Hi! I’m Stephanie Breedlove, Co-Founder of Care.com HomePay, Author and Angel Investor.
I absolutely adore taking an idea and giving it life in the form a business, then leading it to its full potential. Nothing is more fun. (Seriously!) I’d love for every woman who wants to start her own business to say the same thing, so here I am, mentoring millennial entrepreneurs. When I’m not working, I like to recharge and head outdoors to hike, bike, or stand up paddle board!
Is that list of business news and trending articles you’ve tagged still unread? I get it. Allow me to help. Take a couple minutes to read my summary of articles serving the most pertinent, actionable business topics. Or, take 10 minutes to read the full article, and put another brick on the foundation of your growing career.
This Week’s Must-Read:
I Built My Multimillion-Dollar Side-Hustle While Working a Full-Time Job and So Can You
Who it’s for:
Anyone who’s ever thought about striking out on their own and is wondering how to find the time to do it (with a full-time job!)
Why it’s important:
This article provides me with the opportunity to get on my soapbox about the increased probability of success that results from the ‘bring-ya-to-your-knees’ work of testing an idea on-the-side–while you still have a full-time job. It is so worth it (really!)
In the entrepreneurial fairy tale, you have an amazing idea, quit your job, raise venture capital that replaces your salary while you work on the launch, and thenyou ride the wave of success…except it rarely happens like this. Trying an idea on for size without giving up your income and career can deliver some of the most profound lessons of your professional life. That’s how it went for me, and I’d do it again the same way.
There are more than 44 million Americans with a side hustle. The side hustles are low-risk but still promise the chance they could become full-time. Raj Jana launched a side hustle alongside his full-time job as a petroleum engineer. Within a couple of years, the success of his night job had exceeded expectations, so he quit his corporate job and is now a successful full-time entrepreneur. He attributes his success to a good product choice but, more importantly, to the habits, disciplines and mindsets he adopted along the way. These actions for building skill needed for success are spot on.
Here’s what you can learn from Raj:
- Build Your Focus Muscle: Focus is a skill you can develop. Combine high focus with prioritization and you’ll become more effective. Eventually, you’ll accomplish more in an hour than you used to in a day. Plan tomorrow, today. Work on one highly important thing at a time. Don’t allow perfectionism to become a form of procrastination – when you’re 90% there, move on (90% is still an A).
- Cultivate Rituals for Consistency: How far and fast you can go depends on your ability to focus on the right things. What you do consistently determine your results. It is better to work on your business 30 minutes a day than to cram everything into a single session on Saturday. “I scheduled my second work day between 6 pm and 8 pm and treated it as seriously as my real job. Over time, my output started to increase.”
- Brainwash Your Subconscious: You aren’t born an entrepreneur, so you have to brainwash yourself into believing you can be one. It’s not easy to break out of the employee mindset unless you cultivate an entrepreneurial belief system. Read, listen to podcasts, pin up goals and positive quotes to remind yourself that you are an entrepreneur.
- Accelerate Learning: Don’t try to figure it all out yourself. We have unprecedented access to courses, frameworks and mentors. Take advantage of them.
Top Take-Away/Final Thought: Juggling a side hustle alongside a full-time commitment will stretch you in every way possible. It is the harder path, but thanks to the obstacles you’ll be forced to overcome, the rewards are fulfilling and potentially sizeable. If you love what you’re doing, it will feel like a passion rather than work.
Need a little more convincing? Check these out:
The Unexpected Benefits of Walking the Harder Path
50 Ideas for a Lucrative Side Hustle
Cultivating the Mindset of a Successful Entrepreneur
How to Test Drive Your Business Idea Before Quitting Your Job