Here at Pandle we come across an abundance of clients every week that are simultaneously juggling a 9-5 day job with their own start up ventures. Being a part-time entrepreneur certainly isn’t ideal in the long run but growing and maintaining your own small business can be a costly feat. Sometimes a regular day job wage is exactly what’s needed to supplement the expenses attached to building your enterprise but it’s important to strike the correct balance between the two.
You don’t need us to tell you that being an entrepreneur and starting up your own business doesn’t fit into the neat little 9-5 package. Forget the clock, you work to a never-ending to-do list of things that seem to extend continuously into eternity. When Boxing Day means bubble & squeak and afternoon naps to most people, it means the January sales market and increased online traffic to you. When everybody else is taking advantage of the Bank Holiday freedom, it means extra time to catch up on overdue accounts for you.
One day you really will need to take the leap of faith and dedicate yourself fulltime to self-employment. As many who have succeeded will tell you, making a business work and transforming a good idea into a lucrative reality requires every hour God sends and even then it’s never enough. However we do understand that while you’re building up momentum, the financial security allowed by a day job can be just as high on your list of priorities.
Speaking of priorities, time is always of the essence here so let us move swiftly on to outlining our useful pointers for striking the right balance between your current job and your own personal project. You have the same amount of hours in the day as Richard Branson, it’s just all about knowing how to use them wisely so you can get the best out of both worlds.
- Brush up on time management skills – Prioritising and staying one step ahead of yourself is a great position to be in and with modern advancements in technology, this has never been easier. Even double decker buses have Wi-Fi these days so put your commute to good use! If you prefer to drive to work or if your job requires you to spend a lot of time driving then take advantage of that wonderful invention known as ‘hands-free’ to get your business calls done. Using a cloud bookkeeping software like Pandle also means you access your records from anywhere that provides an internet connection so you can do you accounting on the go.
Free online facilities like Hootsuite, Buffer and Mailchimp mean that you can take care of your digital marketing and social media ahead of time. A strong online presence is absolutely vital for any business these days but it doesn’t have to be time consuming. Schedule your social posts and newsletters at the weekend and let your online identity take care of itself while you work through the week.
- Outsource – This is another crucial part of the time management process. As much as you may feel like you can take everything on yourself, it’s important to recognise when you need to delegate tasks to others. Capitalise on the strengths of external contacts or companies who can save you valuable time by ensuring the job is done to the most professional degree. For example, you may be great at generating creative branding concepts but hopeless when it comes to implementing them so look to a freelance graphic designer to help you out. Or if you’re rubbish when it comes to numbers and figures, outsource your accounts to a cheap accountancy company who can lift the weight right off your shoulders.
- Maintain a positive mindset – Don’t see your day job as a hindrance or you’ll likely end up frustrated and demotivated when you need your positive energy most. Although your heart may not be in it, see your current role as a means to an end, a personal investment and a chance to generate some extra capital that can be pumped into growing your own brand.
- Remember to take a break – If you forced your smartphone to work nonstop with added overtime it would overheat and the same applies when it comes to your brain so take some time out to re-oil the cogs. Making a success of your own business, especially when balancing it with a day job, requires seriously hard work but it’s vital to factor in some regular R&R time too. An important part of this process is learning when to say no so you don’t exhaust yourself and jeopardise your priorities. Saying no isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s knowing when to except your limits in order to maximise on your own potential.