How To Start A Business While Working a 9 to 5 | Victoria Jenn Rodriguez
Ever wonder how to start a business while still working a 9-5? Are you hesitant to pursue entrepreneurship because you don’t want your employer to find out? This week, Victoria Jenn breaks down her top strategies on how to start and grow a business, even if you’re still working for someone else and don’t want to lose your job.
In this episode:
The #1 thing you NEVER ask your boss
Don’t get sued: What to check before starting your business
Why your website doesn’t matter
What to do when your boss wants you to stop your side hustle
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How to Use Other People's Money and Raise Millions for Your Business I Beatriz Acevedo
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Full Transcript:
Welcome back to Banking on Cultura I am your host Victoria Jenn Rodriguez really excited to be with you here today and I have a huge huge announcement so I never do this but this summer I'm actually opening up two slots for private coaching to work oneon-one with me and this specific opportunity is geared toward leaders who find themselves questioning their purpose and are unsure of what their next chapter in life will be they're essentially at a Crossroads and they want more out of life and are just tired of following the rules they want to trailblaze their own path and live life on their terms without without risking their credibility in the marketplace does this sound like you well look coming from corporate I have over two decades of experience and I understand the sacrifices the risk darling and the game that you're forced to play in order to be taken seriously or Worse accepted you've worn The Mask dressed apart talk the talk and from the outside looking in you've made it yet you're unhappy you don't want to fake it anymore and deep down you you know that you're destined for more I trained over 20,000 leaders on how to use their uniqueness and their magic to build a life of influence purpose and freedom a life where they don't need a vacation to escape or feel alive a life that is exciting and peaceful at the same time so if you're listening to this and it resonates and it's speaking to your heart and ready to transform your life expand into the unknown and explore the beautiful parts of you that have been hidden for far too long I invite you to complete the application to participate in this private coaching opportunity this is going to be super high touch very white glove kind of experience so once the two slots are taken they're gone so if you're interested I will put the application Link in the show notes make sure to apply check that out I can't wait to hear about your goals and where we are going to take your life life next so cheers to your renewed life okay let's get into the nitty-gritty of today's episode so I want to talk about how you can position yourself as an expert and bring in some coins while you are still working I had a conversation with one of my students inside the dare to LEAP program and she was like you know what I'm kind of hesitant in building my brand putting myself out there because I don't want my employer to come for me right she works in the financial industry space and she was really concerned with putting herself out there especially because she knows that her organization actually has a policy that if you're making money anywhere else outside of the N9 to5 you need to alert them and if it's a conflict of interest you need to end it completely and so she was speaking to me about you know how she can still hold down her 9 to5 while also building her business and I love this question because I know so many women who are holding themselves back or not putting themselves out there because they're afraid that they're going to lose their job right so we're going to talk about what are some ways that you can still drive Revenue in your business and you can still grow your business without kind of like alerting your employer all right so the first thing I want to address and this is my opinion you guys can move as you so please but I'm a firm believer that when it comes to corporate when it comes to your employer I always recommend that you ask for forgiveness later versus asking for permission meaning if you show up to your boss and you're like hey I'm starting this business do I have your support your boss is going to be like no they want you to work they want you to spend all your time invested in that organization especially if you are someone of influence if you're making money in the organization if you're a high head count like six figures or more like hell no they don't want you to put any of your thought leadership towards anything else right they're hiring you to give them your thought leadership to give them all your ideas to give them all your time your energy all the things that's why they're giving you benefits that's why they're giving you the salary that's why they're giving you all the perks of whatever comes along with your gig because they essentially want to own you they do not want you to do anything else so knowing that the likelihood of you going to your boss and saying Hey I want your support I'm starting this business even if you tailor it in such a way and there could be a lot of truth to this where you say hey this is not going to interfere with what I got going on here I promise I not going to work on my business stuff while I'm here at work it's going to be two separate things you don't have to worry that's not going to fly it's not going to fly and if you are currently working a 9 to-5 and running a side hustle you also know that that's [ __ ] that's [ __ ] because if you have any downtime while you're at your nin of5 you're going to work on your business like why wouldn't you so in an effort to set yourself up for success and try to run your business on the side as long as possible while you are still working I highly encourage you to not tell your boss do not inform your company that you have started a business and some of you might be thinking well like okay if I don't tell them that's great but how am I going to get clients I need a website I need a market I need to let people know that I'm open for business I got you I get it oh and by the way the reason why I tell you do not tell them that you're starting a business and to ask for forgiveness later is because I actually went the opposite route when I was still in corporate and I started my business my first business I went to my boss and I was like hey I just want to give you the heads up that I've started this business and the reason why I told them that is because I remember when I signed my contract uh when they hired me I remember there being some type of language about you got to inform them or you have to like tell them what's happening and so me following the rules thinking like oh I signed this contract like yeah let me let me go and do this I told my boss and my boss was like oh wow that's amazing that that's incredible Victoria you should be really proud of myself left that meaning feeling really good next thing I know I get a call from my boss's boss to come to her office I get into her office and they're basically like Victoria Jen absolutely not you cannot have your business while you are still working here and I was like wow okay well I've already started the business because in my head I'm thinking well I already started the business because I'mma do what I want to do and I was just like okay okay thanks for the heads up appreciate it I'll I'll I'll figure out what next steps could look like so it was in that moment that I learned never again will I ask these folks if I can start a business and for some of you you might be hesitant because you're like but wait V like you signed the contract like when you got hired you signed that contract that you basically said that you would tell them the way that I Justified this is my business was not in direct conflict with what they were selling we sold completely different things it was completely different Industries there was no competition there whatsoever so I felt like you know what if they ever came for me they really didn't have much of a business case because I wasn't a direct competitor I wasn't poaching their clients right I wasn't taking their intellectual property none of that so really they can't sue me like what are you going to sue me on like you know the the worst case scenario we were going to have a breach of contract and they were going to fire me that's it there was no language that suggested I would have to give the money I would have to give them back some of my salary nothing in that offer letter whatsoever and if you are someone who pays attention to the details and just wants to cover your ass get your offer letter whatever you signed when you first joined the organization and check and see what the language is and if you really want to be razzled Dazzle take it up a notch and have a lawyer look it over and see if it's really binding right so that you can start this business and not feel scared right and not feel like they can come for you because ultimately they can't come for you unless you're starting a business that is in direct competition with them and your poaching clients and all those things like obviously they're going to come for you for that but if not worst case scenario they're going to let you go okay and by then the universe is giving you a sign anyway but if you want to be safe hey have the lawyer look it over and feel safe so let's talk about how you can actually position yourself so that people start looking at you as an expert and you can start making money without being all the way out there okay because there are ways for you to position yourself so let's talk about a website because everybody always wants to have a website you y'all some of y'all spending thousands of dollars to build your website and I'm telling you right now your website is not bringing you money honey your website is just a formality like don't waste your time trying to make your website perfect with the colors and this and that listen when you're first starting the goal is for you to make some money as quickly as possible a because it's going to validate that there's an actual need in the marketplace for it but B it's also going to build your confidence like holy [ __ ] people are going to pay me for this stuff okay so your website should be way way way way down on your priority list at most the only thing you should have is maybe a landing page which is one page has your bio on it uh and your areas of expertise and that's really all you need to get started you don't need 10 pages on your website you don't need that right away okay I'm still working on my website and I'm seven years in that thing is a labor of love it will never go away you will continuously be updating that bad boy so don't stress do not stress honey on this website thing while you're still working the type of website that you should build is a website that just focuses on your personal brand who you are as a person your areas of expertise that is what I would encourage you to do it is a One-Stop shop to kind of basically check out your bio that's it that's what I want you to have okay and this will not be something that will alarm your boss or anything like that it's just a One-Stop shop on all things you okay you're not saying hey if you want to hire me DM me or email me you're not saying these this is my service portfolio pick what you want and then email me you're not putting on that landing page oh here's my ebook go purchase it however if you really want to get snazzy with your employer and you know that you have colleagues that have written a book that are constantly pushing their book and selling their book I wouldn't be hesitant to bring that up in a meeting if anyone ever tries to press you or try to put your back up against the wall because you've started your business because technically that person that is pushing their book selling their book putting their link to their book on their LinkedIn post are selling a product or service outside of the organization okay and you got tons of Executives CEOs division leaders who are doing this so if you want to get spicy that's a way for you to get spicy but anywh who back to what I was saying so what you want to do is you want to make sure that you are positioning yourself as a brand positioning yourself as an expert okay and so that landing page is doing just that it essentially is what your LinkedIn is serving as right now your LinkedIn is basically a landing page of your expertise and your experience and and what you've done right so I want you to think about it in that way you can still have this kind of place where you can send people if they need more information on you without it being overly s or overly out there that you're an actual business owner you can actually even put on your