GOING PART TIME HELPS YOU TEST THE WATER
|
FULL TIME
|
PART TIME
|
|
Fast
|
Slow
|
|
Needs to make money sooner
|
You keep a salary as the business builds
|
|
More stressful, it feels ‘all or nothing’
|
Also stressful, juggling too many balls
|
|
Always able to respond to customers
|
Have to fit customers around work
|
|
People will take you seriously
|
People may not take you seriously
|
Of course management gurus such as Charles Handy have long advocated the ‘portfolio career’, where you build a collection of earning activities that suit your skills, lifestyle and income aspirations. For some therefore, starting a new business part time whilst perhaps going part time at work is the best way forward.
SIMON
An experienced project manager with 20 years public sector experience, Simon did an MBA in 2002 and found it a life changing experience. ‘It filled in the gaps in my knowledge and I developed a real interest in marketing. I wanted to have a go on my own, but with three kids at school dared not risk giving up my salary at County Hall.’
Networking with some fellow MBA graduates introduced people in other organisations who needed Simon’s expertise. He negotiated a deal that allowed him to work three days a week for the Council and spend time developing his own business. Within two months however, he found he was turning away work and realised that he could not sit on the fence for long. He resigned and is now recruiting associates to work alongside him. ‘It was too easy to cling to what I knew,’ he said, ‘and in reality, it was more the fear of failure that held me back. Now I’m working full time in my business, I’ve never been happier.’
Reproduced from ‘The Entrepreneur’s book of Checklists’. Buy your copy here
