Walking the walk of part-time entrepreneurship
Romanian entrepreneur Cristian Dorobantescu, a guest poster here at BootStrapMe, has written two great posts on his own Small Business Entrepreneur Blog about the trials and triumphs of part-time entrepreneurship.
That part-time status is often a necessity for the bootstrap entrepreneur as Wayne Hulbert explains at Blog Business World.
For the next addition in the "seaside reflections" series, from a guy who knows only too well, here are five ways to walk the walk of part-time entrepreneurship.
1. Remember to live the dream. Blogger and former Creative Weblogging executive editor Anita Campbell reports that entrepreneurship is on the rise in the U.S. according to figures from the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. By working on your part-time venture, you are part of a movement getting increasing attention in the popular press and having an increasing impact on the business world. It's something you should be proud of and remember when times get tough.
2. Use your time wisely. According to a recent report from AOL, employees waste 20 percent of their time at work on issues unrelated to their job. Why not put that time to good use? Here's how Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, a bootstrapper himself in the early days, described one part-time approach, according to Scott Burkett:
One of the good things you can do is not hire yourself, but knock down 8 hours a day for someone else, steal as much of their time as you can, i.e. close your door and work on your business while they're paying you, and you do as much as you can that way. That is, until you get found out and fired. But it is a strategy! Persistence is really important.
3. Relish your double life. By day you're a wage slave working for "the man" using your skills to forward someone else's agenda and help create their wealth. By night and on weekends you transform into a part-time entrepreneur pushing the envelope on a new and evolving frontier. Who but Clark Kent or Peter Parker could appreciate this situation?
4. Learn to like coffee-a lot! Cristian mentions this as well and I think it probably does no harm to enjoy your addiction by becoming a connoisseur. Here's a site to get you started on the road to extreme Obsession. Caution: The language is a bit strong as no doubt is the coffee.
5. Make sure your family understands. This is hopeless, but you'll want to take a stab at it anyway. Families should be supportive, especially if the rewards from your new venture which leaves virtually no time for them will eventually work to their benefit.