How Similar Should Your Side Business and Day Job Be?
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On March 4th I wrote a post titled Side Business, Smart Business in which I made a few claims about side business. Among other things, I said: “Don’t do the same thing you do in your day job.”
Everyone didn’t agree. Which got me thinking.
Why is it that some people want to keep their side job close to what they are used to doing in their career while others see it as a possibility for trying out something new? Why did Jørgen Emerslund think that I was “missing a bit on my point?”
That comment and the related post (which doens’t seem to be up anymore), finally inspired me to write a new take on the topic.
The key question: what brought you to your day job?
In my day job, I am a programmer.
I studied computer science (in fact, I still do), then got a job in which I can put my education to practice in exchange for money.
But to really understand what programming means to me and why I ended up as a programmer (and why I don’t want my side business to be about programming), we have to go further back in history.
I started programming as a kid, a bit over ten years old or so, because I wanted to create something. Back then my hobbies were all about expressing creativity. Including, but not limited to programming: there was Legos, composing music, writing stories, making movies, drawing… To put it short, I was interested in pretty much everything that involved creating something.
I’m a programmer because I want to imagine great things and see them take shape.
Probably not the first reason that comes to mind when you think of a programmer, is it?
But I hope it explains why I advice against doing the same thing you do in your day job: to me, programming is just one way of expressing my dominant, creative side. I guess it’s the same side of me that makes me insanely interested in everything - a generalist rather than a specialist. I don’t want to be trapped doing just one thing all the time. Instead, I look at the big picture and see that I can do my thing with some other tools as well.
It’s all about how you see yourself
If you view yourself as a specialist, you don’t want to do many different things. You have found your one and only thing, and in your side business you want to do that very same one thing - with the difference that there you want to do it by your own rules.
I, on the other hand, look at the world with the mindset of a guy who wants to do many things. So, to me the idea of doing the same thing in my side business as my day job feels limiting.
Sure, there are some technical benefits from separating side business from day job, such as not having to worry about competing against your employer, but those are just additional bonus. The real question is whether you want to do just one thing or many things.
What’s your choice?
So, when I wrote the tip stating that you shouldn’t do the same thing as you do in your day job, I was looking at the idea of a side business from the polymath’s point of view. I think many of the commentators looked at it through expert glasses.
But to be honest, I think both options are valid. Which one you should pick depends on nothing more than your personality and skills. You should pick the approach that suits you best.
So, let’s open the discussion again: What do you choose? Why?
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April 17th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Well, I have the multitasking skills of a goldfish and I don’t have a day job anymore, so I doubt I’m entirely qualified to answer this question in the present tense. However, not being qualified has never stopped me before, so I may as well run my mouth off anyway.
I think the factors to consider are energy and creativity. When I was working in The Most Boring Day Job In Human History, I didn’t utilize any creativity at work. That left me with lots of creativity to use for the freelance writing side gig. The only energy I burned at work was the energy required to sit upright in a chair, so that helped as well.
Now my “day job” is my business, and I can’t write my way out of a wet paper bag anymore. My energy and creativity is used up on clients and at the end of the day I sit around and watch CSI reruns because that’s all I can do.
I think that unless you’re superhuman and have no outside responsibilities, it’s very difficult to be creative at work and then do it again in the side gig. Certainly worthwhile, but really hard. If I worked in a day job that required me to wring out my brain writing interesting press releases all day and then wanted to come home and do it freelance on the side, I’d very likely die.
Looking forward to the other responses. :-)
Naomi Dunford’s last blog post: Moral of the Story: Cool Kids Edition
April 17th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Great post Jarkko! You know some of my story through e-mail and comments and I am working through this same scenario.
I think it’s difficult for people like us who have the passion to try and do many things. Some experts say specialize and focus, others (like stated in Success Built to Last)say one “thing” is a bunch of BS. How does this apply to a side business?
The idea I have decided on is what brings me joy. Most of my days are spent designing for clients and I can relate to Naomi about watching reruns at the end of the day because we are spent. But I still like to design or create for myself after their stuff is done…actually sometimes I put my task’s first - but don’t tell anyone! I love to create but now I am finding I like to do it in a variety of ways.
So I am rambling. My two cents is if you love what you do during your day job and want to do more of it at night, go for it. If you are burned out and want to do an entirely different gig, do that. Just don’t give up your family time and soul for it. Don’t do something just because you could make money at it. Something you love to do changes when there is money attached to it. Lastly, I say pray about it because if we are in God’s will, He will make our paths straight!
OK, I gotta go do my work. Peace!
