Should You Have a Side Job As You Grow Your Business?

Welcome, welcome. I'm so happy to talk to you today on the podcast. So this is a weird episode. I feel like on some level, but I've been it's been in my brain for a long time. So we're gonna go ahead and do it today. And it is a question that I get all the time I get on Facebook, I talked to friends about I talked to colleagues about I was talking to a friend about it yesterday, I talked to clients about it.

 I talked to people who are thinking about becoming clients or thinking just about starting businesses about this. And the question is this, it's should you have a side job? As you start a business? Should you like have a job as you start a business? Should you go all in, quote unquote? Or should you sort of ease yourself into it? And it's funny, I think a lot about this. But I can only explain it to you, from sort of the version of perspective that I have. And that's mine. I mean, I can share some stories, I'm gonna share some stories with you. 

What I will tell you is for me, as a business owner, I think there were three things I've had to think about in relation to answering this question. And I will full disclosure right up front, I am a side job person, I am eight years into business ownership at this point, and I let go of my last remaining side job, like, I don't know, 10 days ago. So and and before, when I say last remaining, I mean, before that I had a whole bunch. So over the eight years, I've had quite a collection of side things and you know, part time things and you more than part time things. But you know, the full time thing, quote, unquote, has been my thing for a long, long time.

 But there have been all these other pieces attached to it. And so, I There are three or four, I actually think there are four things now that I'm really thinking about it, things that I think matter in thinking about side jobs or not. And actually, what I would say is, you know, I know lots of people that go from full time job, to entrepreneurship with no side job, and then eventually find their way to a side job for a host of reasons. And some of the reasons are these. So for me, side job, first and foremost, was a money source. I needed to have income that I didn't have in my business. And I needed some way to get that income without like really pressuring my business. Like I knew it wasn't going to replace it immediately. 

So I hadn't do something else in the short term. I mean, granted, in a lot of cases, that short term turned out to be yours. And that's a whole separate conversation, letting go is a separate conversation. And that was hard, because you know, I am probably like you somebody who feels like once I've made a commitment, I should stay forever. And I've had to work on that. But first and foremost, if you think relying solely on your business, for income right out of the gate is going to be too much pressure, then, you know, there is a reason right there to consider having some additional source. And it could be for me, I tried all the things I did a lot of different stuff. I I applied to like less than right part time for one of the curriculum companies that turned into editing and, you know, working with other writers part time.

 They tried to hire me full time, but I wanted to know part of that. Personally, like I knew it wasn't a great fit for me. I knew the minute I started writing lessons that I wasn't it wasn't a great fit for me. I posted I do. I did editing for mystery shopper reports for a bunch of years, like tons of years, actually three or four. And, you know, it was easy and sort of brainless for me and, you know, a fair amount of money over the years. And it was whatever amount of time I wanted to spend on it. So super flexible. And when my kids were really little, I taught college kids in a couple of different places in person online. 

You know, some semesters, I was teaching six courses in here towards the end because that's the last thing I'd let go of it was just one. I have tutored I have good lord. I've done all like the little bits and pieces of things. Most of my things have been sort of teaching in education realm things because that's what I do. That's what I've always done. That's where I know to go get side jobs, but it could be anything, right? It could be anything that would help you to feel safe and secure while you're doing this other thing for me, what I realized, partly is that the other thing I needed to grow business was time. So what I had to sort of fight through in a lot of ways, was finding, you know, my first order of business was income. 

But then what happened more than once repeatedly over the years like this was the thing was that I spent so much time on the side income, I didn't have time to do the thing I was meaning to do, and didn't have time to meet the people or grow the business. And so over time, I would, I've let things go like I let go of the curriculum pieces first, because I just didn't really love them. I let go of the mystery shopping that when was hard, because it felt like really easy money. But it took time I let go of the teaching, you know, slowly, but surely, a few classes, a few classes less and less and less over time. Because I knew that the time I would get back and invest my business would pay me back. And at that point, I'd been in long enough and started I have two businesses. The first one started, like 2016, the coaching business started in 2018 19. And so by the time I got to 2020 2021, I could start to peel things out because I was making some money in those businesses. And I knew that if I could get more time in them, more money would follow. But you can start to see the equation shift.

