How to have a side business AND keep all of your friends
For a little over a year now I’ve had a side business providing virtual services for podcasters whose shows I love and whose missions I believe in.
Initially I started the side business as a way to bring in more income, but it’s turned into something much bigger and way more meaningful than I ever could’ve predicted.
So, right now, my business is in transition.
I’m working partially in my old business and partially in my new one — coaching others who want to start their own side businesses as a means to increase income, achieve financial freedom, or simply to create something that is 100% their own.
Maybe that’s you?
Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’ve at least toyed with the idea of starting your own thing.
Awesome!
I’m telling you, starting a business is one of the most rewarding things you will ever do. You’ll learn more about yourself than you can imagine. You’ll get to experience what it feels like to have full confidence in your ability to earn an income outside of a day job.
And once you’ve done it, once you’ve learned the process…you can go back and do it again and again until you find a business that works for you.
“So, what exactly does it take to run a side business?”
Well, the quick and obvious answer is that it depends on what type of business you want.
But, there’s more to it than that.
To really find out what it will take, ask yourself:
What is it worth to me to start a side business? (What am I willing to give up in order to start my side business?)
What’s at stake if I don’t start my business? (What are the consequences of not starting my side business? Will I regret not starting something?)
Determine your commitment level and begin to think about how you will make space in your life for your new business.
You won’t have time and energy for everything you want to do.
And that’s ok. With the right approach and strong commitment, you will achieve what matters most to you.
Define your “non-negotiables”
- Day job
- Family obligations
- School
- Community/church obligations
If you work at a full-time job, then the 40 hours per week you spend there might be non-negotiable. But, then maybe not. I have friends who have negotiated modified schedules in varying degrees and/or created “work from home” arrangements with their employers.
The nature of my full-time job limits what I can do as far as a flexible work schedule or working from home. But, I have shifted my workday from 8am to 5pm one hour later, from 9am to 5pm.
Given that I am a microbiologist, the idea of bringing my work home with me sounds really unappealing. It just sounds…gross.
But, by shifting my schedule and starting my workday earlier, I’ve created time (between 2 and 3 hours each weekday morning) to work on my business. This works well for me.
I’ve noticed a strange thing happening the older I get:
I really appreciate mornings.
I never thought I’d catch myself saying this.
But, it’s true. Not only do I absolutely love the quiet of the early mornings, I’ve seen a big difference in my mental clarity at 5am vs. 10pm. And instead of fighting it — I embrace it!
So what are the non-negotiables in your life?
Could any of them be negotiable? What would that require?
Write down everything you’ve identified as absolutely non-negotiable (for now).
Talk to your stakeholders
- Your friends
- Your family
- Your significant other
Who do you spend your time with? Which relationships are most important in your life?
Share your plans with these people. Tell your friends what you’re up to. Talk to your spouse/partner about what you want to do. And have these conversations regularly. I can’t stress the importance of this enough.
This is one big area where I’ve stumbled in the past. When I first started out with my side business, I made a lot of assumptions about what would be “ok” with my girlfriend, particularly around the amount of time I would spend working on something outside of my day job. This led to some difficult conversations, but we were able to come to an agreement where we both could get what we wanted and needed.
It’s key to realize that you can’t just “set and forget” whatever you create with your partner. Schedules change, life happens, things come up, and you need to come back to these conversations often.
Be open to considering what those closest to you are telling you. Really hear them. Be truly present when you’re with them (no answering emails or checking Facebook). Be understanding and above all, be willing to work towards agreement. If you are both invested in what’s important to the other, you’ll figure it out!
Who’s on your list? Who will you have conversations with about your business goals?
Side note: Talking to the people in your life about what you’re up to can have a lot of other benefits. You never know who knows who or who can help!
Map it out
- Income goals
- Business model
- Long term financial goals
What do you want? Do you want to bring in an extra $500 or $1000 a month, happily on a part-time basis? Or is your longer term goal to replace a full-time salary? What type of business and business model are you considering and how much of your time will it take to start your business? To maintain it? And down the road, to scale it?
