7 Steps To Manage Your Startup While Doing A Full Time Job

Dreaming of starting your own business while working full-time? You’re not alone. Looking at the global startup ecosystem, it is obvious that a large number of salaried individuals with full-time jobs dream of converting their startup idea into a profitable reality and being their own bosses.

But then life gets in the way and you find yourself struggling with the commitments of a full-time job, bills, rent, home loan EMIs to pay, family responsibilities, and so on.

If this is stopping you from marching to your boss’s cabin and tendering your resignation, remember that a full-time job has a lot of perks that can help you plan your startup journey better. With a regular salary and benefits like health insurance, paid leaves etc taking care of your money problems, you can actually test the waters with your startup idea before taking the plunge. You’ll enjoy the best of both worlds!

But remember, holding down your current job while managing a startup on the side is no mean feat and requires tremendous focus, a whole lot of patience, and discipline.

Here are 7 steps to help you manage your startup while working full-time:

1. Get Serious About Time Management

Time is a very precious commodity when you’re juggling a startup with a full-time job and other responsibilities. As a result, you need to decide on your top priorities, establish routines, and make the most of your free time. Get ready to make some tradeoffs and put some things on the back burner for your startup.

At the beginning of every work week, create a schedule outlining your responsibilities for your startup AND your primary job. Keep it realistic and do not forget to do your primary job with utmost dedication. Pro-tip: Don’t have more than 4-5 priorities on your task list or else it can get overwhelming. Investing in a professional planner may help with creating your weekly schedule.

Remember, this requires quite a lot of sacrifices from your end. Sometimes, you will not have time for family, friends, hobbies, and social activities. If you are questioning this tradeoff, you need to ask yourself in all honesty, whether this is worth all the effort. But it’s always worth the struggles if this is what you want. As Oprah once said, “You can have it all, just not all at once.”

2. Do Not Violate Your Current Employment Contract

Under no circumstances should you violate your employment contract while working on your startup on the side. Not only this is a questionable work ethic, but it can also lead to you getting fired. Remember, anything you develop on your company property and on company time belongs to your current employer. So be careful about using your company computers, office Wi-Fi, and other infrastructure.

This is especially tricky when it comes to intellectual property and other inventions you make on the job. Always check with your HR team about ownership of IP.

If your startup competes with your employer, you can face legal penalties. Go through your company policies, non-disclosure agreements, and other documents to make sure you’re following these legalities.

3. Set Clear Goals & Define Milestones

Having a business plan is not enough with a clear plan of action, defined milestones, and SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely) goals.

Use a business model canvas template to develop new business models and/or document and fine-tune existing ideas. If you don’t have time to prepare a full-scale business plan owing to your full-time job commitments, you can always start with this as it takes less time to prepare.

Setting realistic goals not only makes them achievable, it also prepares you for bigger goals and responsibilities without feeling overwhelmed or burdened by the prospect of failure. Research business models, make financial plans, constantly test your ideas, incorporate feedback, study competition…there are tasks galore. With some research, you can prioritize your goals and start ticking them off your list.

And remember every little progress matters, especially as you’ve taken on a very challenging job of balancing your startup with your full-time job.

4. Outsource As And When Needed

One of the biggest troubles startup owners have is outsourcing key responsibilities to third parties. They try to control every little aspect of the job, even if that’s not their core expertise.

But with working a full-time job and simultaneously managing your own venture, you need many hands on deck to finish all your tasks. Never hesitate to outsource the smaller tasks to third party vendors as it frees up your schedule to accomplish other tasks. Be it web or mobile app designing, UI/UX designing, or web/app content development, outsource smaller tasks to reliable vendors and spend time doing what you’re good at. Hiring extra help is always a smart, quick, and more sustainable solution.

5. Learn & Network

Your job is not only a financial safety net but a springboard for your startup career. It can also provide ample opportunity for learning and building your professional network. Interact with your colleagues (potential future customers), vendors, competitors, and prospective customers, discuss ideas, take feedback, and incorporate them in your ideas if possible. You should also network outside your company.

Look for mentors in your professional contacts. It could be a senior, a colleague, or a professional acquaintance. Often industry veterans, and corporate honchos you meet at networking events, can express willingness to mentor you and help scale your startup. There are many startup accelerator programs where you can find a potential mentor to support and guide your startup.

But remember, use your discretion when discussing your ideas with colleagues or at work. Avoid water cooler conversations with people you may not entirely trust.

6. Save Up

The key reason to have a full-time job while starting up is to ensure a steady and stable income source for the initial years. Draw up a smart, non-ambiguous budget for your startup expenses and adhere to it religiously. If your startup has already started generating revenue or making a profit, save the side income for rainy days. Have a strict budget for your personal expenses and a savings plan for the salary you draw from your full-time job.

Pro-tip: Before quitting your job for your startup, create a rainy day fund that can sustain you and your family for at least 6 months.

Avoid spending beyond your means, even if it requires you to cut costs at your venture. Hire an expert accountant to find out possible ways to reduce expenses in your job without compromising on your vision and implement that.

Remember, creating a healthy emergency fund should be one of your key priorities before you take that leap.

7. Watch Out For The Burn-Out

It may be disheartening but accept that you can’t have it all, right away. Managing your own startup is challenging enough without working full-time in another job. It requires patience, dedication, long hours of hustle, and razor sharp focus. This can physically and emotionally exhaust you, taking a huge toll on your health.

So avoid getting burnt out even before you pursue your venture full-time. Take rest, hire extra help whenever needed, confide in your doubts and fears to loved ones, and take care of your health. And when the time is right, quit and take the plunge.

You’ll probably never fully realize when the right time is. But trust your gut, set clear goals, accomplish them, and go for it.