James Dalman’s last blog post: What I Learned in Jail: Part One
April 17th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
I’m one of those who does the same thing with my side business as I do with my day job. I am a web designer for both, and frankly can’t imagine doing anything else.
I feel blessed that I am able to do the type of work that I enjoy for my day job - I couldn’t imagine spending 8 hours a day doing some type of work that I didn’t actually enjoy doing.
In my case, I guess both started simultaneously - I interned for an internet development company back in college, which turned into a full time job (going on 9 years at the same company!)
At the same time, I had always been doing sites for friends or family on my own time. So it was a fairly natural progression that this turned into designing web sites for referrals and other new clients.
I kind of wish I knew I’d go this route, because I certainly would have taken some business courses in college too. I’m actually surprised that I enjoy the business side of things, too! Maybe that helps keep the work fresh as well.
Anyway, if you love what you do - why not do it for both jobs?
In my case, what I do freelancing is still slightly different than at my day job. My day job now focuses more on the front-end development, and is not as creative as it initially was. On my side business, I’m the designer and developer (and my own boss, LOL) so I get to be as creative as I want to. I’m able to spend as much time as I want learning new techniques etc (wheras on the day job you can’t really take the time to create a learning experience for yourself as well).
Funny - now that I think about this more - yes, I’m a web designer/developer for both jobs, but my tasks are actually much different between the two. I guess that’s why I really don’t mind it, because I can work on different sides of the same job.
Thanks for the food for thought! :)
Selene M. Bowlby’s last blog post: GhostBlogging.net - Bloggers: Meet Writers
April 17th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
I don’t have a day job anymore. This is because I can’t continue to pretend to enjoy the difference between my day job and my side job’s nature.
Alfa’s last blog post: Password Ideas: Dates and Initials Don’t Need to Be Forgotten
April 18th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
@Naomi: Before joining the current company I work for, I was a tram driver for two years.
It was boring. But just because of that it was also a great job because it let me think about my own ideas and projects while still being able to do my work well. Now I work in a more creative job as a programmer, so I can’t just do my work and think about other stuff while doing it - I actually need to concentrate to my work.
It’s true that doing creative work during the day (while not quite as creative as my own ideas) and on my own after work is not always the best solution - but then again, it lets me be creative for the whole day. And at least, the creativity needed for my day job is quite different from the creativity needed in my business.
@James: Wise words, man!
@Selene: I agree, “if you love what you do - why not do it for both jobs?” but to some people (like myself) it’s not that simple as they want to do more things.
Or maybe I just don’t love what I do enough… I’m not sure ;)
@Alfa: Good for you! I like the openness in your comment. When it comes to me, I’m not even sure if I’m pretending or not. I hope I’m not.
April 18th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
I am just thinking after these comments about my day job. I have been quite happy with programming but I started to wonder how great it would be with something better. Luckily changing jobs wont cause any broken hearts :-)
April 19th, 2008 at 6:47 am
I’m a programmer in my day job. My side job includes programming but it’s totally different. I use different languages and solve different types of problems. I think most importantly my side job relates to my passion of cycling and the outdoors. Programming is just a tool that can be used in millions of different ways.
April 19th, 2008 at 10:01 am
@Pepez: I hope I’m not causing any broken hearts by making people think about leaving their jobs ;)
But the funny thing is that although I write about doing different things, and sometimes sound like the guy who keeps switching jobs all the time, I’m in fact one of the most long-time employees at my current employer. I guess the fact that I do my own things on the side has actually made me stick at my current job.
@Ultrarob: Good point! Actually, that’s the beauty of programming / software engineering. You can use it for pretty much anything. That’s why even if in the long run I end up not being a programmer, I don’t think I’ll ever regret learning the skill :)
What kind of programming do you do in your side job? Is it related to your blog?
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:21 pm
My side job is working on my website that has my blog. Most of the time I’ve been spending on it for a while has been on a cycling and outdoor gear search. I have plenty of other things I want to add.
I still consider the cycling and outdoor gear search in beta but I was getting decent traffic until about a month ago when my host let the database server get overloaded but insisted nothing was wrong. I had plenty of evidence otherwise. I spent a bunch of effort making the switch to another host. My site went live on the new host over the weekend. Hopefully my traffic will come back now that the pages aren’t taking forever to load.
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Ouch… I hope you’ll get your traffic back soon!
Your side business sounds great though, because it’s so closely related to your passion towards cycling and outdoor sports in general.
April 26th, 2008 at 1:58 am
The traffic loss is a bit depressing. At least I still have my day job or it would be really stressful. Hopefully it’ll push me to make things better rather than quitting. So far I’ve been obsessed with getting my site to the point of feeling good about promoting it more.