The Great Career Shift:

5 Tips on Moving Your Home Business from Part-Time to Full-Time

Are they brave? Adventurous? Just plain crazy? We’ve all heard of folks who quit their day jobs to work full-time from home. Maybe you’ve secretly admire their pluck, chutzpa, moxie. But let’s be honest: without a little planning and foresight, those courageous, passionate souls can find themselves in a financial whirlpool, without that second income to anchor them.

If you’ve considered shifting your home-business status from part-time to full-time, there are ways to make the transition smooth and steady. Here are some ideas to get you started.

1. Set a date.

Don’t quit your day job just yet. It’s important for you and your family to know that this transition won’t put you out on the street. While the transition will require sacrifice, take the time necessary to ensure that you have work enough to sustain you when your business goes from being a part-time endeavor to a full-time one.

Consider how long it might take you to grow your business to the point where you’d feel comfortable quitting your job. 3 months? 6 months? One year? And don’t work blindly towards that deadline. Determine “readiness indicators,” or symptoms that your business is healthy enough to go full-time. Will you need at least 10 clients? 15? 20? Look at your current client base and calculate how much money each brings in. How many more would you need in order to compensate for your current full-time income? And don’t rush yourself. Give yourself the necessary time to prepare for this most important career shift.

2. Get the word out.

Face it. In order to grow your business to full-time status, you need to get more clients. And in order to get more clients you need to let people know you’re open for business. Let your current clients know that you’re moving from part-time to full-time status, and ask them to tell their friends and family and about your services. Pass out that business card, tell your own friends and family about your plans, take advantage of every opportunity to let people know about your business.

3. Offer more services.

The more services you offer, the more valuable you become to current clients and potentials clients. Consider adding accounting services to your menu in order to increase your value and become that one-stop financial shop. (Read “Painless Accounting” to learn more). You’ll find that people may need an accountant more than they need a tax professional, and visa versa. Only when you’re prepared to do both are you able to gather in both types of clients. And for the clients who need both accounting and tax services, you increase your billable hours, and thus you increase your income.

4. Work overtime.

Okay, so this is the bad news. For awhile, you’re probably going to have to spend more of your “free time” working on your home business. Without that “overtime” you will be unable to grow your business and realize its potential. Prepare your family for the change, but also let them know about your timeline so they don’t feel doomed to a life with their family member in the basement bedroom, plugging away.

But at the same time you also need to set boundaries so you don’t overdo it. How many hours more do you feel comfortable working every week? 10? 15? Will you work those hours on week nights, over the weekend or both? Setting a schedule will help you better manage those extra hours and keep your family informed so they know when they can expect to spend time with you.

5. Invest in yourself.

In mostprofessions, employers invest in their employees by sending them to conferences, paying for continuing education, or encouraging special training. Invest in yourself by finding those resources that will help you advance in your field. If you’re a tax professional you want to be a top-notch one, and that might require additional training and certification. Obviously we believe that Universal Accounting offers the best tax and accounting training available, but regardless of what avenue you choose, we believe that investing in yourself professionally will increase your chances of business success.

Believe in yourself and don’t get discouraged. Building your business will take time, but once you recognize those “readiness indicators,” it will begin to pay off. Take our video tour to learn more.