Categories
Entrepreneurship Uncategorized

Making Your Side Business Your Full-Time Job

I’m often asked: how do you know when it’s time to transition your side business into a full-time career? So many would-be entrepreneurs start with a small project that develops into a part-time source of income. At first it’s nothing but a blessing, but soon enough they find themselves torn. The security and reliability of their regular career can’t be easily dismissed, but neither can the freedom and possibilities of self-employment.

As they say, the greater the risk, the greater the reward. It can be incredibly frightening to finally make your big move, mostly for financial reasons. Some entrepreneurs tell themselves that once they’re making a certain amount of money on the side, they will then be comfortable enough to take the leap. The idea is a gradual transition from moonlighting to full-timing, leaving the one behind only when they’re in a financial position to do the other.

In my experience, however, this approach is unrealistic. While every situation is unique, and there are exceptions to every trend, I could never in good conscience advise taking the “wait and see” approach. This isn’t meant to be discouraging- far from it. I simply have to acknowledge the near-impossibility of building a full-time business on a part-time schedule. If you want to make your side project your career, you’re going to have to do exactly that: make it happen.

The only sure way to leave a standard job or career behind is to commit completely. Generally it’s incredibly difficult to make enough money on the side to replace the wages of a full-time job (or to even come close). I can say that I personally have never met anyone who has managed to make the transition this way. The reason for this? Almost without exception, only full-time commitments can generate full-time income. There’s simply almost no way to build a real business in 2, 5, or even 10 hours a week.

The Psychological Barrier

Leaving a steady paycheck behind is a terrifying prospect. That’s not an exaggeration. With a still-recovering economy and the cost of living on the rise, giving up a guaranteed income is no joke. But it’s not just the financial risk that makes transitioning to self-employment so daunting. The lifestyle of an entrepreneur includes challenges that the normally employed will never face.

First, there’s the stress factor. It’s one thing to stress over projects or workloads when the bottom line isn’t your problem. It’s quite another to know that every bit of work you do can significantly affect how much you’ll make in a week, month, or year. An entrepreneur never clocks in or out; it’s a 24/7, 365 approach to making a living. If you’re not mentally and emotionally ready for that, it’s not time to make the change. There’s also the time factor. Family and friends will have to cope with your ever-present responsibilities, and relationships can be tested.

There’s also the uncertainty. You can calculate what you hope to make from your independent business, and you should set financial goals. If your part-time effort has been netting you $1k per month at 10 hours per week, you can estimate that 40 hours a week will net you $4k per month- but that doesn’t mean it will. So many more factors (and expenses) go into orchestrating a full-time effort that the numbers can change exponentially, whether in your favor or against it. That’s why it’s called “taking a leap.” Guarantees are a rare thing in business.

Getting “Ready”

With all the challenges in store for a full-time entrepreneur, how can anyone be comfortable taking the necessary risks and making that final move? The answer is that you can’t!

Growing, challenging yourself, and taking risks is supposed to be uncomfortable. That’s why they call it leaving your “comfort zone.” Discomfort is the surest sign that you’re really venturing out among life’s possibilities. The honest truth is that you’ll probably never feel completely “ready” to make your move- I certainly wasn’t. Giving up a reliable stream of income in the field of education was not an easy decision for me. It worked out, and I frankly wish I’d done it sooner, but I couldn’t have known that at the time. I had to accept what every independent business person has to accept: the possibility of failure.

That’s why it’s so important to prepare. Just because you can’t predict (or control) the future doesn’t mean that you can’t affect your own odds. Planning is an essential part of making the transition, both to increase your chances of success, and to make the move itself less stressful. By putting careful preparations in place, you can make the transition smoother, and take that risk armed with the knowledge that you’re meeting the challenge with your best effort.

The first step is to set a deadline. It’s very important to have a set date by which you plan to switch careers. Setting deadlines and sticking to them (even if everything doesn’t fall into place exactly as planned) is a skill every entrepreneur needs, so it’s fitting to make this your first big decision. Decide exactly when you’ll be leaving your job, whether you feel ready or not. This will serve as your greatest motivator: a firm, tangible goal that isn’t conditional.

If you can, build up savings before the transition, in order to cushion yourself through the first few weeks. If your job allows it, see if you can use unused vacation time, tacking it on to the end of your tenure so that you’re still drawing a paycheck after you’ve moved on. Marshall your resources, set your plan, and prepare for liftoff.

Having Faith

For all the risks involved in moving to full-time self-employment, it’s important to trust in the factors that increase your odds of success. Maybe your side project is relevant to the career you already have (as in my case, transitioning from general education to business education). Maybe you’ve just been following your passion on the side for so long that it’s second nature to you. Maybe you have a killer product that needs only a full-time marketing effort to unleash its potential. Whatever your reasons for believing are, let them be your rock.

It’s possible to be realistic and optimistic at the same time. Track your progress down to the cent. Do the math, crunch the numbers, and take heart in every victory, even the small ones. Confront the reality of what you’re doing, and believe that you can handle it. At the end of the day, no one knows what you’re capable of better than you do.

Expect it to be emotional. Business often is. Striking out on your own can build character and emotional intelligence in ways that drawing a steady paycheck can’t. In that sense, risk can be its own reward. Keep the faith, and bear in mind always that not taking a chance poses its own risk: the risk of spending the rest of your life wondering “what if?”

