How To Find Time To Start A Business

Have you always wanted to become an entrepreneur but wondered how to find time to start a business of your own?

Being an entrepreneur is really great.

Especially if you’re a functional one.

Functional in a sense that you’re not merely one of the millions who don’t go past the dream stage of what they want.

Functional entrepreneurs have already taken action on their goals.

So at this point, we ask you; why haven’t you done it yet?

Could it be that it’s one of these invalid excuses below?

Invalid Excuses For Not Starting A Business

Not Having The Money

The reality is that you will never have enough money to start a business.

That’s unless you’re born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

And it’s true; you can do things if you have the money.

But remember: while you can’t control what you don’t have, you can always control the things that you have.

There are a number of businesses you can start without money.

A lack of money should not hold you back.

Not Having The Confidence

Starting a business is a venture towards a world of uncertainty.

You just can’t tell how things will unfold.

And if you’re scared right now, others are, too.

In fact, every entrepreneur is scared at some point.

But look at those people who have actually gone past their fear.

Once they got over it, nothing is holding them back.

Not Having The Right Connections

You are thinking; you need certain connections to help you.

How confident are you that they’re going to respond to you in the first place?

If you had the right connections, do you think that you could have started your business anyway?

It’s not about having the right connections; it’s about getting started.

Not Having Started Earlier

If this is the time that you’ve thought about starting a business, can you say that it’s your fault?

Consider the iPhone.

It disrupted the smartphone market at a time when its competitors had already launched their flagship models.

The point is, anyone can become an entrepreneur at any time.

Ingenuity, not start time, is the key.

Not Being Able To Make Anyone Listen

It’s true that starting a business involves tuning in to market signals and sentiments.

So if you think that no one wants to listen to you, then you’re probably right.

But don’t forget that these days, people listen to almost anything.

That puts your message on the spotlight.

If no one’s listening to it, perhaps you need to change it.

Not Having The Skills

Someone might say that he was born an entrepreneur.

Don’t believe that to be absolutely true.

The soft skills needed for business can be something you have a natural flair for.

But what about the hard entrepreneurial skills?

They’re learned and earned.

They’re not something that’s given to you.

When an entrepreneur tells you that they’ve learned along the way, it means that they’ve made mistakes and they’ve learned from those mistakes.

It also means that they have developed skills because of those mistakes.

Not Having A Perfect Strategy, Product, Service, Etc.

The question is: when will it ever be perfect?

If you’re waiting for something to be perfect before you get started, look within and ask yourself: are you just making an excuse to not get started?

The biggest products that we know today have started as prototypes.

With time and market feedback, they’ve improved to what they are now.

Don’t wait for perfection; chase it.

You don’t have to wait for or find the perfect time to start your business.

Not Having The Guts To Fail

Sure, about a third of business start-ups fold within the first two years, and half of them do so within five years.

That’s real.

But do you know what some people do?

They don’t think about being embarrassed.

They think about how to start again if they fail.

Business startups don’t get launched to success.

They have to work, prove themselves and stand the test of time.

And a part of their success is because of you.

Grit is real.

And grit is an ingredient to success.

Not Having The Courage To Take Risks

In the future, will you have the courage to face your regrets for not even trying to find time to start the business of your dreams?

Have you ever wondered why some people look back at their lives with bitterness and longing?

It’s because they haven’t done the things that they were supposed to be doing.

‘If only’ is a phrase you’ll get to hear.

And what’s more?

Older people will tell you just get up and start moving, so as not to end up like them.

Not Having The Time

Everyone on Earth is given the same amount of time.

That’s 24 hours, 12 months, etc.

No one has more of it.

So the question isn’t about not having time.

It’s about finding time to start/build your business.

What are you doing with your 24 hours?

Are you spending it binge-watching previous episodes of Game of Thrones instead of looking at your business plan?

It’s your time; your choice; as well as your business.

So you’ve seen 10 of the common reasons why people haven’t started their businesses yet despite wanting to very badly.

But among the reasons listed above, one thing stands out.

In a busy world, it’s easy for everyone to spend a very valuable resource: time.

If its time hindering you from getting started, then you should read on.

Understanding The Reality Of Time

Everyone is given 24 hours per day.

Also, each person has the freedom to choose what he or she wants to do with those given hours.

For most, 8-12 hours of that is spent at work.

At its worst, 3-4 hours of that are spent on the road, to and from work.

The remaining hours are spent on other things.

Some go home and fulfill their parental duties.

Others go home and spend some time alone.

The rest head out to unwind.

No matter, what remains after everything has been done is only one thing: sleep.

Unfortunately, even sleep is a luxury for others who can only manage a couple of hours before going back to their daily grind.

And then, there’s the weekends, holidays, and other days when people don’t have to spend the day repeating their routines.

These are the breaks that everyone else is looking forward to having.

So a case has been made: it is true that you can only do so much in a given day.

But it’s also true that there are moments, no matter how brief, that free time shows up.

So the question now is: what are you doing with that free time?

Again, starting a business while working full time is possible.

It’s only about looking at how you make use of that precious ‘free’ time you have.

So what can you do?

How To Find Time To Start A Business

Start Now

You may be thinking that you need to get an MBA before you can get started.

Yes, education is important but it’s only one of the many steps to starting a business.

The key is to know what you want to do, read about it, and then take action.

A great deal of your education will come from hands-on experience more than your reading books, listening to audiobooks, or watching webinars and podcasts.

Do all these things but don’t be hung up on knowing everything before you get started.

If you have that motivated feeling of getting started, go with it.

Jeff Bezos didn’t wait to finish an MBA before he started Amazon.

