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Starting a Business: The Ultimate Guide to Starting A Business While Working Full Time

05 June 2019, 17:23 CET

Quitting your day job and starting a company isn't as easy as it sounds. There several responsibilities like paying bills, paying mortgage and putting food on the table that need to be performed. While jumping in with both feet is very risky, you can still hang onto the security and income of your job while still launching your business.

Here's how you can turn your idea into a company while working full-time.

1. Find A Business Idea

The first step to starting a company is to think of a business idea. To come up with a killer business idea, you first need to figure out a winning concept. Luckily, there are different ways you can come up with a good business idea. Some include fixing something that bugs you, applying your skills to a new field and how to stay ahead of technology and advancements.

Also, do some research online, seek advice from other entrepreneurs, meet people and ask them questions or use whatever method that works best for you.

2. Test Your Idea

Testing your idea is essential in ensuring your product or services becomes successful once it is on the market. Start by interviewing potential customers to know what problem they are experiencing, how your product/service will help solve it and how inclined they are to solving it the way they currently are. Surveys are also great ways to get feedback from potential customers. Finally, create a beta version of the service or miniature version of the product to get user feedback.

3. Get Your Legal Ducks in a Row to Make Sure You Don't Cross Your Current Employer

An important thing you need to do when starting a business is to ensure you're on solid legal ground to avoid problems with your employer when your business is a success. Areas that are likely to cause problems pertain to intellectual property, solicitation, and competition. To avoid such problems, make sure that you are working on an idea that's unrelated to your employer's business, your working on it on your time and with your own resources and that you do not solicit employee or customers of your employer.

4. Start Generating Revenue

If you get paying customers for your prototype, ramp up your sales by looking for more customers. You can use the customers as testimonials and they may even refer you to other potential customers. When you generate more sales, you'll have enough funds to support the business and be able to quit your day job.

Remember that you'll need to save that hard-earned cash while scaling up. Some tips for expanding on a budget include hiring consultants with low overhead, automating activities, building partnerships and barter when possible, and cutting monthly expenses. A great way to reduce business costs is to find better energy deals. Try using the Simply Switch energy comparison tool to find a deal that'll help you save money on energy and electricity bills.

5. Network Like Crazy

Connections and introduction in the business ecosystem are critical in raising capital, landing a key partner and setting your business up for growth. To build a successful network you need to put yourself out there. Attend networking events and tap into networks that you already have. Additionally, make sure that you're investing your time into relationships that are valuable for you and your business.

6. Make Your Nights and Weekends Count

When you're pulling triple duty in your job, building your business and other commitments like family, you'll start to see traction in the business. Here's where you need to make the most of those nights and weekends. Be ready to make some tradeoffs so you can achieve your goals.

These six tips will help you turn your business idea into a company while you still work full time. Once your business is running, know when to quit your job to focus on the company.

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