More Pros Than Cons
Let’s start with the cons: It may take longer to grow your business than you wish; or in contrast it may grow so fast that you may be overwhelmed with customers’ demands; or you may burnout with the physical and mental stress trying to run a business on the side, along with trying to maintain a regular job and fulfilling your personal responsibilities.
 
Not all businesses are suitable for part-time operations, especially those where customers need immediate services. Because of your limited hours and availability, you may also lose potential customers to full-time competitors. However, you can market the benefits of your part-time operations by advertising how your low overhead helps keep your prices competitive and that as a smaller business, you can stay more focused on your customers’ needs. 

The pros outweigh the cons: While receiving a pay check and benefits from your regular job, you can take the time to test market your goods and services and locate the best potential customers, specifically the ones who are willing to pay your prices so your business will be profitable. Even better, is that you can take the time to search for a potentially-lucrative, hidden market “niche” of customers that your competitors might have overlooked. In going part-time you also have opportunities to learn your business’ specific skills and get experience by working in a related job or as an apprentice. Some companies like VocationVacations offer people the opportunities to try out their dream jobs or ventures.

A part-time business can also provide you more flexibility to explore new money-making avenues if a customer market should unexpectedly open up; build a proven track record of sales that will increase your chances for obtaining loans; and can test the working relationship between prospective business partners.
 
If you need business operational skills, you can enroll in the following government-supported centers’, free or low-cost basic business startup and management courses, plus receive ongoing guidance from their staff: Women’s Business Development Centers (www.onlinewbc.gov); U. S. Small Business Development Centers (www.sba.gov/SBDC); SCORE offices (Service Corps of Retired Executives – www.score.org); and Canada Business centers (www.cbsc.org/); ** This is also a good time to find experts with whom you can consult as needed as your business grows, such as lawyers, accountants, coaches and other professionals.

**Note: The U. S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) site “Startup Basics,” www.sba.gov/starting_business/, is an excellent business primer that discusses how to write business and marketing plans, obtain financing and more.

Save Money, Save Your Business
Many full-time enterprises fail because they could not produce profits soon enough to sustain them. With a part-time venture, you can start with less expensive, good used furnishings and equipment; and reinvest its earnings into purchasing better technology, setting up a web site, expanding your marketing methods and perfecting your products and services to your customers’ satisfaction. You can also explore bartering with other entrepreneurs to acquire goods and services you might not be able to afford at first. This is also a good time to search for a business-friendly bank and open an account for your business while in its part-time phase. It will keep your personal and business finances separate and help you track your venture’s cash flow. You can also build a rapport with your bank’s staff that may assist you in acquiring expansion loans.

Part-Time Home Office
Dedicate a room or space in your home, garage, or basement solely for your business. It should have adequate lighting, a comfortable chair, and be set in a relatively quiet area. Because of a part-time business’ erratic hours, it is important to have an undisturbed place where you can leave your work and come back to it where you left off. Discuss with family members the hours you will be working in your office and set limits concerning their interruptions and their use of your office and its supplies. Consider hiring a professional organizer to help you set up an efficient space and electronic and paper filing system. You can lose money and waste valuable time with sloppy bookkeeping or mislaid paperwork.

How to Transition to Full-Time
Use your business plan to set daily, monthly, or yearly goals to monitor and work towards full-time operations. Test different marketing methods while your business is part-time to determine the best marketing mix of successful and affordable advertising and publicity avenues. Effective marketing methods are those that build a solid and continuing-growing base of customers, resulting in profits that will pay your business’ bills and support you and your family so you can quit your job and go full-time.

You might also discover if your part-time business would qualify for admission to a business incubator, an enterprise that assists entrepreneurs in expanding their existing ventures into full-time operations. Some incubators offer specialized assistance for certain types of business such as food-related ventures or for e-commerce. The National Business Incubator Association (www.nbia.org) has an informative article, “Tips for finding the right business incubator,” on choosing the best incubator for your business. 

While presently employed, strive to pay down any personal and business debts, so you will need less money to live when your business goes full-time. Take advantage of present employee benefits like paid health care and schedule routine physical, eye, or dental health check-ups before you quit; or sign-up for any training or tuition-reimbursed courses that you can later use in your business. You may be able to leave your job sooner, too, if you are entitled to retirement or severance packages that could finance your venture or sustain your living expenses until your business can support you.

Legally, you will want to review any documents that you may have signed when you were first hired such as non-compete and confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements that would prevent you from competing for the same clients as your employer’s. It is best to leave on good terms with your boss, because often times your former employer can be one of your first clients or will refer you to potential clients they rather not handle. 

When you can no longer manage your job and your business’s increased customer demands; and your business’s profits have equaled or exceeded your present income for several months in a row; recognize that these are good indicators that you can soon stop being an employee and become your own boss.

Starting a venture on a part-time basis may not be the easiest entrepreneurial path for you to take, but it may be the only option for your present situation; and one that can possibly lead you sooner than you ever thought possible to become the owner of a successful full-time, home-based business. HBM

Priscilla Y. Huff is the author of 101 Best Home-Based Businesses for Women, 3^rd ed; and Make Your Business Survive and Thrive! 100+ Proven Marketing Methods to Help You Beat the Odds and Build a Successful Small or Home-Based Enterprise (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Fall, 2006) Questions or comments: