8 Ways You Can Start Your Own Business While Working a Full-Time Job

8 Ways You Can Start Your Own Business While Working a Full-Time Job

Almost everyone wants to start their own business. Find lost time in your day Whenever I talk to full-timers who want to start a business, their number one complaint is almost always “I don’t have enough time.” That’s true to a point. What are you really doing with that time? Even if you feel like you’re always working, you might have enough time to start your own business. There are some things that you’ll need to do every day, but there’s a lot you don’t have to do. And you don’t need five extra hours a day to start a business. Whether you have one hour or four hours, you can find some extra time in your day to salvage and use for productive activities. If you have extreme trouble focusing on your work, you might benefit from making a super detailed system like this one to help you: You might find it easy to do lots of deep work, or you might need a strict schedule. I outsource most of my work. It also can give you more time to work on your business (provided you work on that after you finish job-related work).

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Almost everyone wants to start their own business.

For most people, owning a business means taking control of their future. There’s a lot of freedom that comes with starting a business.

And it’s easier than ever. Today, we’re living in a golden age of entrepreneurship where anyone can start up a business.

But there’s a problem––full-time jobs.

If you’re working a 9-to-5, you’ve probably found it difficult to make time for anything else besides your job.

It’s probably tough for you to spend enough time with your family or even just have a second to sit back and unwind for a little.

Does all of this sound familiar?

If it does, you’re not alone. I’ve talked with thousands of people who want to start a business but think their job is stopping them.

But what if I told you that your business doesn’t have to stop you?

What if I told you that you could build a business while keeping your full-time job?

And what if I told you that you could do that without going insane or making huge sacrifices?

Believe it or not, it’s all true.

I’m going to show you eight ways to make more time to start your own business even if you’re juggling a full-time job.

These strategies are serious. They’ve been used by some of the best entrepreneurs I know, and I’m confident they’ll work for you too.

1. Make sure you’re legally free and clear

First of all, I am not a lawyer, and I don’t play one on TV.

So this section is going to be short.

But legal stuff is important. So make sure you’re legally protected — doing only things that you’re clear to do.

Most companies have rules against employees having any conflict of interest, and that might include building a business on the side or starting a business in the same industry.

These rules will be mentioned in your contract. If you signed a noncompete or nondisclosure agreement, you should check there too.

The last thing you want is to be fired from your job. When in doubt, read over your agreements and talk with your employer.

2. Find lost time in your day

Whenever I talk to full-timers who want to start a business, their number one complaint is almost always “I don’t have enough time.”

That’s true to a point.

The average employee doesn’t have a lot of free time, especially if they have a family to take care of or other obligations that consume their time.

Vocativ found that married and employed fathers have about 3.6 hours of leisure time a day, while married and employed mothers have about 2.9 hours of free time.

It’s important that we have some free time every day for recreational activities. I know I need some time to just chill every day or else I’ll start to feel a little crazy.

But look at those numbers again. On average, we have about 3 to 3.5 hours of free time every day.

What are you really doing with that time?

If you’re like most people, you devote the majority of your free time to watching TV.

But exactly how much do we love TV?

Well, Nielsen reported that the average adult spends five hours a day watching TV.

Think about that: On an average day, we have 3 to 3.5 hours of free time but spend 5 hours watching TV.

Does that math seem a little odd?

Those numbers seem so odd because many people watch TV while they’re at work.

An incredible 64 percent of employees watch some form of online video during work hours.

That’s not the only way the average worker wastes time. Distractions, unhappiness, and sleep deprivation can all cause people to waste literally hours at work.

Check out this infographic to see what I mean.

The point of all of this?

You could have potentially hours of wasted time in your day.

Even if you feel like you’re always working, you might have enough time to start your own business.

If you can reclaim this lost time, you’ll be able to be more efficient and fit everything into your schedule.

There are two ways to reclaim the lost time.

The first way is to eliminate unnecessary time vacuums. A time vacuum is exactly what it sounds like — an activity that drains time away from you.

There are some things that you’ll need to do every day, but there’s a lot you don’t have to do.

Here’s an example. In lean manufacturing, there are seven types of waste. In Japan, this is called muda.

Muda means futility, usefulness, or wastefulness.

How much muda do you have during your day?

Often, muda takes the form of little things.

Maybe you wait ten minutes in line every morning for coffee. Or maybe you spend half an hour every day just organizing everything in your workspace.

If you can find the things that are making you waste time for almost no benefit, you can eliminate those things or replace them.

The second way to take back lost time is to stop deliberately doing activities that waste time.

There are some time issues in your day that you just have to deal with, and I get that.

But mostly, we choose to waste time.

It looks different for everyone.

Maybe you spend way too much time on the Internet like 26% of employees do.

Or maybe you watch Netflix for four hours every night.

I hate to break it to you, but that isn’t productive. (That doesn’t mean you have to give up Netflix. You may just have to cut back a bit.)

Chances are you know exactly what you’re doing every day that wastes time.

Cut back or eliminate those activities. If something unnecessarily wastes your time and doesn’t contribute to your well-being in some way, it needs to go.

You’ll have to be honest with yourself, but on the bright side, you’ll have a heck of a lot more time every day to devote to your business.

And you don’t need five extra hours a day to start a business. Even if you can only spare an hour, that’s an entire day every month that you can spend on your side gig.

Whether you have one hour or four hours, you can find some extra time in your day to salvage and use for productive activities.

3. Work on your side gig without losing focus

Does this sound familiar?

You finally carve out some time to start a business. Let’s say it’s an hour every day.

You spend the day working, chill out for a bit, and then get started…

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