Start Your Company While Employed

Unless you have a chart-topping rap album or plan or your playing for the San Antonio Spurs chances are that the only way you’re going to become a millionaire is by starting your own business. Of course, you could still try your lluck at the impossible odds of winning the lottery.All of us want to make p diddy and bill gates money, which is head and shoulders above the pocket change that most of us are making in the employ of our current company. Unfortunately, that pocket change is what’s paying our rent, car lease and all the trimmings of our semi-fabulous lifestyle .We basically need our day job!So, how do you start your new company without giving up the comfort of your current salary? You don’t need to drop everything in order to start your company. You don’t even need to quit your day . It is very possible to launch your entrepreneurial venture and keep some cash in the bank, as well as your cash flow, at the same time. Among the more important elements of making your dream a reality is a solid moonlighting plan. The internet hookup Years ago (you know, in 1995), getting a company started was really expensive and took a long time. Fortunately, those days are gone. Today it’s possible to set up everything you need in a weekend for a few hundred bucks.Once you’ve developed a business plan and selected a name for your upstart, incorporate your company online at such sites as MyCorporation.com or BizFilings.com. It costs less than $400 and only requires about 30 minutes of your time. Next, you’ll need an eye-catching business card with your company’s name, your name and, most importantly, your new title of CEO. Again, visit the web and go to sites such as VistaPrint.com, where you can get professional-quality business cards printed for as little as $10. Your cards are going to need a web address printed on them if you want to have some semblance of a modern company. For about $50 you can set up a domain name, e-mail account and website at GoDaddy.com. You can also really impress potential clients with a stylized website. Visit TemplateMonster.com to download a professional-looking website template for $50 or more and customize it appropriately. Keep it quiet Now that you’re the newly appointed CEO of “You Inc.,” you probably want to brag to all of your friends and coworkers about your status. But unless you want to spend the next few months searching for a new job to pay for the roof over your head instead of building your company, you’re better off keeping your mouth shut.You need to be Tony Soprano-quiet about this kind of work. Your boss wants you working on stuff that’s company related, not on building your own empire on the company dole. The sooner you start letting the word out that your head is elsewhere, the sooner your body will follow. Working overtime The cost of getting paid from your employer while working on your new gig is called “sleep.” It’s expensive, but surely you have some to spare to become the next P DIDDYIf you plan on keeping those regular paychecks coming in, you’ll need to work double-time for a while. No one said that starting a new company would be easy, though it does tend to pay better once it’s established. The best way to manage your new scheduLE is to keep regular business hours for your new company. That means that from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. you’re the all-powerful CEO of your new venture, but from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. you’re back to pushing TPS reports in cubicle hell. Focus on the fourth customer At some point you’re going to want to bust out of your corporate shackles and strike out on your own for good. Sure, greed is good, Mr. Gekko, but you’d better make sure you have a real and legitimate business on your hands before you set out to conquer the world.You have to be real with yourself and know that getting the first paying customer for a new business might be tough, but getting the second, third and fourth paying customer is even harder. The difference between a paying project and a viable company is a constant stream of customers, not just one guy with a check. stay strong Your plan should be to stick with your current gig right up until the point where it’s actually costing you money to show up at your day job. Until that time, you shouldn’t plan on making any trouble with your full-time gig. In the event that things with your new company go south, you’ll be glad you didn’t kill the Golden Goose.A plan isn’t about getting out of your job as quickly as possible; the plan is about staying with your current job as long as possible. Nothing beats having a regular income while you’re trying to get your new company afloat, even if it costs you more than a few nights of sleep.

 

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