There is a growing tide of people wanting to find security, freedom and flexibility through embarking on their own small business venture. Many have already taken the plunge by quitting the job while many others are hoping for that day to come someday soon.

There are many reasons that people don’t want to quit their day job to pursue their business idea. Some have family and mortgage commitments, maybe you are fearful of losing your regular paycheck or maybe you just aren’t sure if your business idea will succeed.

Whatever your reasons are there is no reason why you can’t bootstrap your business idea while holding on to your day job. In fact the greatest freedom you can aspire to is getting your business to the stage where you can comfortably quit your job.

Here are ways to get started with your business on the side.
Use Your Salary. After all if you want to start a business there is going to be expenses involved to get it up and running. Try to figure out the bare essential expenses and commit your own money to the venture. If you aren’t willing to fund your business then it’s tough to think that someone else is going to. If you have an idea that you are excited about you can start with a paycheck at a time. Set aside a small amount of your paycheck that can go towards your business. Think of it as an investment, if you are having trouble coming up with extra cash at the end of each paycheck period then you might want to reconsider your household expenses after all the thought of creating a long term business venture is more appealing then short term expenses.

Look at where you are currently spending your time. Find out all the areas that you currently enjoy spending your time on. These could be hobbies or clubs that you are affiliated with. Chances are you might have useful knowledge and expertise that you could capitalize on and be able to either provide a useful service or see a niche that is untapped that you could create a business venture with using little of your money cause you are already spending in this area to begin with.

Find an opportunity in your current field of employment. As most employees will be aware there are always things your company could be doing better, maybe there is an untapped market or opportunity to service your clients better. If this is the case you could present a proposal to try and bring your current employer in as a joint venture partner while offering to work on the project in your spare time. There are many instances where employees have been able to get support from their boss to work on a project that was to benefit their current employer and themselves through a profit sharing agreement.