 The other thing that I think was really useful about side jobs for me was it gave me opportunities to sort of test out some things and talk to people about what I was doing with my businesses, and sort of gauge their reactions, but not from like a trying to sell them place because I hadn't really learned how to sell anything yet. And so for me, it was useful when somebody was like, well, but what do you do the rest of the time when you're not doing this job with me to be like, Oh, I run this kind of business, I do this thing. I help people with X, I do Y, it gave me sort of time to work through some stuff and clarify some things and test some stuff out and not feel like I had money or time pressure to do them faster, because I wasn't entirely relying on them yet. And I think that really served me it's not for everyone.

 Because not everyone is a fan of like changing focus every 20 minutes. I'm not really a fan of changing focus every 20 minutes. But I learned to do it, I can do it. I've always done stuff like that pretty well. So I used it to my advantage while it was working. And you know, like anyone I stayed doing that for too long. I will say in 2019 I had a lovely episode of vertigo that was that lovely sarcasm lovely. That was my first sort of indicator of doing too many things for too many people. And that was, you know, sort of the beginning of me really looking around and thinking Hmm, how do I do this differently? Because I've had you but you know, but also not given to the pressure. So, for me, the question is, should you have a side job?

You know, it could be a yes, it could be a no. Is there money pressure? That is making you uncomfortable that's making you feel really uncomfortable in the business and put pressure on it that maybe isn't helping? Is there time pressure? And you know, are you getting enough time to put into a business with the side job? Can you manage both? Sleeping is important? Can you manage both and do all the other things you want to do in your life and still be okay? Because I've always I've never had no kids and businesses like my first business started after I had both my kids. 

And in 2016, I had a four year old and a two year old. When I first started that first business, my kids were really small. So there was no option to like not do the things they needed. So you know, I was doing things after bedtime. I was doing things before they got up. That can't last forever, though. It couldn't for me like I couldn't sustain it. I can't do it now. But for a period of time it worked. It just wasn't meant to be what I did forever. You know, is the time pressure or the money pressure, the greater pressure and in what what what makes sense for you, in terms of what kind of pressure is more manageable when like, do you need the money to come in? Do you want to manage the time differently? How do you want to think about this? And then you know, what would the benefit Have a side job be? Are you going to meet people? Are you going to get a chance to sort of talk about what you're doing in your business in front of people that you might not otherwise? 

Are you going to get a chance to like, you know, I was talking to a client today, she has a side job, she realized in our conversation today that she's probably ready to get leave her job by the end of the year. And, but what she does now is she treats her job as like a laboratory for her business. So she goes and learns things that she then filters through her business brain, she looks at the experiences of the people she's working with, she's looks at the chills, she works in a parent and child space.

 So she works with kids, she works with families, and she sort of filters it into like, how do I want to talk about this in my business, and it's really serving her to have sort of this laboratory setting that she can use as a way to sort of build content, and build confidence and sort of remember who she is. And that's been really serving her, it's feeding her that way, where, you know, six months ago, it was really slowing her down because she was burnt out. So what happened with her is she asked them to have shorter days. 

There's a separate conversation about money in relation to her, she didn't necessarily take a pay cut because of it, because they were under paying her to start and they knew it. So that was a whole thing. But she is now working shorter days at this place. So it's less of a full time full on. And she now has time to work in her business, but also a place to find inspiration. So her side business is serving her until it's not. Right, eventually she's going to be running parenting classes, she's going to be working with more people one on one, and that her laboratory becomes something she's created herself, her own community. And that can be the truth for anyone. It depends on how you want your business to look, what you're doing currently, what you think would be a useful side job, but for her it is allowed her to not have the money pressure, we've released some of the time pressure, and she's using it to find clarity in a way that's really serving her. So is it sustainable forever? No. Because as her business grows, and you know, it's starting to like you can start to see the edges of the exponential growth taking off. And she and I are really watching that as we talk so that she doesn't get herself into a place where she's working, you know, 80 hours a week into full time things without realizing it. So that's, that's something to consider. 

