Summary

The author shares their experience of building a one-person business alongside a 9-5 job, emphasizing the importance of starting small, committing to tasks, focusing on a problem they care about, doing one thing well, and not having great expectations.

Abstract

The author reflects on their journey of building a one-person business while maintaining a 9-5 job, discussing the challenges and strategies they employed to achieve success. Initially, they struggled with feeling overwhelmed and letting themselves down, but they overcame these obstacles by setting small, manageable goals and committing to them. The author emphasizes the importance of finding a problem they care about and focusing on it, rather than trying to do too many things at once. They also discuss the value of not having great expectations and understanding that success takes time.

Bullet points

The author spent years feeling overwhelmed by their ambitions and letting themselves down.
They started small and committed to doing the things they said they would, which helped them build momentum.
The author found success by focusing on a problem they cared about, which led them to create the Part-Time Creator Club.
They emphasize the importance of doing one thing well, rather than trying to do too many things poorly.
The author cautions against having great expectations and reminds readers that success takes time.

How I Built a One-Person Business Alongside My 9–5

The raw honest truth

It’s been 3 years.

For a long time, I sort of accepted that building alongside your 9–5 was impossible. I watched as other people around me built empires from their bedrooms.

I accepted that my life was commuting to the 9–5, sitting in meetings, working, coming home eating something beige and drifting off to Netflix. But then something changed.

Three years later I still couldn't tell you exactly what changed in me. But three years ago, I started and never stopped. It’s changed everything.

Here’s how I built a one-person business alongside my 9–5.

Start small

I spent years letting myself down. I wanted to start a business but I was half in. Every week I’d start something new. My house was starting to look like a jumble sale and I was dancing between ideas.

It was a mess.

The trouble was I tried to take on everything and simultaneously ended up doing nothing. The issue with big ambitious goals is that you spend so much time overwhelmed by them.

Ask yourself how to make $1 million in six months. You’ll get stuck.
Ask yourself how to $100 in a month. You’ll have ideas.

Lowing the bar allows your mind to run free and not be constrained by expectations. The best thing that I did when it came to writing? I started small. In 20 minutes a day.

Commit to doing the things you would

This ‘small task’ mindset is good for two reasons:

You’ll not feel overwhelmed
You’ll get into the habit of doing the things you said you would

If someone asked me why I’ve managed to keep going over the last 3 years compared to the tragic 3 years before, the single most significant factor is not wanting to let myself down.

After graduating from university I got into a horrible habit of letting myself down. Over and over. I would just say I was going to do things and never do them. I was a complete flake.

But slowly, I managed to correct that issue. I decided to set goals and commit to hitting them. I did it for enough times in a row that now I’m mindful of what I write down because I know the weight that goal holds.

Find a problem you care about

You know the other big reason I was able to create something on the side was because my business was focused around something I cared about.

I would get so angry at the ‘quit your 9–5’ spiel that I wrote a long article and how basically it’s a load of nonsense.

It led me to create the Part-Time Creator Club that helps inspire people with a 9–5 to create on the internet. The business I created was out of a problem I cared about.

Do one thing well

Here’s the biggie. If you have a 9–5, you have 2 maybe 3 hours a day to commit your thing. What I did wrong for years is that I was trying to do too many things.

It resulted in me doing many things poorly.

Instead, find one thing, one platform and one problem. Be relentless about that and nothing else. Focus forces commitment.

Don’t have great expectations

The last thought I’ll leave you with is that nobody gets big overnight.

I was writing online for 2.5 years before I landed at the Part-Time Creator Club. It took 3 years to build anything of significance. It will probably take me a lifetime to be happy with my writing.

That’s the point. You’re rubbish at the start and you just get less rubbish as you go along.

That’s it. That’s how I did it.

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