How To Bootstrap Your Startup When you Have a Full-Time Job

Recently we posted an article giving steps on how to bootstrap your startup, that is, launch it without investors. If you haven’t read it yet you should, and you can here. One of the steps is to have a job that can provide a steady income so you will have resources for your startup and have enough finances to keep things running as well as keep your bills paid.

But, you might be asking yourself, how will I have the time to work my 9-5 and bootstrap at the same time?

Here are some tips to help you out with that.

1. Take Control over When You Work

Obviously you aren’t your own boss yet, and you can’t determine your own working hours. So what do I mean by this? I mean, make your working hours as flexible as possible. What are you doing with your lunch breaks? What are you doing with your evening and morning commute? You can also wake up later, or sleep later so that you give yourself time to work on your startup.

Or consider getting a part-time job that allows you to work half days.

2. Apply Parkinson’s Law

Don’t be overwhelmed by how few hours there are in a day. If by the time you calculate time spent at work, and time spent coming to and fro, and time spent cooking, eating, bathing, gisting, catching up on shows, and doing ab training, you are only left with one hour for your startup, don’t despair.

Parkinson’s Law is a concept from Timothy Ferriss’s book that “work expands to fill the time available for its completion.”

When given a task, a human will fill whatever time was allotted for its completion. If you give yourself an hour to complete a task you are most likely to complete it in that hour.

Not that you should set unrealistic times for tasks, but just something to keep in mind! Challenge yourself to get more done in less time by implementing Parkinson’s Law.

3. Know that the beginning stages are usually the hardest

Let’s be realistic. For the first few weeks, finding balance is going to be difficult, you might feel frustrated, burnout, and tired. But don’t be so hard on yourself! You will eventually find your own flow and figure things out!

4. Take Your Savings Seriously

Last, but not least, the aim is to bootstrap your startup and in the end be able to have it on its’s feet, to be your own boss or CEO.

Therefore, you need to take your savings seriously! Consider putting the initial income from the startup or “side hustle” into a personal savings account, or put it back into the startup.

To be honest, you will probably be too busy working on your startup to squander money on outings and clothes, or shoes, or things you may want and not need. Which is great, because your future self will thank you for the savings that will be your cushion when you go full time.