ENHANCING YOUR PASSION

Get Your
Passion Project
Moving
Without
Quitting Your
Day job
You’ve finally figured out what you
want to do with your life — start a
company, launch a website, design an
app, or found a nonprofit. The only
problem is that you can’t afford to quit
your job (and lose your benefits) in
order to pursue it fulltime. So, where
should you start? What’s the best way to
get your passion project moving? And
how can you tell when you’re ready to
strike out on your own?
What the Experts Say
Knowing where your professional
passions lie puts “you in a good
position,” says Dorie Clark, the author of
Reinventing You: Define Your Brand,
Imagine Your Future . Lots of people
don’t know what they want to do.
“They’re struggling because they know
they’re not happy doing what they’re
doing, but they don’t know what else is
out there.” An idea is certainly a
promising start, but executing it while
holding down a busy fulltime job is
undoubtedly a challenge. “You’ve nailed
the one percent inspiration, now it’s
time for the 99% perspiration,” says
Daniel Gulati, the coauthor of Passion &
Purpose: Stories from the Best and
Brightest Young Business Leaders . “If you
are committed to making it happen,
there are ways,” says Clark. So, whether
you want to start a company that could
become The Next Big Thing or you have
a hobby that you’d like to spend more
time on, here are some ideas to get your
idea up and running.
Create a strategy
“Begin by sketching out exactly what it
is you want to achieve,” says Gulati. Is it
a large, scalable company? Is it a small
company? Is it a charitable
organization? “You want to have
specific, concrete goals to shoot for,
including revenue targets and [desired]
social impact.” Next, make a timeline
based on what you think you can
reasonably accomplish toward your
project in the time you have. “Your
biggest constraint is how many hours
you have to devote to this side project,
so commit to an end-date [when you’d
ideally like to leave your job] and solve
backward from there,” he says. As you
chip away on your project, continue to
give your job the attention it needs.
“Your day job takes precedence,” says
Gulati. You must also be willing to
extend your timeline if your proposed
end-date doesn’t seem realistic the
closer you get, adds Clark. “Be prepared
to make adjustments.”
Save money
“Having financial security gives you the
opportunity to build your business on
your terms,” says Gulati. But if your
ultimate goal is to one day leave your
job and devote yourself fulltime to your
project, “you will need a financial
cushion” — particularly to get you
through the early stages of your new
venture, says Clark. Your timeline, she
says, should include clearly defined
savings targets for each month or
quarter and — if necessary — a plan for
raising money from investors. “If you
don’t have sufficient funds [when you
leave your job], you will make bad
business decisions out of fear.”
FURTHER READING
How to Stay Stuck in the Wrong
Career
PROFESSIONAL TRANSITIONS ARTICLE by
Herminia Ibarra
The biggest mistake people make when
trying to change careers is delaying the
first step until they have settled on a
destination.
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Take control of your schedule
Perhaps the biggest challenge is finding
time in your busy schedule to work on
your project. A good starting point, says
Clark, is to begin keeping a time log.
“Look at how you’re spending your
time, and make sure you’re using it the
way you want to,” she says. The log will
ideally help you discover valuable
stretches of “free time that you’ve either
missed or not accounted for” that could
be channeled into your new endeavor,
she adds. If after looking at your log,
you’ve uncovered very little wiggle
room, you might explore the idea of
outsourcing parts of your project to a
paid helper, says Gulati. For instance,
can you hire someone to help you code?
Or pay a freelance consultant to do
market research? “If you’re cash-rich
and time-poor, look for opportunities to
trade money for time,” he says.
Patch weak spots
Clark recommends listing the “concrete
skills you need to develop in order to be
successful at pursuing your passion full-
time.” Once you have a list of necessary
skills, figure out how to acquire them.
Perhaps you need to take a class; maybe
an internship or apprenticeship is in
order. Clark suggests identifying ways to
“stretch your job description” to learn
new skills. For example, if knowing how
to build websites will be important to
your new venture, see if your current
job will subsidize a class in web design
that will also help you in your current
job. “It should be win-win for your
company,” she says. Your goal, adds
Gulati, is to make the case: “This side
project is a form of learning that helps
me do my day job.”
Ask for flexibility
It’s not out of the question that your
boss may even give you leeway to work
on your venture, according to Clark.
“Read the culture of your organization”
to get a feel for whether or not people
would be supportive, she says. “If others
have flexibility for personal reasons” —
say they coach their daughter’s soccer
team, they take guitar lessons, or they
are writing a book — “you may be able
to have flexibility to pursue a vocational
passion, too.” And you may have more
leverage if you’re a valued employee
and your boss is concerned you’ll leave.
“It’s a judgment call,” says Gulati, as to
whether you alert your boss and peers
to your intentions. Another option is to
see whether you can take an unpaid
leave of absence without losing your
benefits, he says. “Being able to work on
[your project] for a big block of time is
an opportunity to really accelerate the
pace of your progress and get it to the
next big milestone.”
Don’t be sneaky
In most cases, there’s no need to be
overly secretive about your project at
work. Clark says that being honest
makes what you’re doing “less
suspicious and more legitimate.” When
talking to others, “frame your project in
a way that shows value to your
company because you are learning new
skills that you can apply to your current
job,” she adds. After all, your current
coworkers represent a “ready-made
network of colleagues who can help you
think through your idea and give you
feedback,” says Gulati. They are also
“your biggest allies” and the first port of
call for reference checks from potential
investors. “It’s in your best interest to
be transparent,” he says, adding that
“externally committing” to your project
increases accountability and “ups the
ante for you.” That said, many people at
work will naturally “be skeptical,” he
says. “There is a default assumption that
this [project] is going to take up time
and hamper your performance. You
need to make sure it doesn’t impact
your day-to-day work.” If you think that
your boss or colleagues may be less than
supportive, talk with family and friends
about the project instead.
Be brave
There comes a time when you have to
ask yourself, says Gulati: “By virtue of
doing your project on the side — and
not spending all of your time on it — are
you robbing yourself of success?” It’s a
question only you can answer, of
course. “Following your passion might
seem daunting,” says Clark. “But if
you’ve planned your transition well,
you’re not taking a heedless risk.”
Instead, she says, you’re making an
“investment in your happiness and in
your future.”