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10 Ways to Balance Your New Business With Your Job

By Kevin M

Many times on this site I’ve advocated the idea of starting a new business as a side venture along with you job. Trying to juggle two business enterprises at once isn’t the easiest task but it provides certain undeniable advantages that can make it worth the effort. For example:

  1. You’ll have a “cash flow”—the paycheck from your job—something you won’t have if you plunge into the new business full-time
  2. You’ll have time to make mistakes because you’re job will have you covered when you do
  3. You won’t have the pressure to generate an immediate living wage since you already have one
  4. You’ll probably have health insurance through your employer
  5. You’ll have a built-in safety net in case the business fails or you find out it isn’t for you

All of that is true, but as anyone who’s ever tried it knows, starting and running a business while holding a full-time job isn’t the easiest combination. How do you manage both without jeopardizing either?

1. Block out time for your business

If your job takes 40 hours per week (or 50+ when you factor in lunch and commuting) you’ll have to set up specific times to work on your business. You might block out 3-4 hours per day, with one or two hours early in the morning before work, two or three in the evening, then more on the weekends. Businesses require time and effort to build so you’ll have to be very disciplined in making the time that will be needed.

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20 Part-time Jobs With Health Insurance

By Kevin M

Job seekers often insist on finding a full-time job, not only for a full-time paycheck but also for the benefits package that usually comes with it. Topping the list of benefits is health insurance—the one none of us want to be without.

But what if you don’t want a full-time job? What if you could get a part-time job and still at least get health insurance? You’re in luck—there are employers out there—prominent ones—that do offer health insurance for their part-time staff. Maybe one of them could be a good fit for you.

Why you might need or prefer a health plan from a part-time job

Off the top of my head I can think of at least four situations where you might want to consider taking a part-time job in order to get health insurance coverage:

  • You’re self-employed
  • You’re unemployed
  • You work a full-time job with no health plan
  • You’re any one of the above but considered uninsurable for health reasons

Let’s talk about that last item a bit. Private health plans can and do weed out and deny coverage to people who they consider likely to file claims. It could be because of a previous bout with cancer or heart disease, or an ongoing condition as ordinary as high blood pressure. The advantage of employer group plans is that you will be accepted into the plan by virtue of your employment. You will not only be accepted in spite of any pre-existing health conditions, but you won’t be required to pay a higher premium either.

Good deal? You bet!

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How Much is Your Job Costing You?

By Kevin M

You have a job to make money, right? On the surface, that’s what seems to be happening. But just like any money making venture, there are costs incurred to produce that income. Most of us don’t think of these as business expenses, and the IRS won’t even let us deduct most of them to prove it. But that doesn’t mean that jobs don’t cost money—they do.

One of the misconceptions about having a job is in thinking you aren’t in business—you are. And just like any business, you have income—your salary—and expenses, which we’ll cover in some detail.

Even if you have a job, you’re still in business, only with a job your income comes from a single client.

What are those costs?

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Blogging is NOT a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme

By Kevin M

I’ve been writing a good bit lately about the trials and tribulations and triumphs and benefits of self employment—mostly as it relates to blogging since that’s the business I’m engaged in. But this is a good time to highlight one critical point—as the title of this post reads, bogging is NOT a get-rich-quick scheme!

Now that point may be obvious to the thousands of people who have built successful blogging businesses, and even more so to those who have tried to do it but haven’t been successful. But to the vast majority of the non-blogging crowd and to those who might aspire to join the ranks, that point may not be as apparent.

Helping to distort reality is the fact that blogging has only been around for a few years—I’d say ten at best. Businesses that create success stories tend to conjure up thoughts of quick riches, especially when the business in question is at least loosely related to technology.

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Preparing Your Financial Life for Self-Employment

By Kevin M

Starting a new business isn’t just about the business itself. Becoming an entrepreneur is a life transforming event. You’re moving from a life in which you rely on an employer to supply your financial needs, to one in which you’ll be fully responsible for everything.

It’s a true high wire act, which is why it’s super important to construct a financial safety net, ready to catch you if you fall. And the best time to do that is before you even start your new business.

Preparing your savings

A large cash cushion is one of the very best assets you can have when starting a business.

Most financial advisors recommend that we have liquid savings equal to at least three months living expenses as a part of sound financial management. If you plan to be self-employed, six months is a much better metric. If you have less, it’s best you don’t even attempt starting a business.

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The “Secret” to Self-Employment Success

By Kevin M

Ask anyone who’s succeeding in their own business the question, ”What is the most important trait for success?” and you’ll probably get a few different answers. Education, talent, connections, being in the right place at the right time… luck! I think there’s at least some merit to all, but while each of them might represent a step in the right direction at some point in the process, none—with the possible exception of talent—are likely to sustain you over the long haul. And even talent won’t get the job done if it isn’t consistently applied.

All of us have an opinion as to what drives success, but if I have to pick one trait that stands above the rest, it’s relentlessness. I credit that trait as the single most important one that enabled me to go from washed-up mortgage originator to a self-employed professional blogger in under three years.

I had no special talents, no specific education and no connections that would have made the journey worth considering, let alone likely, but the one thing that I did have was a commitment to succeed at it no matter what happened.

Why is relentlessness so powerful?

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The Health Insurance Adventures of an Entrepreneur

By Marshall Davis

This month, my wife and I celebrate six years of self-employment. Another way of saying this is we are celebrating six years of having to pay 100% of our health insurance premiums and related costs. Boy, has it been an educational experience and quite the adventure!

The Beginning

In February 2006, my wife and I could take it no more! We were both employed by a large corporation, stuck in cubicles doing jobs we didn’t like. On the surface, it was a great place to work. The pay was decent, there were holiday and annual bonuses to look forward to, and the health benefits were pretty darn good. What our jobs were lacking was any sense of enjoyment or fulfillment, so something had to be done.

After talking about it for a few months, we decided to quit our jobs and enter the entrepreneurial world. Neither of us had previous self-employment experience, but that wasn’t going to stop us from breaking out of the corporate world and jumping into the deep end, and start making a living on our own. This meant that we were kissing those great health care benefits goodbye, and we had to figure something out to replace them.

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How Much Can You Save by NOT Owning a Car?

By Kevin M

Pssst…wanna lower your cost of living—I mean really lower your cost of living and do it for good?

Ditch your car. No, I’m not kidding, ditch your car!

Most people cut costs by trimming along the edges—clipping coupons, reducing eating out, eliminating vacations and the like. But sometimes that isn’t enough. You can cut all of those and still end up with a tightly stretched budget, one that doesn’t allow much room for savings and investment, for debt pay down and payoff, or for a plunge into the career unknown—a major theme on this blog.

It comes down to a choice between micro- and macro-frugality–do you cut your smaller expenses across the board, or do you target two or three of the biggest? For most people, housing is the biggest single living expense, but cars are a comfortable second. For many, cutting or eliminating car expense is far easier than making the same choice on a home.

How much can you save by not owning a car?


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