I came across the term “Sidepreneurship”  for the first time in 2019 in an article in Forbes magazine. 

Sidepreneurship is about  being a part-time entrepreneur, with a side-business and a fulltime job.

Quitting a stable corporate job with all its benefits and jumping into entrepreneurship sounds like a scary step to many. There seems to be one dominant narrative in the media :

“Quit your 9-5 job and become free: start your own business”.

As exhilarating and liberating it sounds, it doesn’t seem to take one fact into account: You have bills to pay. 

What if you have families to support and a lifestyle you don’t want to compromise?

This “either and or” situation leads to fear. 

Like starting and growing a business was not risky enough on its own : now you have to worry about the cut-off date!

Sidepreneurship is for those who are not ready to take the big leap but are passionate about entrepreneurship. You can start a business in your freetime and only quit when you are mentally and financially ready. 

Read more: Sidepreneurship: How to grow a side hustle without quitting your 9-5 day job?

A new business idea may not be profitable in its early stages.

The business concept or product prototypes need testing in the market.

After a few tweaks, getting feedback from real customers ( not family and friends!) all you have is a proven concept that has potential to make money.

A business comes with its own costs:

Even when your business is making money it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s being profitable.

The audience ( or the pool of potential customers) need time to connect with the brand, develop trust and like it. This is not something you can push overnight.

Sidepreneurship vs full time entrepreneurship

While your full time job offers you the safety, stability and benefits ( that your new business doesn’t)  you can test your new product idea: 

You can experiment with:

• how you want to market it
• collect more information about the users, customers / clients
• develop a more realistic view over their needs. 

In my experience, it’s stressful to create success when you are under financial pressure. Financial pressure to create income right away can trigger stress response. 

And stress response often triggers scarcity mindset. 

Scarcity mindset ( or the little negative voice in our head) wants to keep us safe and small. It does not like taking risks and investing in opportunities. 

Read more : Make these 6 Daring mindset shifts for a thriving product based business

It’s also technically impossible to be creative about future plans when we don’t feel safe in our body and mind. 

An entrepreneur’s scarcity mindset can influence their sales and marketing: sleazy marketing, manipulation , pressuring customers to buy from you when they are not ready or offering unnecessary discounts that bring down the value of your brand are only a few examples. 

These techniques can create short term sales : but they are going to repel your ideal clients in the long run. 

Some consider entrepreneurship as an escape from a toxic workplace or an unfulfilling job, others like their jobs and drive pleasure from their social network from their workplace.

You might be frustrated with yourself for not taking action on your entrepreneurial dreams , but feel comfortable in your job. 

You don’t need to quit your job to become an entrepreneur.

Entrepreneurship is a lonely journey : you are the one who makes decisions, takes risks and goes for new challenges. You are also the face of your business, the leader who is exposed to judgment.

As an employee in the corporate world you have a support system, funding , teams, risk management procedures, and a team leader to rely on.

Decisions are often made in teams. When the business is not creating enough profit at times , you still receive your salary and benefits as an employee. You have none of these in your own business in its early days.

Starting a business on the side can give you the opportunity to test yourself in the field of entrepreneurship. 

A side business gives you the opportunity to practice leadership in a new context.

And when you practice confidence,courage and leadership it becomes part of who you are: You show up differently in your day job, you manage your boundaries, you become more assertive and learn to be more creative. This is one of those unlikely benefits of sidepreneurship that I only learn about through my own coaching clients.  They were reporting promotions in their jobs, negotiating their salaries and working contracts as a result of who they have become in their own businesses. 

And when their side business get more traction they were worrying less about job security or fulfilment.

Challenges of sidepreneurship

Lack of time 

Time is the biggest challenge of my clients: Corporate women in full time jobs, who run a business on the side in their little free time.

When you are compromising your precious free time that is meant to be spent for your selfcare, rest and recharge then you’d better spend it on the right activities.  

I believe lack of time in sidereneurship is a blessing in disguise : you will be pushed to be more efficient with your time, understand its value and waste less time. 

You are encouraged to practice more leadership with your boundaries: make changes in your lifestyle and step into a new identity. The identity of a leader who does not waste their time on worthless things. A leader who is more conscious of how they spend their mental and phsycial energy. 

Hiring a personal business coach or mentor can help you save time by only focusing on your strengths and weaknesses.One of the main sources of time waste in sidepreneurs is experimenting with different business strategies. There is nothing wrong with experimenting, but hiring a business mentor or coach can at least help you experiment with less risk.

Entrepreneur vs employee mindset 

Just because you decided to start a new business does not mean you suddenly wake up behaving like a business owner the day after. 

Old habits die hard. The habits you have developed as an employee may not serve you as an entrepreneur.As an employee you are often encouraged to be cautious with risk taking and follow procedures. Entrepreneurship on the other hand demands a totally different approach. 

While full time entrepreneurs can immerse themselves fully in their entrepreneurial identity, 

part-time entrepreneurs need to learn to shift between their side-business and fulltime job and adjust their mindset depending on the situation. 

Underestimating your side-business and treating it like hobby

You are often held accountable for creating results in your fulltime job : you have bosses to report to and other team members you are responsible towards. Sometimes the peer pressure can get high when you are surrounded by a group who shares the same challenge. 

When it comes to your own business your motivation comes from you. If you are not serious about your side business idea and don’t treat it like a business it can easily become a second priority that doesn’t get enough attention. 

And when you lose attention, you might lose business momentum. 

Something I work with clients with is to create goals, plans and systems that can keep their business running even when they can’t give it their full attention.

Some employers don’t like the concept of sidepreneurship

In my years of employment in the corporate world, sidepreneurship was not encouraged. This is something that you can only evaluate based on the corporate culture of your workplace. Some companies want to engage heavily with their employees’ private lives and some would rather give them some space. 

The most important aspect to look into before starting a business on the side of your full time job is your legal rights and responsibilities. 

Are you legally allowed to work on the side? Are you allowed to work in the same industry as your employers? Is this going to create conflict of interest? 

How would your employer react when they know about your sidebusiness? Do you need to tell them or do you prefer to keep it as a secret to save yourself unnecessary hassle?

The global pandemic has totally transformed the workplace in the last two years. There is more flexibility with remote working and a the general understanding towards gig economy and side businesses has improved. From what I here from my clients it’s becoming much easier to have an honest conversation about sidepreneurship at work.  

Is sidepreneurship for you?

If this article has encouraged you to learn more about starting a business on the side of your full time job then I encourage you to have a look at my digital course “ Make time for your side business”.

I am a business strategist and ICF certified leadership coach who is specialised in helping part time entrepreneurs thrive. If you want to learn more about starting a side business apply for a complementary roadmap call with me: