Expand Summary
The context provides a guide on building a $1,000 per month one-person business alongside a 9–5 job in 90 days without burning out.
Abstract
The article titled “How To Build A $1,000 Per Month One-Person Business Alongside A 9–5 Job In 90 Days (Or Less)” offers advice on starting a side business while maintaining a full-time job. It emphasizes the importance of understanding that one already possesses a one-person business and can sell skills and knowledge to multiple employers. The author shares their personal experience of teaching themselves how to write online, freelancing for clients, and eventually quitting their 9–5 job to pursue their business full-time. The article suggests that a 9–5 job can serve as a competitive advantage, providing financial security, structure, and relatability to potential clients. The author recommends combining one’s technical skills with their hobbies to create a unique selling proposition. Additionally, they highlight the importance of leveraging the internet, writing, and learning marketing, content creation, social media, copywriting, and sales skills. The author stresses the need to reduce the time between ideation and action and provides a roadmap for the next 90 days.
Bullet points
- Understand that you already have a one-person business and can sell skills and knowledge to multiple employers.
- A 9–5 job can serve as a competitive advantage, providing financial security, structure, and relatability.
- Combine technical skills with hobbies to create a unique selling proposition.
- Leverage the internet, writing, and learn marketing, content creation, social media, copywriting, and sales skills.
- Reduce the time between ideation and action.
- Provides a roadmap for building a one-person business alongside a 9–5 job in 90 days.
How much would an extra $1,000 per month change your life?
Probably a lot. A recent CNBC article showed that most Americans could not afford a $1,000 emergency without going into debt.
An extra $1,000 per month is not ‘buy a Green Lambo’ type of money.
But that’s the point. It’s realistic. Most people have enough skills and knowledge to be able to make an extra $1,000 per month outside of their 9–5 job.
It won’t be easy, but I can show you how to do it.
1: Understand that you can
Here’s the biggest insight:
You’ve already got a one-person business.
Congrats. That was easy, wasn’t it?
You might be asking how? Well, you already sell your skills and knowledge to one customer: your employer.
And if you can sell to one employer, you can sell to many.
With the ability to freelance and find clients online, it’s never been easier to learn a skill once and sell it to many other employers.
I’m a great example.
I taught myself how to write online in my old 9–5 job when I was 24.
I read books, posted stuff online, and built a personal brand on LinkedIn.
I started to freelance for other clients while I had my job. And then I had enough of my 9–5 job and quit to go all-in. Once I validated I could sell to others, I felt confident enough to back myself.
I don’t advocate going all-in (anymore), but the point is there.
I’m back in a 9–5 job now, after I sold my business and while I build another one-person business on the side. I’m currently making $6.5k per month to get to $15k per month this year. So I am practicing what I preach.
And I’m documenting everything I do to help others get there too.
It sounds cliche, but if you believe it, you can achieve it.
Your 9–5 job is your greatest competitive advantage
Your job gives you:
- Financial security.
- Structure, routine, and stability.
- Ability to show up, meet deadlines, and manage others.
So don’t quit. That would be throwing away your competitive advantage.
If you hate your job, get another you like. I sound like a hypocrite because I quit my 9–5. But if I could go back, I probably wouldn’t do that again. I would get a good job, and build on the side.
Why is a 9–5 a competitive advantage?
Because most of the world works a 9–5 job (or has previously).
This makes you relatable. I can’t relate to a 23-year-old crypto bro who never worked a day in their life. But got rich off a few lucky coins. Their ‘business advice’ is meaningless.
Everything in the online world is relatability and trust.
People buy from others like them. With similar experiences. Who understand their problems or lived through them themselves. Don’t throw that away.
Don’t leave your 9–5, leverage it.
Combine your 9–5 with your 5–9
What do you enjoy doing outside of your job?
Combine your technical skills, with your hobbies. It might sound odd at first, but that’s how you can become unique. Every skill you add roughly doubles your odds of success.
I’ve got a personal example.
One of my friends works as a physiotherapist. He wanted to get into making content. He wanted to try making YouTube shorts about quizzes.
I don’t know why. But he asked for my opinion.
I asked him why don’t make content about what you do in your 9–5 job and golf since he plays every week.
“You could be the golf physiotherapist and create content about common injuries that golfers will experience and exercises to prevent them.”
See what I mean?
Combine your 9–5 with what you do from 5–9 or on the weekend.
But whatever you choose to add, complement them with learning:
- Marketing
- Content creation
- Social media
- Copywriting
- Sales
Learn these skills alongside your interests, you’ll never go broke.
Leverage the internet or die trying
The best way to leverage the Internet?
Writing (or code).
If you’re reading this, writing is easy to do. Free to access. Repurposable. And the foundation of everything else.
Again, you’re already an online writer.
If you’ve ever sent an email, written a social media caption, or sent a DM, congrats. You’re an online writer.
Now you need to get better.
And like anything else, writing is a skill you can practice and learn.
Commit to writing 250 words per day minimum. You can do more, but you can never do less. 250 words is easy. It’s a couple of paragraphs at most.
Publish something daily or weekly (even if it sucks).
I’ve committed to publishing daily on Twitter and documenting my writing journey on Instagram. I’m not optimizing for quality just yet. I simply want to document. Create in public. And iterate as I go.
I’ve got people following my journey, even though my quality sucks.
Learn something, and then teach it online.
The greatest skill you can learn…
Reduce the time between ideation and action.
Most people get stuck on mental masturbation or analysis paralysis. They start with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, but don’t execute. Months go by and they haven’t executed anything they said they would.
I got a call from a friend who wants to start a business.
She told me she’ll get clients when she has her website and business cards ready.
I abruptly said ‘fuck all that, just get your first client’.
Anything but getting a paying customer is a waste of time. Nothing else matters but someone who will pay with their time or money.
She was taken aback by how direct I was.
But nothing else matters in business than getting someone to buy what you’re selling. You need that feedback immediately and validate your initial assumptions. Collect testimonials, content, and data to sell to more clients.
Get paying clients or die trying.
What you can do in the next 90 days
You’re only a couple of skills and 3 months of effort away from your dream life.
But 90% of people will keep saying ‘one day’, instead of ‘day one’.
So here’s the roadmap:
- Do it scared, do it with doubt. Feel whatever you want, but understand you can do it.
- Use your 9–5 job to leverage making money on the side.
- Combine your technical skills with your hobby.
- Leverage the internet.
- Learn to execute.
Simple, but not easy.