Emma Jones - Working 5 to 9: How to start a successful business in your spare time

With thanks to the Enterprise Nation community.

To all those who post, contribute, comment, and make the site the vibrant and friendly place it is.

A recession-induced need for cash and an ever-growing infrastructure enabling individuals to act as (part-time) entrepreneurs are fuelling concepts that help ordinary consumers make money instead of just spending it.

Reinier Evers , Founder, http://www.trendwatching.com

Many Etsy sellers join Etsy as part-time artisans. What Etsy offers is a powerful channel to market that will turn a number of our spare time sellers into full-time entrepreneurs.

Jesse Hertzberg , VP, Business Operations, Etsy

Footfall to our stores shows theres a spike after 5pm. The aisles are buzzing with 5 to 9ers shopping for essential business supplies.

Yetunde Ige , Staples Head of Marketing

Who this book is for

Working 5 to 9 has been written for anyone wanting to become their own boss, in their own time.

Employees

Looking for a business idea or dreaming of earning a wage from your passion, hobby or skill? Start the business by working 5pm to 9pm, then either keep it part-time or grow it to the point where its earning enough for you to leave your full-time employment.

Students

Studying by day and eager to earn cash by night (or vice versa)? There are ideas in here for you too. Turn your bedroom into a business incubator and experience the feeling of being your own boss.

Semi-retirees

Retiring from the day job but keen to keep a hand in business and the pension topped up? These ideas can be run from anywhere (including sunny verandas overseas!) and starting them wont wipe out your life savings.

New mums

Looking for an alternative to 9-5, 5 days a week? Look no further. Take an idea and start a venture that can be run in the quiet hours and around school as the children grow.

Introduction

I recently spotted a new angle to the businesses we were profiling on Enterprise Nation they were being run in the evenings and at weekends.

People were still identifying gaps in the market or turning a passion, hobby or skill into a way of making a living, yet they were doing so at the end of their normal working day.

Here are some examples:

I have a hobby which I wanted to share with everyone else. So I launched HobbyThing.com together with my wife. Im still working full-time as a web developer.

Dmitri Kartashov, HobbyThing.com, London

I had the idea for my business after my second child was born. Whilst on maternity leave I developed the plans into a business. I was and actually still am (3 days per week), a sales manager for a medical company.

Cheryl Kelly, Precious Nappies, Derbyshire

I hold on to my long-term vision that in 5 years time I will have created a successful and profitable online business which allows me to have a more flexible working life, escape the corporate 9-5, and do something I truly enjoy and feel passionate about.

Paula Green, Kitty and Polly, Northern Ireland

As the comments kept coming, I decided to take a closer look at this new way of working and this book charts what I found. It explains why Working 5 to 9 is taking off and gives you 50 ideas for businesses you can start today and develop in your spare time.

Successful 5 to 9ers reveal how they came up with their idea, how theyre marketing the business and managing their time and whether theyre planning to give up the day job! The book is filled with practical advice, tips and links that will guide you from initial idea to creating a business of your own.

I hope you enjoy the book and do keep me posted with tales of your adventure!

Emma Jones

http://www.enterprisenation.com

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Working 5 to 9 takes off

In late 2009, over 5 million people were holding down a day job and building a business at night and on weekends. This is equivalent to almost 20% of the UK working population. There are various reasons why this is happening:

Protection against redundancy

It used to be considered risky to start a business yet, in difficult economic conditions, it can feel more risky to stay in employment. When the 2008-2009 recession bit, redundancies mounted, and employees responded by building businesses on the side to safeguard against future loss of employment and earnings.

Extra earnings

Whether concerned about redundancy or not, working 5 to 9 is a great way to earn some extra cash! With research showing nearly two thirds of British businesses planning to freeze or cut wages and nearly a fifth considering cutting benefits , its no wonder employees are putting in the effort to boost their income in out-of-office hours.