Starting a business while keeping your `day job' - Money Talk$

VERNON Lockhart started Art on the Loose as a le business on the side, designing T-shirts, banners and other mediums, something to break away from the work he did as art director for the Northwestern University Center for Public Safety in Evanston, Ill.

Fast-forward 14 years. Art on the Loose is now Lockhart's full-time business, a graphic design firm with a full range of services, a staff of five and an office based in the Chicago South Side neighborhood of Beverly. As for the Center for Public Safety: "They're like a client now," says Lockhart, 39, "but I'm still on the payroll and I get benefits."

Lockhart's graphic design firm is the perfect example of how starting a second business while working a regular 9-to-5 job can bring in extra money and eventually lead to running your own full-fledged operation. People with an entrepreneurial itch they want scratched or who dream of being their own boss, starting a sideline business while continuing to work may be the best way to start planning for the future without giving up the paycheck of the present.

"With the majority of my clients, either they have some time on their hands, or they want to make it their full-time occupation," says Genevia Gee Fulbright, vice president of Fulbright & Fulbright, CPA, PA, and author of Make the Leap: Shift from Corporate Worker to Entrepreneur.

But starting a business isn't an off-the-cuff decision. For those thinking of marketing their skills and interests into something profitable, Fulbright recommends a few preliminary steps:

For starters, determine your level of interest. Figure out what you're good at versus what you like to do. Just because you like to cook doesn't make you a chef, Fulbright says. Make sure you're good enough that customers will want your services.

Once you figure that out, prepare a business plan. It should include a description of your idea, how the business will operate, sales and marketing strategy, market research and analysis, short- and long-term goals, costs and management structure. A normal business plan is 30 to 50 pages in length and should be a guideline to refer to if your business runs into unexpected trouble.

Fulbright recommends you also block enough time to work on the business and maintain your responsibilities at work. "In these lean times, it's easy for an employer to justify cutting someone if they're not devoting quite enough time to [the employer's] business," Fulbright says.

The next step is to do an intake of your finances and schedule. Determine how much time and money it will take to run this business. For those looking at a sideline business as a stepping-stone toward something bigger, Fulbright says, "Determine how long it will take, realistically, for this business to replace your income."

When his sideline business grew to take more time than just the weekends, Lockhart went to his boss, planning to step down and run the business full-time. Instead, Lockhart's boss recommended that he work at home. "I continued to grow and hired freelancers to work for me," Lockhart says.

As the business continues to expand, Lockhart says he goes back to his business plan to make sure he's meeting his goals, like delegating assignments to take a more executive role and starting a mentoring program at Art on the Loose for aspiring young Black graphic designers.

In addition to figuring out how much time and money it'll take to get your sideline business off the ground, Fulbright says take care of all other concerns before you start operating. If your business is similar to your full-time job, make sure you seek legal advice regarding non-competition agreements and freelancing. Create an advisory board for your business, one that's comprised of experienced businesspeople with no ties to your venture.

Above all, only start the business if it's truly your passion. It's your time and money, and neither should be wasted. And, if done correctly, running a sideline business can be a rewarding experience, says Jalonne White, a 25-year-old, Baltimore-based public health engineer with the Maryland Department of Environment. A woman with an interest in writing poetry and drawing, White decided to start her own business last February, a greeting card company called Les Beaux Mots De Vie (The Beautiful Words of Life in French), after listening to a sermon in church. White started her company with a start-up cost of $400 for supplies and expenses for renting a booth.

Since starting her one-woman operation, White has recovered her initial expenses and is even receiving out-of-state orders for custom cards and wedding invitations. "Sometimes, it's hard to balance," White says. "But just being able to do something you love kind of helps."

COPYRIGHT 2003 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group