That's part of why I'm in with her. Because, you know, she doesn't want to get to a point where she can't function anymore. That's not a great place to be. So for you, you know, should you have a side job? Well, how do you answer the questions about pressure and about time and about clarity? And, you know, what would it allow you to let go of to have some outside influence? What would it? Or do you just need to focus? Do you know? Do you trust that it's all going to work? If you focus? Is it something that can work quickly? Is it something where you don't need the money right away, and you have time to ramp up? Totally fine. But I would also encourage you not to sort of just go into your desk and hide in your cave, right? 

Because that's the other thing that happens. Sometimes people go full time into entrepreneurship and the only person they talk to themselves. And that's, that's not a fun place to be for anybody. So, you know, there's not an answer to this. There is. I mean, there's not one answer to this right. There is an answer. That is what is the right thing for you? I know, for me, it had to be side jobs, multiple side jobs, which in looking back like, was it all necessary that way? No. Would I do it again, probably. Because I feel like each of those side jobs gave me something I needed into my business journey gave me a window into myself and what I liked and what I didn't. And I think that's also the benefit of side jobs. It's like, oh, I didn't like that. I didn't like that, because I don't want to do my thing this way. 

Because I'm going to do it different in this way because it gave me some experiences outside of the classroom outside of the corporate structure outside of the other places I had bend to be like, Oh, okay, I see how that works now, right. It gave me some information I wouldn't have had otherwise, which was has been really useful. And I've used to help other people. I continue to sort of pay those things forward. 

So what I do it differently no Have I hung on to some of those side jobs a little too long? Yeah, probably, I would say most of them I held on to probably a year longer than I should have, maybe 18 months. So, you know, often though, the other thing in here is like, we're often ready to let go, have the time to let go have the ability to let go far more far, long before we are actually mentally ready for it. Like we're the last people to know, I always feel like I'm the last person to know. But, you know, so I stayed an extra year, and I made myself busier. And now I have to understand what it's like not to be so busy. It's really weird. 

But the right thing for you is the thing that makes you feel free to do what you want to do most effectively. Is it freeing to have a side job? Is it freeing not to? That's the question to ask yourself, what are your priorities? How do you order them? And then what might serve the purpose that you haven't thought about? Like, I wouldn't have thought about mystery shopping, I wouldn't have thought about editing things. There's a whole bunch of things, I wouldn't have thought of that I've done that I was like, Oh, the magic of the internet or the magic of your network, because some of them came out of my network. What could you explore what would feel better? So for me for you, the right thing to do is thing that feels right to you. And you get to trust that I trust that for you. I trust it for me, I trust it for all of my people. If you're not sure if you can trust it, come talk to me. And we'll decide what it looks like together like I will help you trust it. Because my job as a coach is always to help you feel good about the thing that is right for you your way, most effectively, fastest. Maybe it's a one byte session, we could probably work outside jobs or not in 90 minutes, that's easy peasy along with a whole bunch of other stuff, you can send me a message. And I'll give you the link to book that all yourself. 

Or if you know it's something else, and you're full time in it, and you want coaching to help move it forward faster. That's another part of what I do. I work with people one on one to speed up success, we make it simpler, we make it faster, we make it more effective right out of the gate. There is no replacement for that. And it's really hard to do on your own. I am someone who's been coached because of that, I want it to move faster, sooner. And that's why part of why I get coached. And then if you're you know somebody who wants to get out of the echo chamber, I also do group coaching. And that starts again in September. It is a lovely way to get exactly what you need as an individual and to be around other people who are doing the same things as you having similar problems, working on different solutions.

 And you're it's like this amazing version of just amazing of seeing all of the differences in other people, and also all the similarities and being like, Oh, I am unique and also not all that special. It's magic, it is the best possible version of this. So if you're interested in that, now's the time to talk about it because group coaching starts again in September. And those spots are already starting to go groups are capped at four. So if you have questions, send me an email. Send me a Facebook message. Send me a LinkedIn message. Don't send me an Instagram message. 

So I'm not Instagram.
Come talk to me if you want to talk about coaching together. Great if you have a question. Great if you have feedback, great. And if this is a really useful podcast episode for you, please please, please follow on YouTube, follow on whatever podcast platform subscribe, or feel free to share it with somebody you love that you think needs it. Because that's how people start to find it. And the more good we can do for the more people the better. I'll see you soon