I don’t have plans to leave my day job (for a lot of reasons that I will go into in a future post). But I do have a hefty chunk of student debt remaining that I am systematically attacking. I have a debt-free date and to support that, I have created certain income targets for myself.
Knowing that I have a set amount of hours per week to work with actually makes things a lot easier for me. Not only does it force me to get focused and make the most out of the time I set aside for my side business, it allows me to make decisions about what types of work and which clients I can take on.
Having a full-time career and income allows me to be more selective about those things as well.
What are your goals for your business?
Where do you want to take your business?
Where are you headed in the short term? Long term?
Break your goals down into smaller chunks, then translate them into weekly activities and put time estimates around those. (You can always go back and adjust these later!)
Block it out
- Non-negotiables
- Side business activities
- Health and wellness
- Sleep!
Now it’s time to put everything together.
I use something called a Master Schedule — a concept I got from Scott Barlow at Happen to Your Career. Essentially it works much like a “zero-based” budget. Instead of accounting for every dollar you earn and giving it a purpose, you are accounting for every hour of your day and giving it a purpose.
This is what my side business schedule looks like Sunday through Friday at the moment. Saturdays are my days off.
I assign a “theme” to each day I work, with the exception of Sunday. Sunday is a mixed day, where I handle work on my business (in the form of working with my coach and my mastermind) and client work (HTYC). This is just a function of having more time on Sundays for work.
Every other day of the week has a “theme” or central focus. The tasks I handle each day are related to the theme I’ve chosen for that day. This helps me to put the bulk of my time, effort, and mental energy toward one area at a time.
I got this approach, of assigning “Theme Days”, from Mike Vardy ofProductivityist. I’ve had a lot of success with this and I recommend it to anyone and everyone who wants to get a better handle on their time (and energy) management.
Your Master Schedule should not be something you create and then tuck away into a file.
It needs to be visible because it is a living, breathing document that should be reviewed regularly and updated as necessary in order for it to serve its purpose.
I keep my Master Schedule saved in my browser’s Bookmarks toolbar for easy access.
Want to set up your own Master Schedule and see where you can find “hidden” time for your business? Grab my template here (no email address required).
Take care of yourself
Ignore at your own peril!
- Health
- Nutrition
- Balance
If you don’t take care of your own health and wellbeing, nothing else in your life will work as well as it could. And what’s worse is that while it may not happen overnight, in the long run, you will burn out.
One area I don’t compromise at all on is sleep. I know that I operate best on 8 hours of sleep a night and so that is something I won’t budge on. Find what your sleep requirements are and adhere to them religiously.
If you decide you want to work on your business for an hour in the morning before you go into your day job, this probably means you’ll need to wake up an hour earlier than you are waking up now. So, if you’re like me and you know you need your 8 hours, be sure you go to bed an hour earlier.
If getting up a full hour earlier is too big of a stretch for you to do in one shot, try getting up a little earlier each week (15 minutes earlier each week) until you get there.
In the realm of fitness, I’m admittedly not where I want to be at the moment. But, this is an area I am focusing on. I love using the Coach.me app to track the progress I make toward fitness (and other) goals! I’ve got goals for drinking more water, setting priorities daily, playing guitar, and other habits I want to build and/or track.
My Coach.me dashboard
A word about balance:
Don’t discount or short-change those activities that bring you joy, recharge your batteries, or keep you grounded. Find time for them.
For me, playing guitar is one of these activities. But, I haven’t been playing as much as I’d like lately.
…so, I’ve brought my acoustic guitar out to the living room (my “office”), where I can see it, as a reminder to play!
Welcome to my office!
What can you do to set yourself up for success?
What areas of your current state of health and wellbeing can you improve? What actions can you take to improve them?
“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have 24-hour days.” — Zig Ziglar
- What do you really want?
- How badly do you want it?
- What are you willing to give up to get what you want? (What is it worth to you?)
Simply put, if you want it badly enough and you have a plan, you can make anything happen.
Direction is powerful. It can change your life.
Where are you headed?
