How Do You Build a Startup on the Side?

Deciding to build a startup can be one of the best decisions you ever make for yourself but getting there is more complicated than you might think. While dedicating all your time to your startup project would be perfect, that is a luxury that few can afford.

How much time you can set aside for your startup depends a lot on your life circumstances. Are you alone? Do you have a partner? Kids?

Generally, you can work. You can work after work, during work, on the weekends or during your vacation. Where there is a will, there’s a way.

Here’s what you can actually accomplish while working full time.

You can dedicate a couple of hours of your free time to your project after work. It can be anywhere from 1 to 6 hours a day, depending on how demanding your job is and how much you can realistically handle.

Also, You can always work on the weekends. You don’t even need to dedicate your whole day to this, but make sure to make time for your startup over the weekend when you are more rested and focused. This could give you anywhere from 2 to 32 hours a week to work on the startup, which is plenty for the beginning.

Another tip is to work during your day job, if it allows for it. If during the day you find yourself having pockets of free time, either use it to organize your startup work schedule or to fully immerse yourself in your project. But we expect you to be responsible!

And finally take a good look at your life circumstances. How many hours do you have just for yourself will depend largely on that. While your partner may be understanding of you wanting to dedicate all your free time to your startup, kids are usually less sympathetic. At the end of the day, the point is to enjoy the journey.

What matters is your motivation and discipline to keep yourself accountable. People have thousands of good ideas everyday but just because they are so used to their routines most of these ideas will never come to fruition.

If you want to get your startup running, the one thing you can do to increase the odds of it coming to life is to start actually putting in the work. Even one hour a week is better than none.

What many entrepreneurs lack is discipline, so start dedicating time every day to what you actually want to be doing, so that one day you have the luxury of doing it full time.