What if you have a business idea that you think has
unlimited potential, but you can’t afford to leave your fulltime job to purse
the idea? Well, you just have to work harder, and bootstrap your business idea
and continue to work your regular job until the new idea is generating enough
money and is stable enough for you to do it fulltime.
Now, those with families to support have it a little harder
than someone young and single with no financial responsibilities. But,
regardless, here are some actionable tips to help bootstrap your idea while
still working a regular fulltime job.
Wake up two hours earlier in the morning.
You have to be willing to work harder than most if you want
to start a business on the side. This often means sacrificing a lot of sleep.
If you wake up earlier in the morning and put in two solid
hours of work without any distractions this is nearly 15 hours a week, which
can accomplish a lot,” says Pat Skinner of AnswerFirst
Communications. “The hardest part is just committing and not giving up, no
matter how tired you get.”
There is no doubt you will be exhausted and want to give up.
You will probably think about quitting often, but just remember that you have
0% chance of being successful with your idea if you quit.
Get 45 minutes of work in while you eat lunch.
Are you good at multi-tasking? You better be if you are
thinking of starting a business.
When you eat lunch try to maximize your time and return
emails, check order statuses, or get caught up on little busy items on your
to-do list that need to get done, and can be accomplished without your full
attention,” suggests Tad Thomas of Thomas
Law Offices. “Any little tasks you can knock out while eating lunch are
things you don’t have to do later.”
If you really want something bad enough you will do whatever
it takes, and this is one of those situations where you can make an excuse to
do sit down and relax while you eat, of be fully dedicated and knock some work
out in the process.
Hire a virtual assistant.
If your business is already generating money this is a smart
move, as it can help you move the needle much faster. And you don’t have to
spend a lot of money.
“If you are already generating money, re-invest that back
into the business,” advises Karen Anderson of The Probate Law House, a firm
that helps clients understand how to
apply. “That is why it’s great to keep your fulltime job while pursuing a
new business. You can pour all of the money back in to help scale. Hire a VA
for as little as $400 a month to help, and you can quickly build a fulltime
staff to grow the business for a fraction of what it would cost to build an
in-house team.”
Focus on growth and you will see that you get creative,
especially when you don’t need the business revenue to survive and pay your
bills.
Outsource your web development.
In the early stages of any business you will want to use
external resources rather than hire in-house as much as possible. This limits
your risk as well as reduces your operational costs.
“Find some quality web designers and developers on the
popular freelance marketplaces and become familiar with them,” says Irene
McConnell of Arielle Executive. “Hire
them for small jobs at first to test their communication skills and speed.
Then, you can identify ones you can count on when you need projects done,
whether it’s little website updates or new pages built.”
Would you rather pay an in-house developer more than
$100,000 in salary alone, or would you rather find a great option that bills
you $45 per hour?
Give up your weekends.
If you really want to build a business you are going to have
to ditch the 9-to-5 Monday through Friday mentality. As a business owner those
hours don’t exist.
“Rather than going out partying or taking the day to just
relax, dedicate it to your business,” offers Ignacio Soria of CANN & Co. “Those who are really hungry
will put in 12-hour days both Saturday and Sunday, and when you combine that
with time in the morning and evenings on the week days, you can put a fulltime
work week into your business as well.”
You don’t have to give up everything — make time for family
and hit the gym to hit your weight loss goals,
but make your new idea a top priority. You could get up at 5am and then
schedule all family and fun time after 5pm. It won’t be easy, but it will be
worth it down the line.
Carve out four hours in the evening.
Think of how much time is wasted every evening watching TV
or plating on social media. Dedicate that time to your business instead.
“If you really want to, you could find four extra hours
every night,” says Darryl Howard of Blogger
Tips. “After dinner, instead of plopping in front of the TV from 7pm to
11pm, jump on your computer and work on your idea. The more time you can
dedicate, the faster you will hit certain goals and start to see progress.”
Don’t use your salary to fund the growth.
While it may be tempting, don’t dip into your salary of
living expenses to fund the business growth. Remain committed to bootstrapping.
“A lot of times people will get the idea that if they just
throw their living expense money from their real job at an idea they will
arrive at the finish line faster, but that’s not always the case,” says Pedro
Del Nero of Vaporizer Vendor.
“Bootstrapping makes you work harder and it also allows you to experience
things that will make you a much better operator in the long-run.”
Also, you never want to go into credit card debt. The great
thing about bootstrapping is that if everything comes crumbling down the only
real loss is your time, which of course is valuable, but you don’t put your
personal finances at risk.
