Building An Online Business When You Still Have A Full Time Job

14th June 2004 Monday is when I started my first full time job but before getting into my full time job (i.e. when I was in college) I was doing some freelancing work especially home work help type of projects. I am a member in Elance since August 2002 and in vWorker (Known as RentACoder at that time) Since October 2003.

As soon as I joined a full time job I realized that freelancing is not the kind of job which you can do part time. Clients are paying you to get the task done when they need it and not when you have free time and so I thought of not continuing very actively with freelancing but I always wanted to find something where I can work in my free time.

I started researching online and finally decided that sharing my content online is one of those few things which I can do when I have free time i.e. after reaching home from my full time job. At that time I thought of going for a blog but as blogging was something relatively new and I managed to understand (wrongly though) that it is something where you constantly need to write and I was not sure if I could do that along with my job and so I decided to go with sharing my articles online. I registered my second domain Go4Expert.com on 13th of July 2004. Remember I am still not a month into my full time job. 😀

I was never satisfied with my jobs and was into my third job before completing my first year of full time job. 23rd May 2005 is when I joined my third Job.

First Job was mainly Visual Basic development and maintenance job and as I was more inclined towards web I started to look for a web based related job.

Second Job was mainly an SEO job but I started to get the feel that no this is not the kind of work I prefer to be doing and so I started to look for a C++ Job.

Third Job was a C++ job and this when I started to feel that I have no more option (read reason) to switch jobs and this was the time I made up my mind that I will setup my online business.

But this one question has always been with me in all sorts of variation.

• How in the world do you manage both (Your job and Your Online Business)? (Asked by my colleagues when I was in Job)
• How did you manage a Job and Go4Expert and I am not able to do? (Asked by my fellow entrepreneurs)
• Do you have a family life or not?

I will not only answer these questions but will also share with you tips on how you can also manage both.

So let us begin

1. Don’t Take Your Job Home

I see that many people leave the office physically but mentally they are still thinking about the office tasks. Try to complete the task and leave but I know this is not practical and so try to think about office tasks only when you are on the office desk. Avoid thinking about the work even when you are not on your office desk and this practice can help you in leaving the office mentally as well.

2. If you are not paid for over time Never Do it

Many employers ask their employee to visit on weekends and get the task completed and if you are not paid for the same try avoiding it. There is no job on this planet which can be done in a week’s time when actual timeline of it is 6 man days; assuming 5 working days in a week.

Apart from that always avail your all the unpaid leaves. This will help you give more time to your online business and family. Try to be more professional when it comes to doing a Job.

3. Prioritize Things

You have to understand that if you are managing a job and an online business you cannot do both of them to the extent of perfection you like and so you not only have to have a list of to do things but also have to have a priority set on that list and so you can do the more critical things first.

Let me tell you my example. I wanted to upgrade my forums to more user-friendly Ajax based interface but I could not afford to make such large changes because I was not working full time for my online business. I had the same interface for very very long time because I knew the new interface is the way to go but as old was working perfectly fine I was ok with it.

4. Plan for the Next Weekend of Work

The most important day for your business is your weekend and you have to make sure you plan how and what tasks you will be doing.

In weekdays you will see lot of things you need to be doing and so make a list of them and plan accordingly what all you need to be doing this weekend.

Tip: My second job was a 6 day job and this is when I realized that I should opt for a job where I have the longest possible weekend to give my online business more time.

5. Outsource

There are lot of tasks involved when it comes to taking things online. Web Design, server management, marketing, content … and the list continues … It will be a wiser option to outsource things you are not good at. This will not only help you get more time for your online business but will also make things more professional.

I am never good at Photoshop and web design but initially I always wanted to get that done by myself and I always did that as well but when I interacted with designer’s I could sense that they can get the same thing done in few minutes where as for me it was few hours and still nothing close to what they did for me.

Final Thoughts

Job was for my survival and online business was my passion. I enjoyed the weekend work and late hours of work and so make sure you also enjoy what you are doing.

Are there things you have implemented that allow you to be more efficient? Share them in comments below. We can ALL benefit from shared wisdom 🙂

Further Reading …