And just like many startup entrepreneurs, he started in an unlikely place for a billion-dollar business: a garage.

Divide Your Time

This is where your regard of time comes in.

Picture how you spent your entire day.

Factor everything that you do that causes you to make use of your time.

Everything.

And just like how you do your weekly or monthly budget (if you ever do), think about whether or not all of your activities help your goal of starting a business.

If you find activities – especially recurring ones – are actually time-wasters, cross them off the list.

As you look at each of your activities, be honest and be objective to yourself.

Once you’re satisfied with the remaining items on the list, get the total hours of all the activities you’ve crossed out.

You may be surprised by how much time you’re spending on time-wasters.

Multiply the sum of those hours by the number of times you’re doing them in a week or a month.

Now, ask yourself: had you spent those hours looking into how to start a business, would you have made considerable progress at this point?

Again, it’s all about making use of your time to get closer to your goals.

Set Hard Deadlines

It’s easy to work in a Flexi mode thinking that it’s your business anyway.

Yes, you’re entitled to work at your own pace when it comes to starting your business.

But from that day you started working on starting your business – granted that you already did – how far have you come along?

Somehow, approaching work on starting your business brings the influence of procrastination into the mix.

Soon, you’ll find that you haven’t really made decent progress at all.

So a better option for you is to set a hard deadline – and to make sure that you really hit that deadline when it comes.

Also, one thing about working in a Flexi mode is that your motivation level may take a dip.

Motivation has to be sustained because when you lose it, it may be a challenge to get it back.

So while you set your heart and mind to working on your business, take advantage of it. And by the way, there’s no such thing as a perfect business plan.

Bring Someone In

If you think that you can’t start a business alone, get someone to become your business partner.

Doing so goes beyond the idea that you’ll have access to additional startup capital.

It has something to do with splitting the work involved, in encouraging accountability, and in building your business.

First, the pre-launch work involving a business startup can really be taxing.

By having a partner, you can lighten up the load by sharing responsibilities.

Second, both you and your partner will be accountable to each other because you both will be expecting to deliver your share of responsibilities.

Third, having a business partner helps a lot, especially if the other person knows how to start a business.

The knowledge your business partner can bring in is very important.

By having a partner around, you get to really move and do things you need to do.

Turn Your Commute Time Into Business Time

Traffic jams can be annoying.

But if you have something important to do, it won’t be a dreadful experience.

What you can do is to work on your small business tasks instead of thinking about what time you’ll be able to get home.

If not, you can figure out ways to start a business and map out your ideal journey as you commute daily.

Traffic and Travel time causes everyone caught in it to lose time.

But you can make yours as productive as possible by ticking something off your business checklist.

In addition, you may actually consider avoiding the rush hour altogether.

As long as your job allows it, you can come in a little earlier so that you can leave earlier.

This offers you a few advantages.

First, you’ll leave while it is mid-afternoon.

This means that some of your energy is still intact.

Have you noticed how your energy seems to be drained when you find yourself amidst a group of people who have just come from work?

Their tired facial expressions, their slow body language, and the general environment where you find yourself in seem to just bring your energy levels down, never mind that you’re tired yourself.

Second, by leaving earlier, you’ll beat the rush hour.

So there’s a good chance that you’ll arrive home earlier.

This means that you’ll have more time to work on building your business.

Make Your Business Plans A Part Of Your Weekend And Time Off

No, you don’t necessarily have to spend your entire weekend or entire time off figuring out the steps to starting a business.

What this means is that you, at least, block some of your time to think things through.

So you can be out of town having fun one hand while working on the other hand.

Structure your weekend and time off, so that you’ll be able to accomplish things while replenishing your energy.

Say ‘Yes’ And ‘No’

There are two ways to interpret this.

First, finding time to build your business means saying ‘no’ to the things that don’t help you with your goal.

So if you’re set to work on your website but a friend of yours is inviting you to hit the bar, you may want to say ‘no’ because you know the kind of reward you’ll be getting afterward.

The reality is that some people that have the drive to succeed are more likely to say ‘no’ to almost everything else, including going out on a date.

So you can see how motivation plays a crucial factor in this case.

Second, and depending on your perspective as a would-be entrepreneur, you’ll eventually learn that not all opportunities that come your way are something that you can entertain.

What you need to remember is that most opportunities will likely come again.

The only opportunity that might be scarce, in this case, is the opportunity to launch your business.

Be Proactive

Starting a business while working full time requires proactivity.

Proactivity means making something happen instead of only responding when something happens.

The truth is, Spanx founder, Sara Blakely was selling fax machines while she was building her business.

It was only through her initiative to focus on building her business that she saw her efforts lead to success.

The same is true for Mark Zuckerberg.

In reality, most students rarely have time to add a ‘build-my -business’ entry into their schedules as they juggle their part-time work and school responsibilities.

You’re not an exception.

If you consider how your business will look like in the future, you’ll probably see it expanding with you at the center.

Growth means more things to do.

Should you still decide to keep your full-time job, then it means that you’ll need to learn how to find time to start a business and more time to sustain that growth.

Explore Your Business Options

If you feel that the business you have in mind right now is demanding too much of your time, and if you feel that you’re not ready to give the time it needs, you may want to consider looking for other ways to start a business.

An example would be becoming an Amazon Reseller.

This kind of business doesn’t require you to oversee everything.

In fact, Amazon Fulfillment takes care of everything else for you.

You’ll only need to maintain your reseller page, to answer customer inquiries, and to find a supplier.

The same applies to the dropshipping business.

So you won’t be responsible for order processing, fulfillment, and shipping.