Start a business while still employed

There’s a new game in town. In a tight economy, everyone seems to be on the lookout for a good business to start. It can either be a part-time business or a full-time endeavor. The best way to fight inflation is to augment your income.

For those of you who are currently employed, the choice of a part-time or sideline business is compounded by the lack of time you can spend in your new business. You have a natural conflict of interest because you must continue to provide most of your time to your main job.

Some may even be loyal to the company they work for and find it disloyal to start some small business on the side. Not to worry. Many employers nowadays tolerate their employees who operate a business on the side. It’s better than giving you a pay increase.

Go Part-Time

You have time constraints if your business is labor-intensive, a business that operates during normal business hours (8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.), and require you to travel a lot, or do a great amount of research for the business.

For employees wanting to start a business, you must consider your choices very carefully. The following list was paraphrased from a list expounded by a Wall Street financial expert (John Sistina) on what an ideal business must be.

You may want a business that:

1. Allows you to take the less risky approach. You do not want to have a business that is full of risks or has many unknowns. The more you know the business, the less risky it is for you;

2. Allows you to learn the business at your own pace. Given your time constraints, you can only spend a fraction of your available waking hours to your business. You do not want a business that pressures you to learn more about it very quickly by putting in more time;

3. Has a minimal or no financial pressure. It is best that you have all the necessary capital and money available before you start that part-time business. You do not want the business to use up your regular paycheck or strain your savings just to sustain a start-up;

4. Allows you to ease in smoothly into the business before you resign from your current job. You do not want a business that will force you to resign unexpectedly from your job when you are not ready. For example, if you are about to retire in one year, you do not want a part-time business that will "force" you to retire in seven months (perhaps due to conditions that warrant your full-time attention, such as technical problems in production). You do not wish to forego the retirement benefits you have accumulated.

I remember when I started a Filipino magazine in Chicago, the Times of Manila. I was lucky that I had a partner who could work on the magazine on a full-time basis, while I continued to work in a bank. In three months, I decided it was time to quit the bank. It was easier to ease-in into the business that way.

(Marlo Sanchez is one of several seminar speakers at the Philippine Business Fair 2004, which will be held on Feb. 27-29 at SM Megatrade Halls. He is the author of Pinoybisnes Series Guide Books for Small Business "A Smart and Practical Guide for New Entrepreneurs" available at National Book Store and Powerbooks)