The majority of the women we meet and teach at The Blogcademy are just starting their blogs or businesses and most of them simultaneously hold down a full or part time job. Most of them tell us that their ultimate goal is to quit these jobs so they can focus on working for themselves. While we encourage them to do that when they’re ready, we’re also keen to share with them the huge benefits of working a day job while pursuing their dreams.

You won’t be stressing about money

You’re never going to be at your most creative when you’re stressing about money. Having a day job that pays the bills and puts food on your table really takes that pressure off your baby business. Stressing about money is never fun, so I’d encourage you to hold onto that safety net for as long as you can!

When I got to the stage where I felt like I wanted to quit my job as a TV producer Gareth (ever the voice of reason) said that I should really wait until I was earning the same – or more! – from Rock n Roll Bride as I was my day job. At the time this seemed like a huge benchmark to aim for (I am forever impatient) but in retrospect I am so glad that I followed this advice. Far from stifling me, having a job that paid the bills allowed me the freedom of growing my business without the pressure of worrying about money.

It was also a lot easier for me to reinvest in the business with any (however small) profit I was making from it. Spending money on my branding for example was a massive game changer for me and really helped step up the appearance of being a ‘professional blogger’. If I was solely relying on what I was earning from the blog at that time I would have not only have gone very hungry, but the blog wouldn’t have been able to progress as quickly.

It makes you a time management wizard

It’s amazing what you can achieve in a relatively short amount of time when you really focus! Let’s be honest, most of us ‘full timers’ probably spend half of our working days being productive and the rest of it on Facebook or watching endless cat videos on YouTube!

If you are time poor, make sure you schedule in a set time when you’ll be working on the business. It could just be as little as 20 minutes a day, but if you sit down and know you’re going to crack on with it, I promise you’ll be surprised at just how much you can achieve.

You can be pickier with who you work with

As your time is so limited and you’re not relying solely on the income you’re making, you can be much more choosy about who you decide to work with. Being a bit more selective with your clients means you can decide to only work with the kinds of people that you really want to. You can focus your energy on attracting your ideal client more than ever.

You can be the tortoise, not the hare

Growing at a slow and steady rate is not a bad thing. We might all be incredibly impatient and want to be instantly successful, but realise that overnight successes often turn into one hit wonders. Growing slowly enables you to not only be sure this is really the business for you, but enables you to learn as you go and means that any mistakes are not as catastrophic as they could be.

So stop thinking that you haven’t ‘made it’ yet because you haven’t quit your day job. Realise that you’re making a smart and solid investment in your future by still working elsewhere and that not having to rely on one income (which in the beginning is likely to be pretty piddily anyway) is helping to grow your business and is often the much shrewder approach in the long run.