A side gig is something everyone looks for nowadays. But you may be wondering, how to start an online business while having a full-time job. If so, simply search for best and new online business ideas you can start from home.
Why not? The number of Americans that have a side gig despite working full-time is on the surge.
Why Start an Online Business Alongside Your Full-Time Job?
Starting an online business while holding a full-time job can offer financial stability and personal growth. It allows you to explore your passions, diversify income sources, and gain valuable entrepreneurial experience. The flexibility of online businesses means you can work at your own pace, gradually scaling up as your business grows. Balancing both can also enhance your time management skills and open up new career opportunities.
Facts & Figures
Nearly 37 percent- or four out of 10- Americans have a side business or gig, finds a 2018 survey conducted by Bank rate. They earn an average of US$686 per month. Majority of Americans – 49 percent- with side business or side gig earn up to US$200 per month while 15 percent earns over US$1,000, the survey finds.
Almost 50 percent American millennials that include women and men between 17 and 37 years regularly earn from one or more side hustles. About 68 percent of these millennials describe income from side gigs or side businesses as ‘disposable income’ and spend it on buying things in addition to regular needs. For the remaining 32 percent, side gigs are essential to cover living costs, the survey says.
However, there is also vast gender income gap among American women and men with side hustles: Men make about three times more money- or average US$989 per month than the US$361 that women earn from side gigs.
Should these figures encourage you to find an extra source of money, you may want to start an online business.
Building An Online Business
So what’s drawing in people to start an online business? A survey by Hartford insurance reports that money is the main factor. Over 72 percent of respondents agree that bettering own financial status was the main driver in opening an online business while working.
To get the best from your online business, here are some simple tips. You might find them handy while building an online business.
Steps to Start an Online Business While Employed Full-Time
Starting an online business while maintaining full-time employment requires careful planning and dedication. Here are key steps to get you started:
Check if there is a non-compete agreement with your current job
Before launching your business, review your current employment contract for any non-compete clauses that might restrict your ability to start a side business. Understanding these legal constraints is crucial to avoid potential conflicts and ensure that your new venture does not jeopardize your existing job.
Decide on your business idea
Choosing the right business idea is essential. Identify a niche that aligns with your skills, interests, and market demand. Conduct thorough market research to validate your idea, ensuring there’s a viable customer base. Your idea should be something you’re passionate about and can sustain long-term. Consider your expertise and how it can solve problems or fulfill needs in the market.
Address your strengths and weaknesses
Conduct a self-assessment to understand your strengths and weaknesses. This will help you leverage your strengths in your business while finding ways to address or mitigate your weaknesses. Being honest about what you excel at and where you need help is critical in planning your business activities effectively. Seek feedback from trusted peers or mentors to gain a well-rounded perspective.
Start a SWOT analysis
Perform a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis to gain insights into your business ideas. A thorough SWOT analysis provides a solid foundation for your business planning, allowing you to develop strategies to capitalize on strengths and opportunities while addressing weaknesses and mitigating threats.
Utilize Your Skills
You need skills to succeed in any online business. Therefore, make an inventory of your skills and shortlist those useful for launching an online business.
Several online business ideas enable you to utilize skills. This effectively eliminates the need to hire an expert or staff to run the business while you are busy with routine work.
Explore some fantastic online business ideas that need zero or low investment yet match your skills. Blogging, online tutoring, online training and consultancy and creating a YouTube channel are some online businesses you can consider.
Identify a Niche
Usually, small online business caters to large corporations. There are countless ideas you can find to open a niche online business to serve corporate giants. Identifying a niche market is essential since it will decide on market positioning.
Identifying a niche also helps target specific customers instead of shooting in the dark. This translates as focused efforts and lower expenses on advertising and publicity. A niche business usually stands more chances of success since services, or even a product would be in demand among large companies.
But how do you really know if your product will really sell? There are a few ways to determine this. The easiest is to pop onto an online retail service like Ali Express, pick out a few products or niches you’re interested in, and see how many orders have already been made. If there are well over a hundred — and especially if there are thousands — you know there is great demand for this specific product.
You can also head to Google Keyword Planner to see how many people are searching for something niche that hasn’t really been turned into a product yet or create an MVP (minimum viable product — basically, a prototype) and test it out on your targeted market to see if people would actually buy it.
How to Source Your Niche
Once you’ve decided on a product, you then need to source it. You could drop-ship, which means you source and list products from another vendor and then have said vendor ship them directly to your customer. Doing this requires no inventory or shipping involved for you.
Other places to find your products before selling them on for a profit include eBay, car boot sales, and craft markets. Alternatively, if you choose to go down the digital product route (such as an eBook), you don’t even need to source anything if you are writing it yourself.
Validate Your Idea
Validating your idea is essential before you start an online business . More so, if you are working elsewhere full-time. Validation involves putting your business idea to test by doing a trial run. It involves getting real customers to try your product or service.
This process enables you to know whether a building an online business is indeed feasible. You get vital insights into the business idea. These insights are particularly useful to innovate a business model you select or dump the idea altogether in favor of profitable ones. Several entrepreneurs fail to validate their product or service to end up with huge losses.
