By Paul Lawrence

The best way to create a steady source of income is to start a side business - one that could potentially be expanded into a full-time career.

The good news is that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of small businesses that can be started on a part-time basis with little capital.

Maybe you feel trapped by economic circumstances in a job you don’t like. Or maybe you enjoy your day job, but you want the security of having a side business to fall back on… just in case. Or maybe you just want an extra stream of income to supplement your salary.

No matter what your reasons are for starting a side business, here’s how to do it:

Analyse your available time

There are 168 hours in a week. If you subtract 56 hours for sleep (eight hours a day), you’ve got 112 left. If you give yourself another four hours a day for eating, travel, and taking care of personal needs, you’ve got 84 hours. Give yourself another 10 hours to have some kind of social life, and you still have 74 hours. Assuming you currently work 40 hours a week, that means you’ve got 34 hours a week to build your business.

When you’ll be able to use those free hours depends upon your schedule. If your current job is 9-5, that pretty much limits you to evenings and weekends. That’s how I started teaching ballroom dancing. I booked lessons in the evening and on weekends until I was earning enough to be able to quit my day job.

Identify possible businesses you could operate

The easiest side businesses to start are those that take advantage of any skills, interests, or resources that you already possess.

Expert copywriter Don Hauptman taught people how to sharpen their copywriting and marketing skills. Real estate expert Julie Broad invested in multi-family homes while working her day job, and started a business offering real estate investing advice. (She recently quit her job to pursue the real estate business full-time.)

If you love animals, you could start a side business as a dog walker. If you enjoy scrapbooking, you could sell scrapbooking materials and lessons online. If you’re an antiques collector, you could teach other collectors how to find and buy antiques. If you have a small truck and a strong back, you could deliver furniture for local stores. If you are a black belt in karate, you could teach martial arts.

As I said, I was working for a retail jewellery chain when I decided to turn my passion for ballroom dancing into a side business. As much as I loved to dance, I didn’t feel qualified to teach. So I took a part-time position as an apprentice at a dance studio to hone my skills.

Meanwhile, I got started on the next step to starting my business…

Make a plan and go for it

Once you know what kind of business you want to start, you’ll be able to come up with a specific plan of action to get it up and running. In the case of my ballroom dance business, the plan included the following:

*  Visit ballrooms and make deals to (1) work for them as a freelance instructor and (2) rent their idle studio space to teach my own students.
*  Place ads in the classified section of the local newspaper.
*  Identify businesses that offer services to people who might be interested in ballroom dance lessons (e.g., wedding planners, tuxedo rentals), and approach them about doing joint ventures.

A few words of caution…

If you are dependent upon the income from your full-time job, don’t do anything to jeopardise it. You might not even want to mention that you have an outside interest. If your boss thinks you’ve already got one foot out the door, you could be the first to be let go at layoff time.

Don’t “cheat” the company by doing anything related to your side business during your regular workday. And don’t even think about stealing customers, vendors, or employees from them. It’s morally and legally wrong. If you have signed a non-compete agreement, you could be liable for damages - and face a possible court order to cease your operation.

That said, nothing should stop you from starting your own side business and securing your financial future. It may not be easy to find the time in your already busy schedule - but with some careful planning, you can do it.