The dangers of being a part-time entrepreneur

An increasing number of people are building a start-up while still in paid work, judging by recent statistics.

A report by Bankwest shows that the number of part-time business owners has increased by 19.1% over the last five years and by 27% over the past 10 years.

By contrast, people running their own business full-time dipped by 5.3% in the last 12 months across Australia.

Australians are increasingly grasping onto the security of a full-time job as they take the plunge with their own ventures. But it’s tough splitting your time between very different demands.

StartupSmart spoke to two entrepreneurs in this situation to find out how to make this schizophrenic existence work.

Balancing your jobs

Leanne Anderson is the founder of Getaway Guru, which offers travellers access to accommodation in Italian and French properties that are owned by Australians.

She is still working as a human resources consultant for Mercer.

“It’s a very flexible job and I am able to work at home. Being able to do that is key while I establish my business,” she says.

Anderson says one of the benefits of being employed while building a start-up is being able to take a risk on her own business without losing her financial stability and compromising her ability to pay the mortgage or her lifestyle.

“Having a steady income is what allows me to continue building my start-up, which I’m bootstrapping myself – although I’ve heard what I’m doing being described as ‘golden handcuffs’,” she says.

Another highly motivated person who worked in paid employment while building her start-up is Jen Brown, founder of Sparta Personal Training.

Brown took about three years to transition out of her career as a lawyer into working in her business full-time.

She initially obtained her personal training qualifications while still working full-time as a lawyer before taking a part-time government contract while she was building her enterprise. She walked away from the law in July last year.

For Brown, the big pro of her current situation is making a difference in people’s lives, as well as controlling her own direction.

But she says being stretched too thin is one of the drawbacks of trying to manage a career and a start-up.

“Trying to balance a full-time job, family and my business was very stressful,” she says.

“I’m lucky I have a supportive husband but building the business did detract from time with him.”

The need to focus

Another downside was not being able to fully focus on one thing.

“Half of my brain was in the law and the other half was ticking away on my start-up,” she explains.

“I was trying to spread myself too thin and even my health suffered – I wasn’t exercising enough, which is a strange thing to say for a personal trainer.”

Anderson agrees the toughest thing for her is prioritising her time.

“Often work on my day job increases, and my ability to dedicate time to my start-up suffers, so there’s lots of work at night and on weekends,” she says.

“Splitting your time can slow you down a bit. If I were just building my business I would be able to move much faster through the start-up phase.”

According to Anderson, being able to combine paid employment with her entrepreneurial activities means achieving deliverables for both roles.

“I might go into the office one or two days a week and also manage clients from home. Then when I’m at home working on my business I’m loading properties onto the site.”

“So it’s about allocating chunks of time and keeping your eye on the bigger picture. You have to be really organised and have a long-term perspective but at the same time work away at small goals,” she explains.

Anderson says it can be hard not to let her working commitments become all encompassing.

“But when you’re passionate about something you’re happy for it to take over your life.”

“I probably let Getaway Guru take over more than it should but because I have a family I also have to devote time to them. My life helps to keep me grounded.”