Flexibility is Key
Flexibility is something to bear in mind while you start an online business. In fact, flexibility can become the defining line between success and failure of your business. A flexible business model allows you to adapt rapidly to market conditions and, if necessary, perform a quick turnaround.
Further, flexibility also ensures you have control over the online business even while traveling for your full-time job. It is particularly useful if your full-time job involves traveling, especially between different time zones. You can attend to the business even while away from home for long durations.
Consider Outsourcing
You may encounter some grey areas while building an online business. They would arise because you lack may lack skills in some area. It is not essential that you should have every expertise while making an online business.
Getting some tasks done by freelancers or part-timers is easy nowadays, thanks to websites like Fiverr and Upwork. Outsourcing need not be expensive unless you are looking for some very esoteric skill. In fact, lots of small online businesses effectively outsource smaller tasks from freelancers to save time and money.
Outsourcing also helps when you could be facing workloads from a regular job. It takes off pressure, at least temporarily. This keeps your business running while you focus on the full-time job. Growing your online business is also possible by outsourcing select skills.
Make Money While Asleep
A good online business is one that makes money while you are asleep. Consider this factor before starting an online business. This means, your product or service has to be available round the clock. There should be a constant demand for your online business, regardless of a client’s location.
Building an online business that can cater to markets worldwide is the surest way of making money while you sleep. To launch such business, you will require a good market study that considers factors such are demand in various countries, pricing,
You don’t have to be a professional web designer to launch a website! Instead, you can use a peer-to-peer eCommerce site like Etsy to establish a storefront or Squarespace to design a professional portfolio for your services. Alternatively, you could build your own self-hosted eCommerce website from the ground up. However you put your online store together, make sure the layout is clean, your contact information is easily visible, and the site is easy to access across all devices from mobile to desktop.
Drive Traffic to Your Website
Once you’ve got your site set up and ready to go, you need to start driving traffic to it. This is essential for getting people into your store in the first place. Here are a few tips for how you can driv traffic.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) remains the best way to drive organic traffic to your website. This is all about using the right keywords to rank high on Google searches. If you aren’t familiar with the process, you may need to learn more about SEO in-depth.
- Facebook Ads. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to spend a fortune on Facebook ads to get started reaching your audience. A $5 ad can work wonders if you target the right people and consider the niche interests your passionate prospective customers have
- Instagram allows you to add a link in your profile. Link to your store in your bio, and then engage people with your imagery and content.
Schedule a Time to Do This
Set aside dedicated time each day or week to focus on your online business. Consistency is key to progress, so find a schedule that fits around your full-time job and stick to it. This helps balance your responsibilities and ensures steady growth.
Always Search for Ways to Improve
Continual improvement is vital for success. Regularly evaluate your business processes, marketing strategies, and customer feedback to identify areas for enhancement. Stay updated with industry trends and technological advancements. Implementing small, incremental changes can lead to significant improvements over time. Engaging in professional development, networking with other entrepreneurs, and seeking mentorship can also provide valuable insights and inspiration.
Avoid Quitting Your Full-Time Job Right Away
Maintaining your full-time job while building your business provides financial security and reduces risk. Wait until your business is generating consistent revenue and has proven sustainability before considering leaving your job. This cautious approach allows you to reinvest profits into your business, handle unexpected expenses, and weather initial fluctuations in income. Building a solid financial cushion ensures a smoother transition when you eventually decide to focus solely on your business.
What are the advantages of establishing a business while working full-time?
Starting a business while employed full-time offers numerous benefits. It provides a stable income while you build your venture, reduces financial pressure, and allows you to test and refine your business model. Additionally, you can gradually transition into full-time entrepreneurship, minimizing risk and maximizing your chances of success.
Best Side Business Ideas for Full-Time Employees
Starting a side business while working full-time can be rewarding. Here are some of the best ideas to consider:
Health coach
Help clients achieve their wellness goals by offering personalized fitness plans, dietary advice, and motivational support. Certification in nutrition or fitness can enhance credibility.
Relationship coach
Provide guidance and strategies to individuals or couples to improve their relationships. Specialize in areas like dating, marriage, or conflict resolution. A background in psychology or counseling is beneficial.
Freelance writer
Create content for blogs, websites, and marketing materials. This flexible role can be done from anywhere and allows you to leverage your writing skills. Niching down in specific topics can attract more clients.
Career coach
Assist individuals in navigating their career paths, offering resume writing, interview preparation, and job search strategies. Experience in human resources or career development can be advantageous.
Social media manager
Manage social media accounts for businesses, creating and scheduling posts, engaging with followers, and analyzing performance metrics. Understanding various platforms and marketing strategies is essential.
Consultant
Offer expertise in your professional field to help businesses improve operations, strategies, or performance. This can include areas like marketing, finance, IT, or business development. Having a strong network and proven track record in your industry is crucial.
In Conclusion
There are some other factors to consider before starting an online business while you have a full-time job. Topmost among them is legitimacy. Some companies explicitly bar their employees from part-time employment and business, especially if the conflict of interest can arise. Otherwise, launching an excellent online business is definitely worth your effort.