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Eivind Håverstad

How do you build a business while having a full time job?

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I'm writing this after my regular day job. I'm tired after a full day of work and three kids taking my focus. That said, I guess I'm not the only one in this situation. How do you get time and energy to make a side business successful?

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Angelina
I feel exactly the same. I am struggling to find out if this will be just a hobby? or whether I can taste the full scale of it? Am I missing out my family time? I know Michael S would say dont do it if you are struggling. However I feel the itch of curiosity inside. So I think, it's okay to start slow. let's do this! right?
Jan Forsthuber
@angelina_magr Stick with it at least for a year. For me, there were a lot of times when it was frustrating and I wanted to quit. Thanks to my co-founders, I didn't :)
Eivind Håverstad
@angelina_magr hi. I totally agree, Lina. It's this curiosity to create some sort of value for others out of our own idea(s). That's why I love SaaS, which can create great value and a sustainable business on top of it. But as Jan mentioned in the comment above, I need to get get some initial traction. I might take time, but let's do it! Kudos for your spirit! Out of curiosity, what are you building? :)
Angelina
@eivindhaa hi Eivind, i'm trying to make something to help people more easily update their resumes. https://oscr.ai/ what about you?
Eivind Håverstad
@angelina_magr Your landing page looks great! I'm trying to build a little service to help content creators get more feedback from their subscribers. https://letterlike.app/
Angelina
@eivindhaa It looks fun! such a smart idea! I could use it too! :)
Jan Forsthuber
It's hard but you know, if it was easy, everyone would do it. Even though I started out pretty early, at the age of 21, it was exhausting. I can imagine it would be even harder if I had had a family, bills to pay... However, for me it was totally worth it and I'd do it all over again. What's stopping you from leaving your job and working full-time on your project?
Eivind Håverstad
@forst hi Jan. Nice to know that you’ve successfully started a business! 😃 To answere your question. Im still in the idea phase of starting a side business. Dreaming of starting a saas business which, in the future, gives me the freedom to do it full time. At this point, considering my family situation, I find it as a low risk approach to begin the journey as a side project. Like, finding a product market fit. The only strugle; finding the time☺️
Jan Forsthuber
@eivindhaa Thanks! :) I understand. Raising some money for your project could help you move faster and enable you to work on it full-time but if you're still in the idea phase, it's crucial to have a great team to gain trust from investors. However, it'd be much easier to do it after you get some initial traction = find a product-market fit, as you said. Regarding the time, I guess there's no workaround, just be clear on what you're willing to sacrifice and what not. With limited time, focusing on the most impactful tasks is really important, too, obviously.
Eivind Håverstad
@forst Raising some money would help with the time limitations for sure. But if it was easy, I guess everybody would do it. Thanks for great advice!
Claudia N
Hi Jan, I am also on the same boat! I understand how it is difficult to find the energy and time after a long day at work. For me, I've found it effective to commit to 30 minutes per session on weekday evenings to complete easier tasks, and longer sessions on weekends for more intensive coding work. The hardest part is getting started, once you get into a rhythm, you'll look forward to spending time to work on something you can call your own :)
Jan Forsthuber
@claudian37 Habits > discipline, right? I can definitely agree with the last one, there's no bigger joy (it's actually freedom for me) than having the luxury to work on something you love.
Eivind Håverstad
@claudian37 About the rhythm, I totally agree with you. When finding the rhythm It's sometimes hard to stop the process:) Like how you structure your weekdays and weekends. I will definitely try to see how this approach works out for me. Thanks for sharing.