Hi James,
I have been running a small business since 2003 as well as doing a 9-5 full-time employee role (supporting my local small business community). I am now 60 and want to retire in the next five to seven years, but my pension pot is a bit slim.
In the next five to seven years I want to ramp up my small business to give me a bigger income in retirement and to offset the loss of employee income when I retire. How do I balance out the time commitment required to ramp up my business while still holding down a very busy employee role?
Andrew
It is difficult to build a successful business, especially when you have a day job to hold down as well. Being an entrepreneur isn’t a 9-5 job – it’s more like an all day, every hour kind of job and the only way to make it work is by dedicating a lot of time and effort to it.
It takes a certain type of person to be an entrepreneur because not everybody is a risk-taker, not everybody has vision and not everybody has the amount of passion and commitment needed to run a successful business. It’s the hardest, yet most rewarding job you can ever do. Andrew, if you want to reap the rewards of a profitable business then the most obvious suggestion I can make is for you to take control: stop being a part-time entrepreneur and throw everything you have into it.
Of course I understand that building a business is expensive and for many people quitting a salaried job is an unaffordable luxury. In your situation I urge you to take advantage of technology and streamline your time so you prioritise only that which is high-margin.
Things have certainly changed (for the better) since I started growing my first business. Now, taking advantage of technology is the best way to manage your time efficiently, especially if you’re constantly on the go. It has completely altered the way we do business, from accounting and finance to marketing and sales. You can download an app to manage everything remotely and it will make your life so much easier.
Get your name out there
The proliferation of digital media marketing is unquestionable. Your business must have a thriving online presence because that’s the first thing potential new customers will look for. Always ensure your social media accounts are updated and you’re sharing valuable advice and news with your followers. Taking advantage of social media completely transformed my brand and it can do the same for you. And the best thing is, it’s free, so you really don’t have any excuse.
Go digital
Balancing two jobs can confuse things and it must be difficult to shut off and differentiate between roles. To help with this, you need a good customer relationship management system which can help produce and collate all your to-do lists, schedules and customer records. Having everything in one place will clear your mind and save you from wasting time looking through paper files.
Business administration
This really is every business owner’s biggest bugbear, but there’s no need to let admin duties mount up when there’s so much help at your fingertips. There really is an app for everything these days, and by using apps effectively you can make your business much more productive. Managing essential admin work such as invoicing, calendar scheduling, market research and bookkeeping this way means you won’t drop the ball on the important things while you’re busy building your brand and winning clients. You can focus energy on what you’re really passionate about – growing your business.
Ultimately building a successful business all boils down to how much you want to make it happen. I don’t know enough about your business to understand exactly how it works but what I do know is that the more time you put into developing it personally, the more you’ll get out of it financially. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I’ve never met a successful part-time entrepreneur.
I wish you all the best of luck in your retirement.
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