Starting a business is difficult enough, but starting out alongside full time employment is incredibly difficult. However, it can be equally rewarding and can lead to you being able to take more control of your life and focus entirely on what may become your sole income. Unlike working full time in a 9 – 5 job as most people do, running your own business provides challenges, uncertainty and difficult learning curves which need to be overcome in order to succeed.
That all said, so long as you have a realistic outlook and you are able to push through the challenges, it can be one of the most rewarding things you may achieve in your lifetime. It is also possible to give you increased flexibility to a degree simply not possible when working for someone else.
There are however, various different types of business that you may look to start up in your quest for business success. Although it is in theory possible to set up and succeed in any business venture alongside a full time job, there are some which are more likely than others to prove fruitful, profitable and ultimately, successful.
It is important to remember though, that if you undertake any degree of freelance or contractor-type work, you maybe required to sign up with a UK umbrella company. Finding the best umbrella company is important too, as it may enable you to keep more of your earnings and remain on the right side of the UK Government’s IR35 Employment Legislation.
Website Development and Marketing.
A popular choice of second job which many people in the UK manage to run alongside their day job is website development and marketing. You will need to be a capable website developer which will mean understanding and being able to read and write different languages of code. This may include coding languages such as HTML, Python or otherwise.
However, web developers can charge sometimes as much as £100 or more per hour meaning that with just five extra hours of work per week, for example an hour in the evening on each working day, Monday to Friday, you could increase your monthly income by as much as £2,000.
Pay Per Click Second Jobs.
Website marketing includes many skills and disciplines. This ranges from pay-per-click (PPC), to search engine optimisation (SEO) to social media marketing. These roles can command hourly rates of usually up to £40 – £50 per hour. They will all entail different tasks however and you will need some experience in your preferred area of marketing practice.
For example, if you want to work as a PPC campaign manager, you will need to know how PPC works, how to optimise campaigns and what is needed to maximise your client’s profits.
SEO as a Second Job.
If you work on a SEO, you will need to be able to pay close attention to detail and will need to have a solid grasp and understanding of the ranking algorithms of Google as well as other search engines such as Yahoo, Bing and Baidu. Furthermore, you will need to be able to devote perhaps a little bit more time to your clients than you may need to with other forms of online marketing.
This is because the SEO rankings on search engines is often determined by the smaller details. You will also need to know how to write engaging and well-optimised content, how to use a variety of content management systems (CMS) such as WordPress, Drupal, Shopify and others.
Using Social Media to Supplement Your Income.
Social media marketing, much like SEO requires some specific disciplines. Whilst in cases of social media marketing you can plan quite a lot of your work and your social media posting schedules in advance, you will need to do a lot of competitor analysis and will need to understand your target customers and audiences well enough to be able to properly and effectively engage them. Hence, understanding brands and brand messaging when working in this fiend is paramount to making a success of it.
Other Popular Second Businesses.
In addition to working in online and digital marketing as a second job, there are various other popular choices when it comes to supplementing your income through a business of your own:
Food and Drink Businesses – There are more and more food and drink brand popping up all around the UK. a particular area that is thriving in the health food sector. This includes the likes of companies who sell supplements and other ways in which people can supplement and improve their lifestyles and general health. This could include selling juices as part of a juice cleanse programme for customers.
However, should you wish to set up such a business, you should enquire about food safety, hygiene and other food licensing laws to ensure you don’t get caught out and fined or taken to court.
Repair and DIY Jobs – With the majority of the working population out at their places of employment between 9 and 5, it is more than likely that small jobs that need doing and fixing around the home can be done outside of regular working hours. This means that not only can you charge a little more due to the inconvenience, particularly in the case of emergency repairs (such as leaks and broken windows), but that you can do these jobs after finishing your day job.
Call Centre Jobs – You may not be aware but many call centres allow workers to work remotely and with many call centres being open 24/7, this allows people the opportunity to work from home during the later hours. It may be as easy as getting a work phone form your second employer and answering calls between a fixed set of hours. Bing able to do this from home means that as soon as you are home from your day job, you can begin the evening job for a few hours each day after work.
