By Monica Simpson

Take smaller steps to grow your business while working a full-time job. It could make all the difference. It could mobilize you. But, first you have to get started.

After all, if you’re truly meant to operate and grow a business and you don’t act on it, at some point you’re going to start to feel extremely uncomfortable. Feelings of boredom and pointless busyness may start to overwhelm you. Yet, if you’re like many people, these strong emotions may not lead you into action right away, especially if you’re wrestling with fear thoughts.

Fear manifest itself in a myriad of ways

Does this sound familiar? You’re too old. You’re so young that established business pros won’t take you seriously. You don’t have an office to start your business out of. You don’t have the background or the education to operate a successful business. And, most of all, you don’t have enough money to reach your business goals.


Start smaller to grow your business while working a full-time job. Just get going. One way to start smaller is to launch your business while you’re still working for someone else. You’ve done this before, just not in the business world. During your junior or senior year of high school, you started to mentally prepare to leave home.

You contacted college admissions counselors. You submitted college applications. The more accustomed you became to the idea of living away from home, you may even have visited a few colleges. Dreams about life away from home may have started to surface.

The process of launching and growing your business is similar to going to college

Research the industry that you want to start a business in. Don’t limit your research to the internet, as there is a lot of misleading and inaccurate information on the internet. Learn about your target audience, places they frequent, books they enjoy reading, where they generally live, etc.

Speak with people who already own successful businesses. Be open to starting a business from home.

Smaller steps to this end include:

• Asking your current employer if you can work on a telecommuting arrangement (Devote the time that your employer pays you to actually working for your employer. Use the time that you would spend commuting to work on your personal business.)
• Designate a room at your house at your home office
• Tell your family that you are working from home
• Set a schedule for when you will develop and market your products or services to clients

Tips to more business growth

Grow your business using smaller steps by setting up search engine alerts for networking, trade shows, conferences and local charity events. Reach out to sponsors of these events and ask if you can speak at the events. Do not answer for anyone who you reach out to. This means that you will not tell yourself that the person will say “No” to your request. You don’t get to decide that. Let the person answer for her or himself.

Other actions that you can take to grow your business while working a full-time job include:

• Pay for social media marketing once a month. Establish a budget that allows you to use a certain portion of the income that you receive from your employer. You could also use a portion of your own business sales to implement this social media marketing step.
• Create a blog, a mobile friendly website and a desktop friendly website (But, don’t just create a blog and websites, update these marketing tools. For example, you could write and publish a new blog post once a week.)
• Build a YouTube or a Vimeo video channel to grow your business while working a full-time job (As with a blog and websites, publish a new video once a week.)
• Partner with a video marketing service to grow your video channel
• Schedule online and offline radio interviews with stations that align with your business products and services
• Guest posts blogs on major media sites once a month or once a quarter. Always include your URL to grow your business while working a full-time job.
• Create tote bags, car magnets, t-shirts and sweatshirts that are designed with your business logo, products and URL. Wear the fashions while you’re grocery shopping, exercising or visiting the mall.
• Place the name of your business and website URL on your telephone answering service
• Write e-books that focus on the products and services that you share with clients. Allow people to download the e-books for free. Let people fill out a short form with their name and email address to get the e-books.

These are just a few ways that you can take smaller steps to grow your business while working a full-time job. Approach business growth with an open mind. Be open to exploring new ways to grow your business. It’s an ongoing process that connects you and your company to the very people you’re supposed to meet, serve and support.