Categories
Show

MBA450 Must Read: Anything You Want by Derek Sivers

MBA450

This book is a pretty short one. Just a hundred pages and you can read it in one sitting. It may be short but we’ve read a lot of books this year and this one ranks high on the list. Derek’s life story is so inspiring and his writing style won our hearts. If you want to know why we think this is a must read, simply click that play button!

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

Stitcher | Spotify Podcast Feed How To Subscribe

Give us a Rating & Review

Today’s Sponsors:

Web Hosting with Unlimited Disk Space, Bandwidth and 24/7 Technical Support. Order Today! All $100 MBA listeners get 25% off hosting! Just use promo code ‘omarhookup‘ when you check out at hostgator.com.

projobnetwork logo

Post to 40+ Job Boards with One Click! Hire the Right Person, Fast. Save time. Save money. Try ProJobNetwork free for 1 week at tryprojob.com/mba!

Show Links:

Get Derek’s book on Amazon! sivers.org Give a shout out to Derek on Twitter!

Must Read: Essentialism by Greg McKeown

Categories
Show

MBA449 Q&A Weekends: Not sure if we should lower the MSRP. How do we find the right price?

MBA449

Brian is a board game publisher and he’s having trouble deciding on the price of one of his successful games. He’s just got a large print run for a lower manufacturing cost for this game he’s concerned with but now he’s not sure if he should also lower the MSRP. Now that the costs have gone down, how does he find the right price? Let’s hear it!

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

Stitcher | Spotify Podcast Feed How To Subscribe

Give us a Rating & Review

Today’s Sponsors:

Web Hosting with Unlimited Disk Space, Bandwidth and 24/7 Technical Support. Order Today!
All $100 MBA listeners get 25% off hosting! Just use promo code ‘omarhookup‘ when you check out at hostgator.com.

Show Links:

Is Price Really Important to Customers? How to Utilize ROI Pricing Q&A Weekends: If I price my product as a one-time fee, what’s next?

Categories
Show

MBA448 Q&A Weekends: Should I partner with an existing manufacturer or try to go find my own manufacturer?

MBA448

Peter is starting a business with a physical product that needs manufacturing. This is his first product and he’s looking for a way to manufacture this product in an efficient way that’s reliable as well as cost effective. Peter is in luck because Omar had his own manufacturing experience in the past. We’ll be sharing with you the benefits and the drawbacks of partnering up with a manufacturer or finding your own. Press play!

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

Stitcher | Spotify Podcast Feed How To Subscribe

Give us a Rating & Review

Today’s Sponsors:

Web Hosting with Unlimited Disk Space, Bandwidth and 24/7 Technical Support. Order Today!
All $100 MBA listeners get 25% off hosting! Just use promo code ‘omarhookup‘ when you check out at hostgator.com.

Show Links:

Kickstarter

Categories
Show

MBA447 5 Lessons Learned From Being on Stage 11X This Year Plus Free Ride Friday!

MBA447

I really wish somebody had told me these 5 things beforehand. The lessons I’ve learned by being on stage 11x this year have changed the way I see public speaking, whether it’s on stage, on camera or even on a webinar. I guarantee that if you apply at least one of the lessons that I’m going to share with you today, it will change the game for you when it comes to being on stage and speaking in public. Hit play!

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

Stitcher | Spotify Podcast Feed How To Subscribe

Give us a Rating & Review

Today’s Sponsors:

Braintree
Searching for a simple payment solution?
With one simple integration, you can offer your customers every way to pay. Period.
To learn more and for your first $50,000 in transactions, fee-free,
go to http://braintreepayments.com/mba

Consumer feedback for any business decision. Survata reinvented how you get customer research for every decision. As a $100 MBA listener, you can name your own discount. Survata will match the respondents you purchase at no cost with no limit. To redeem this offer visit survata.com/mba.

Show Links:

Heroic Public Speaking

Categories
Show

MBA446 Customer Onboarding 101

MBA446

What does customer onboarding mean? When a customer purchases a product or a service from your business, it’s extremely important to consider what the customer will actually experience. Especially if it’s their first purchase. Through this, it will either confirm or deny that they have made the right decision to purchase from you. Let us share with you the essentials of customer onboarding right now. Click play!

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

Stitcher | Spotify Podcast Feed How To Subscribe

Give us a Rating & Review

Today’s Sponsors:

Web Hosting with Unlimited Disk Space, Bandwidth and 24/7 Technical Support. Order Today! All $100 MBA listeners get 25% off hosting! Just use promo code ‘omarhookup‘ when you check out at hostgator.com.

projobnetwork logo

Post to 40+ Job Boards with One Click! Hire the Right Person, Fast. Save time. Save money. Try ProJobNetwork free for 1 week at tryprojob.com/mba!

Categories
Show

MBA445 Are You Offering Enough Offers?

MBA445

Some of us forget that there are members in our audience looking for ways to benefit from different offers. Some of your existing customers may even want to buy more from you, but there’s nothing left to buy. There are just no more offers. This episode will help you create several levels of offers for everybody, no matter where their price point is. Are you offering enough offers? Let’s hit play!

SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS

Stitcher | Spotify Podcast Feed How To Subscribe

Give us a Rating & Review

Today’s Sponsors:

Web Hosting with Unlimited Disk Space, Bandwidth and 24/7 Technical Support. Order Today!
All $100 MBA listeners get 25% off hosting! Just use promo code ‘omarhookup‘ when you check out at hostgator.com.

projobnetwork logo

Post to 40+ Job Boards with One Click! Hire the Right Person, Fast. Save time. Save money. Try ProJobNetwork free for 1 week at tryprojob.com/mba!