Everywhere I look, I see people saying:
“Start a side hustle”
“Build your business after work”
“Quit your job once it grows”
But in reality, after a full workday:
Energy is low
Time is limited
Consistency is hard
I’m genuinely trying to do this, but it feels much harder than people make it sound.
So I want honest opinions:
Is building a business part-time actually realistic, or does it only work for a small percentage of people?
And if you’ve done it what worked for you?
Is it actually realistic to build a business while working a 9–5… or is that just social media hype?
byu/EkantVairagi inbusiness
Posted by EkantVairagi
6 Comments
What do your wife and kids think?
It’s very difficult, most people give up. For those few that push through, business ownership is as challenging as a regular job, if not more. I owned four businesses, best decades and most challenging times of my life. Truth is, I’m glad most people fail, it minimizes the competition.
Reverse engineer it. Figure out how much time and energy you’re willing to spend on a side hustle and figure out what you can build within that. You’re not going to start a complex B2B SaaS working an hour an evening after you put the kids to bed but maybe you can start a utility tool or get into small scale e-commerce.
I don’t think you should hustle spending your nights and weekends burning yourself out. That’s what social media tells you to do. IMO, if it’s not sustainable it’s not worth doing. Keep in mind, most startups fail, so the odds are low that any sacrifice you make will be worth it.
Short answer? It depends, but, yes, it’s possible.
What is the side hustle. Just a webshop doing dropshipping or developing something.
I did it. I went self employed last year. My situation: I was a remote worker, no partner, no kids, no commute. I clocked on at 9, worked until 1 – my own business during my lunch break, worked 2-5 then clocked back onto my own business and I’d work right through until midnight most day. I maybe had a night off a week but I loved the business. It was e-commerce FYI so I’d wake early to take parcels to the post office.