use of my smartphone so I could always have my documents accessible, including using social media before work, during lunch, and after work so I could stay visible and build an audience. Yes, I worked weekends on my business.
So how can you do it?
How can you make the transition from a sometime-preneur to full time entrepreneur?
Let’s suppose you’re in a position now where you can no longer wait to leave your day job. It has become unbearable, the stress is going to wreak too much havoc, or there’s something to cause you abandon your current career now. No judgement here.
So you resigned and rolled out, now what? Suddenly, you find yourself having the same forty plus hours you gave at the office to work on your online business. Always begin right away. If you start working your online business when you feel like it, you could lose valuable initiative. Let the excitement drive you and propel you forward.
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With the benefit of working your online business full-time, you’ll be able to devote the steady attention the business needs to continually grow. Rather than squeezing it into the schedule, you’ll have the time you need. If you don’t already have the systems in place to maximize your efforts and you’re working kinda by the seat of your pants, I know someone who can help you get your systems and business on track… me!
Anywho, it’s not so much about finding the time as it is taking the time, and if you’ve always wanted to start your own online business, there’s no better time than this moment. Today will soon be yesterday and you won’t ever get that opportunity back.
Ciao,
Miss Kemya
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