MARCH 2007 :: CAREERS

Leading a Double Life
Entrepreneurs Who Juggle a Business and a Day Job Say It’s Tough, but Worth the Struggle

By Colleen Debaise
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Ask small-business owners how much time they spend on the job and the answer is usually: all of it.

Yet, some entrepreneurs manage to launch a start-up on the side without quitting their day job. While it’s a lot like leading a double life, many say the rewards are worth it—namely, extra income and the chance to test out a new, more enticing career without losing steady paychecks and benefits.

“Starting a business on a part-time basis is one of the most efficient ways of finding out if a business will work for you,” says Paul Edwards, co-author of 16 books on self-employment, including “Finding Your Perfect Work.”

The drawbacks of juggling a full-time gig and a start-up are many, however, and there can be a steep cost to one’s personal or family life. “There is a period of about two years in my life that are lost,” says Donna Binder, 53, a longtime educator in the Houston schools who decided to start an alpaca-breeding business on the side in 1997. Within a few months, Ms. Binder and her husband, Laurence, also an educator, sold their city home, moved into a rental, broke ground for a new house on an 18-acre farm, and acquired five alpacas.

And that’s when “our lives spiraled out of control,” she recalls. “We were on the road 2µ to 3 hours a day. It was build, drive, work, build, drive, work.” They didn’t want to give up their day jobs and lose their pensions.

Now, almost 10 years later, “it is still an out-of-control life, but manageable,” she says. Ms. Binder cut down her hours, and works part time as a counselor to the deaf, while her husband still works full-time in the schools.

The alpaca business, she says, is booming. The two have made it work by hiring help and starting a cooperative-farming system to pool resources with other local breeders.

Life is also busy for Nanda Holz, 32, an engineer for a San Jose, Calif., networking company by day, and owner of road-bike distributor Spin Cyclz on nights and weekends.

Mr. Holz has cut back his work schedule at the networking company, typically logging in 30 hours between Monday and Thursday. And while he might answer a bike customer’s email or two during the day, he always shuts off his cellphone. “You have to try and stay focused at work,” he says.

Don’t Blow It

Balancing a day job with a side business is stressful, though. “You’re thinking about two things at once,” says Richard Stim, an attorney and author with Nolo, a publisher of self-help legal books.

In 2004, Mr. Stim decided to start a side business, an audio-book production business. It was part of his research for “Whoops! I’m in Business,” a guide he wrote on turning a passion or hobby into a business. The new studio landed a contract almost immediately, and “boy, you really freak out once you’ve got a contract,” he says. One concern: “How do you not blow it at both jobs at once?”

Mr. Stim says he’s able to swing both by working for Nolo from home, which saves valuable commuting time, and by enlisting his wife as a partner at the sideline business.

One tax benefit to the side business: He can write off the cost of audio equipment, which he enjoys as a longtime music-production enthusiast. If the side business is something you love, there’s nothing like it, Mr. Stim says. “It augments my income, and it gives me something fun to do.”

Moonlighting as an entrepreneur requires commitment and planning, says Mr. Edwards, the author. “The primary thing that comes to mind is having a consistency of effort,” he says. He recommends that people spend at least seven to eight hours a week on the venture—and not invest too much money at the outset. “The investment you make is more time than money.”

Make sure you come up with a business plan, outlining who your customers are and how you can market your products. And especially if this is a new career path, make sure you acquire the necessary training and experience, he says.

Because of the drain on your free time, be sure to involve family members in the decision-making process.

“Without the proper amount of family consent,” Mr. Edwards says, “this can torpedo the relationship with the family.”