Trent of The Simple Dollar wrote about turning the corner with a side business the other day. This is a topic that has me interested for obvious reasons. I would love to one day go completely full time with my online biz. I do as much research as possible on the topic.
What did Trent suggest? He wanted us to ask ourselves five key questions which I’ve summarized into my own words:
- Could I do this work consistently for a long time?
- Can I earn money from this work?
- Can I market myself to earn more money?
- Do I have a solid emergency fund?
- Do I understand my accounting needs?
I took a few minutes to answer all of these questions.
Could I do this work consistently for a long time?
Yes. I love blogging and working on my online business. There’s just so many different facets that I can work on depending on the mood that I’m in. When I’m feeling creative I work on audacious projects that require a ton of writing. When I’m feeling lazy I can go over emails and modify some back end stuff. There’s always something to work on.
Can I earn money from this work?
Yes. There are so many different ways to make money on the internet that I feel I’m just getting started. Your typical advertising methods are cool. I’m now trying to focus my energy on creating my own projects.
Can I market myself to earn more money?
Possibly. I’ve always been a good hype guy, but not too crazy about self-promotion. I need to work on this area.
Do I have a solid emergency fund?
Yes. I have a good amount of change saved. I can also easily find a part time job or tap into investments if I needed to.
Do I understand my accounting needs?
No. I really need to hire a good Accountant or figure out how all of this stuff works exactly.
At the end of the day I think that you shouldn’t even consider going full time with your new business before you look into these questions. You don’t want to set yourself up for failure.