Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

So I`m all set to quit my job. (well one of them) I decided to move back with the parents and just start it up.

But I got a call from a recruiter today, for an interview. The wheels in my head started spinning. Even if I start the business part time I`ll be gaining experience in the industry. Plus I`ll have a larger war chest to pull from when i decide to go full time. My only thing is I fear that i`ll eventually hate working for anyone else regardless of the industry. But I can`t deny that working on the business part time and earning more money for it has it`s perks (especially since i`ll probably have to bootstrap it)

So for those of you still working and working on your business in your spare time: Are there any other issues, concerns, or other things I should be aware of?

-------------------------

Follow the journey of Marvin Hawkins Visual Concepts and Nothing Like It Games at http://gamerdeveloper.blogspot.com/

If it is at all possible for you to focus solely on your newborn company - DO IT!  I am doing both and I am exhausted.  As much as I hate to admit it, I am not a very focused and proactive employee.  That is against what I believe personally so I am regulary in conflict about being a great employee for my employer and focusing on what I love - my business.

Don`t be tempted by so-called easy money. 

-------------------------

Kindra Beauprey Director Liberty Bell Spirit Squad www.libertybells.net

The answer to your question really depends on your personal situation.  If you have enough money saved to go full steam with your business without you having to worry about your personal finances, it`s probably best to go 100% with your business and not take on a separate job.  Like CheerDirector mentioned, working a job and your business can lead to exhaustion and burnout.  However, if your personal financial situation requires you to work, then take the job and work part time on the business.

One thing to consider, when your business is in its infancy stages there will certainly be unforseen expenses.  Be sure if you go full steam ahead with your business and have no other source of income that you have enough in the bank to cover both business and personal expenses.  The last thing you want to happen is to go 100% at your business and run out of capital and become discouraged or frustrated and not give yourself an opportunity to get the business ramped up.

-------------------------

Oliver Mupas
United Bank Card
866-207-6007 ext 303
omupas@ubcnetworkonline.com

Good point!  Yes I made the assumption that you either have savings or already are generating some cash flow from your venture.  I hope you aren`t assuming that your mom is going to foot the bill. 

Good luck!

-------------------------

Kindra Beauprey Director Liberty Bell Spirit Squad www.libertybells.net

I agree with Oliver and Kindra. Make sure you`ve got enough in the bank to cover your personal finances. Before I went full time with my business I made two attempts to do the half business owner/half employee and eventually it would always boiled down to having to choose between the employer and the business. My business clients expected reasonable turnaround time and so did my employer which made me aways feel like I was in the middle of a tug-a-war and was exhausted. The first time the job won. I put the business on the back-burner and dedicated myself to my employer but this last attempt my business won. I finally decided I`m not getting any younger and the opportunity to go out on my own keeps presenting itself so I gave a month notice and went for it. It was frightening to give up the stability of a good job but I had money in the bank and now I`m really glad I made the gamble. I`ve managed to stay afloat and everyday I`m making my customers happy and creating a more distinct path to my future.

Have you considered part-time on both? I am trying to work full time during the day and I agree with everyone else...totally exhausted!!! I am forever thinking...if I could work half a day at one place and half a day at the other...I might be able to see my pillow sometime in the near future!

I agree though...if you have the opportunity (financial, support, etc.) to go full steam on your dream (hey...I made a rhyme)...then do it! Find some part-time thing if you feel the need to have some pocket money...like a coffee shop or something...nothing that requires too much of you so you can focus on what you really want...your own business!

Best of luck to you though! Not the worst place to be....your own business...or other people wanting you! Either way...sounds like you make out in the deal!

-------------------------

Leah Tucker

The problem is balancing your integrity to, and commitment to being yourself with surviving in a modern world of bills and expenses.

It`s funny, but having been on lots of online forums, I`ve seen an interesting thing happen to Baby Boomers. I remember, back when we all were around 18, how there was a cultural-wide "split." Half of us decided that "doing my own thing" was more important then "following the establishment thing."

So we all split. Nobody thought much about it until 30 years later, and here we all are, online, discussing life and the future and getting older.

Those who went the traditional way built up assets, homes, investment portfolios, savings, and good-paying jobs. They had security, sometimes even a family, and a solid financial plan for their retirement.

The other half has little in the way of assets, no retirement plan, no security, and a growing sense of uneasiness about having nothing in the bank.

What`s ironic is that now, looking across "the fence" at each other, we`ve all ended up in the same place. IRA accounts, investments, porfolios have been hit big-time with the ecomonic changes. Long-term jobs are being outsourced, companies are folding or merging, older people are being pushed out into retirement. And now, many Boomers find themselves having worked 30 years in a company, seeing their pension fund disappear.

There`s one very large difference, though. The people who went off and did their own thing have a huge portfolio of memories and stories, adventures, and drama. Those who did the establishment thing seem envious. They don`t really have all that adventure because they were very busy raising kids or working.

So I think the question comes down to the age-old one: What is the measure of a life well-spent?

No I certainly don`[t expect the `rents to pick up the bill for my business. they have promised to provide me a roof to stay under, and business advice and encouragement. That`s plenty for me.

I`m in a slightly different situation. I have two part time jobs which is basically like one full time job. Like someone suggested I`ll have the ability to work part time on the business and part time at my job.

Craig you`re right, It comes down to a choice. But i know I`m going to be an entreprenuer. For me It`s more about what type of experience I can get from the working world. I don`t like my bank job because I feel like I`ve learned everything there is to learn from running a business and money. I still have a bit to learn from my clothing job in terms of management. once I`m done learning, I`ll move on from there. Plus you can never have enough contacts.


-------------------------

Follow the journey of Marvin Hawkins Visual Concepts and Nothing Like It Games at http://gamerdeveloper.blogspot.com/

Classic question: You`re run over by a bus, on your way to the hospital in the ambillance. You hear the medics talking, and you`re probably not gonna make it. So there you are...probably going to croak in an hour or so, and you`re looking back over your life.

Was it fun? Did you accomplish anything? Was it worth it? Why? :-)

If this happened to you, tomorrow morning, and you`re reviewing things, you`d say, "I worked in a bank. That was important because I learned a lot of things." Is that sufficient for you? Would you then die in peace?

As I said, it`s a classic question people use to introduce the concept of evaluating one`s life.

well I would. I`m living a life with no regrets. I`ll either die having accomplished my goals or die working toward them. As long as I`m not schlumping through this life and I`m in the game so to speak, I will have viewed my life as a success. 

-------------------------

Follow the journey of Marvin Hawkins Visual Concepts and Nothing Like It Games at http://gamerdeveloper.blogspot.com/