60: How to Start a Business on the Side

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So you, our faithful listeners have spoken! You want to learn more about starting a side business. A lot of you are already in careers you’re planning to stay in, but want to build something on the side, either for additional income or for the challenge and satisfaction that comes with owning your own business! Congratulations! We couldn’t be more excited to share our journey, what we now know, AND what we’ve learned along the way in building Happen to Your Career!

Did you know that Happen to Your Career has been Scott’s SIDE business for over two years?  This was actually a surprise to some listeners!

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

Here are the 3 most important steps you should take BEFORE starting out with a new business:

  1. Define EXACTLY what it is you want to offer. Make sure you’re clear on what type of business you plan to start. What business model(s) are you considering? Dave Ramsey  has a saying about YOU, yourself being the most difficult boss you’ve ever worked for when you own your own business, so it pays to be sure upfront that you know what you are getting into! Want a little more clarity on exactly what you want to do? Our Work You Love: One Stop Intro course  is an excellent place to start getting the ideas rolling and determining how to leverage your skills and passions into a viable business!
  2. Decide how much time you can devote to your business. We can’t stress how important it is to HONESTLY evaluate and consider your resources in time and overall bandwidth before committing yourself to a new business. Making sure your significant other is onboard with the new venture and understands your commitments is a critical part of this. Scott and Alyssa set time aside to draw up their weekly schedule every Sunday night. On the weeks when they miss scheduling, things can get crazy!
  3. Plan to create systems and processes upfront to keep all aspects of your business streamlined.  THIS is where we made most of our mistakes in the beginning with HTYC.  We highly recommend taking a good look at ALL of the processes you anticipate in running your new business and actively seeking ways to streamline and automate where possible upfront.  You might look into purchasing a software solution or using tools like Asana for working with a team (or even just managing your own “to do” lists) or MailChimp for managing your email lists.  By doing this, you will save an incredible amount of time (and likely lots of frustration) if you do this.  Strong, intentional workflow systems will speed your progress immensely!  If you’re considering purchasing tools or hiring help with any aspect of the business, but having trouble justifying the cost, the best way to look at it is to ask yourself “how much time is this taking me currently?” or “is there a better/faster/more efficient way to be doing this?”.  Time is money!  Time saved by not doing things that can be automated or done by someone else for you is time you can spend generating revenue for the business!

There will still be some “tuition” to pay as you ascend over the learning curve, but you’ll definitely be ahead of the game if you do the work in advance to set your business up for success!

(there are no affiliate links here)

Asana  – “teamwork without email”; great project management platform with a fabulous FREE plan for small teams!

MailChimp – email list management service

HTYC Work You Love:  One Stop Intro Course – our FREE 8-day email course packed with tools and resources to help you translate your unique skills and passions into work you’ll love!

GOT QUESTIONS?  Get in touch with Scott here!

Email:  scott@happentoyourcareer.com

Twitter: @scottabarlow

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