5 Tips for Running Side Businesses While Working a Full-Time Job

Chasing financial freedom as a developer

Financial freedom is everyone’s endgame. OK, it might not be for everyone, but I know that people, especially coders, do not plan on being employed until the day they retire. See, the beauty of being a coder is that you can do anything. You can build anything you want. This does not usually come instantly. You have to start from somewhere and then find your way up to the top. In this article, I want to give you tips on how to run a side business while having a full-time job, especially if you are hoping to turn that side business into a full-time business. So with that, let’s dive into the tips.

1. Separate Your Side Business Life From Your Full-Time Job Life

When you are at your full-time job, you should not be thinking at all about your side business. Conversely, when you are off work working on your side business, you do not want to be thinking or working on your full-time job. Why is this important? First of all, most companies these days do not actually allow you to be working on something else while you are at work. This ensures that you are at maximum productivity.

If you think about it, it also protects you to some extent. Since companies know that working on your side gigs at work is somewhat inevitable, they have a clause in your contract that gives them ownership of whatever you work on at the office or using any of their property. They can literally claim your intellectual property as their own. Does this sound familiar? If you have watched Silicon Valley, you will understand this better. That is what almost happened to Richard Hendrix.

Another reason you might want to avoid thinking of your side business at work and vice-versa is you will not focus on either. You will hate being at work because you will feel like you are wasting a lot of time. It happened to me at my day job. Remember that the whole reason for having a side business in the first place is to continue having the luxury of a full-time job that can give you good career growth and financial stability while getting some extra cash on the side.

2. Treat It the Same Way You Treat Your Full-Time Job

After learning how to separate your actual job from your side business, you need to treat the side business as a full-time job. Think of it as having two full-time jobs. What do I mean by this? Well, it comes down to working hard. It is going to be really hard, really tiring, really exhausting. You will have to make a lot of sacrifices. The full-time job will give you a safety net, but if you want your side business you become your full-time business, you will have to work hard. Probably harder than at your day job because you will be working basically twice as much.

You cannot afford to work on your side business for a couple of hours a week. You will not be able to grow that side business into something that can turn into a full-time business if you are only putting two hours a week into it. The hardest part about this will be dealing with impostor syndrome, seeing your colleagues having lives outside of their full-time jobs, and you might feel like it is not worth it, but again, if you want this hard enough, you will make the sacrifice. Think of your motivations. Why do you really want this? Let that be your drive.

3. Know When to Take the Leap and Quit Your Full-Time Job

This is probably the most terrifying thing for anyone with a decent job and a good paycheck. There is no one-size-fits-all answer for this because it varies from person to person. Even so, I suppose you can make that choice based on two things — mental preparation and revenue. If you are at work and cannot avoid thinking about your side business, you might be in the right state of mind to actually leave your job. Like I said in tip one, you will not be as productive at work, and you will always have that longing to quit. Secondly, if the revenue of the side business is at a point where it can at the very least sustain you, then it is likely time to leap. If you think about this clearly, you will notice that it will vary from person to person based on your jobs.

4. Do Not Give up Too Soon

Like I said in the previous tip, you will have to work extremely hard. There will be times where you will want to quit. Imagine working so hard and getting nothing in return. Yes, that is exactly what it will be like in the early stages of trying to grow your business. It is business 101. you will not see tangible results immediately. You might get a client or two, but you will deal with a lot of inconsistent clients before getting a large client base for your products or services. Get this from me, the period between your initial excitement about stepping out on your own and getting true customers/clients will be your defining period. That is when you will have to decide if your business is viable or a waste of time.

5. Make Sure You Have Passion for It

I know this is a cliché, but I see it as the foundation of financial freedom. Branching out and creating a business for yourself is so hard that if you do not have a passion for it, you will not see it through. Make sure it is something you are comfortable losing sleep over. Make sure it is something you cannot stop thinking about even when everything is not working out as planned. Take Elon Musk as an example. The man burnt through millions of his own money starting out trying to launch a rocket to space. He watched his money burn literally when the rockets blew up whilst on the launch pads, and he still kept at it. That is what passion is all about. If I have not inspired you enough in this piece, let Elon inspire you.

I hope you have found this piece helpful and motivating. Keep at it, and you will get the financial freedom you deserve.