How to start a business while still working full-time

You don’t necessarily need to have loads of money to start a business, nor in fact do you need to immediately quit your job.

Many businesses which are successful today began with the owners starting them in their spare time while still working a full-time job.

Though it can be hard work the great thing about starting a business while still working is that you are not risking everything – your salary will ensure that you can continue to pay your bills such as rent and food while building your business.

Here are some of Pearl’s best tips on starting a business while still working a full-time job.

Know your business and industry inside out

This is the information age. The internet means we have access to more knowledge than we know what to do with so there is no excuse for you to not learn as much as possible about the industry your startup business is in.

And you have plenty of time to do your research too, even when you are still working a full-time job. Think about all those times you get bored at work – instead of using this time to take a sneaky look at Facebook or Twitter, do some quick Google searches on different areas of your business.

Talk to people in similar situations

Websites such as Meetup.com make it easy to find and attend free business networking events across London.

As well as meeting potential clients, clients who will pay for your services and kick off the process of growing your business, you will meet plenty of people who are, just like you, in the beginning stages of growing a business.

Make friends with these people and meet up with them regularly. The support you can give each other will make starting a business a lot easier – and you never know, your businesses might be able to do, well, business with each other.

Take it one day at a time while looking at the bigger picture

Starting a business while working a full-time job is going to be tough, tiring work so there will likely be times when you wonder why you are doing it to yourself and consider throwing in the towel.

When these difficult times arrive think about the future and about how you want your business to be. That image you have in your head of a successful business is why you are doing all the hard work.

Then think about how you are going to get there. The work doesn’t all happen in one go – you should have a rough plan for each working day of what you are doing towards your business.

Appreciate your job

You might start to question whether starting a business at the same time as working a full-time job was a good idea but you should learn to appreciate what your job does for you before you start to hate it.

Your full-time job means you can start your business without having to worry about whether you can make your rent or mortgage payments, it means you still get sick pay, and it means that you have colleagues to socialise with.