personal landing page um I always love to connect with members of my Community don't hesitate to reach out you're not you're not saying you're selling anything you're not saying you're hiring you know you're you're getting hired as a coach or a consultant or hey book me to speak you're not saying any of that you're just saying Hey I want to connect with my community don't hesitate to reach out all right these are the little things that you can do to start positioning yourself and setting yourself up to collect some coins okay cuz what are we here to do we're here to secure the big bag always okay the next tip that I want you to do we interrupt our program to bring you this important message ooh this is really good you should know about this so I don't know about you but I've been known to procrastinate especially when things scare the hell out of me the fear alone would have me stuck overwhelmed confused and all types of self-doubt and don't even get me started on the impostor syndrome okay okay after getting laid off not once but three times honey I realized that the security blanket that I made up in my head was just an excuse because I didn't really want to bet on myself the corporate benefits that had me in that headlock girl they went out the window once my job decided that they no longer needed me it turns out that I'll save a whole nickel if I cut your salary completely the truth is the only security blanket guarantee is the one that you create for yourself in other words until you start a business you will always be at the mercy of a company's headcount and you will never have complete control over your time which means you'll be renting out your thought leadership and helping build someone else's dream instead of your own if you've been waiting for a sign this is it don't you think it's time you stop playing small and tap all the way into your power s click on the link above or below this video to learn my three-step process the exact three steps that I took to make the transition from corporate to entrepreneurship and this is helpful even if you don't know what type of business to start and have only one source of income and this is absolutely free it is my gift to you I want you to win it's WI win season in fact what's that it smells like winning season okay so tap in and I'll see you inside the training let's go is I want you to start posting a lot on LinkedIn a lot on LinkedIn more so than Instagram or Tik Tok the reason why is because people on LinkedIn they pay more and they're usually there because they want to learn something they want to learn an interesting tip they want to learn about what you do outside of work they are just eager to learn versus social media like Instagram Tik Tock Vibe people are really there to be entertained right they're there to be entertained they're there to be visually stimulated they're there to Kiki okay LinkedIn people are usually there with more intention and that's the people that you want talk to because you want to talk to people who are serious who who actually want to hire you ASAP okay so I want you to start posting more on LinkedIn about your expertise sharing stories about advice that you gave to someone sharing stories about a product that you recommended someone sharing stories that will position you as someone that people can trust and that's someone that people can look to for strategic insight and advice someone who they can rely on someone who they can respect right you're building your credibility by sharing these stories sharing your expertise you can even go as far as and this could be really cool and this is if you're a coach you're a consultant speaker this is a really cool tip um for you but even you know what even if you have a product or service like if you have a skincare line but I'll start first with if you're a coach consultant speaker you can even start a series on LinkedIn where you go live on LinkedIn and the way to go live on LinkedIn is you use a system called streamyard that is what I use to go live on LinkedIn so have you ever wondered like how the hell are these people going live on LinkedIn that's what they're doing they're using something called streamyard and there might be others but that's the one that I use so you can even go live and you can host a series where you ask people to submit a question who are seeking out advice on a particular topic and if you're just giving advice out for free more likely than that somebody's going to hit you a direct message or send you an email and be like hey I would love to invite you to come and speak at XYZ or hey I'm I'm looking for a coach do you offer coaching services and then you can have that conversation behind the scenes it doesn't need to happen in public front and center but what you are doing is you're positioning yourself as an expert and you're actually drawing your consumer base to you right by offering something to the community so let's say you have the skin care line right you have an actual product that you are selling you can start a series talking about how to take care of your skin just you can say this is like a passion project that I'm working on and something that I'm using to just learn more about my community and educate my community because as a person of color or because as a woman or because as a gentleman we don't take care of our skin enough and this is why it's important da like you can literally come up with a whole series that will position you as an expert without you ever saying if you want to work with me hit me up here oh if you want this ebook go here I'm selling this I'm selling that you can literally start creating a brand for yourself without any of that and I highly encourage you to do that right because this is a way for you to start showcasing yourself as an expert in the marketplace without your employer like flipping out and if you really think about it your employer actually it would be in their best interest for you to Showcase your expertise because they also want to build a brand that they hire the best talent right they have the best people working at their organization and that's why consumers want to work with them so you can actually spin the block on them turn the script on them to say well look positioning myself as an expert actually makes you look better because you hired me oh all right so let's keep going yes yes all right I spoke about not asking for permission ask for forgiveness okay and this could work well in your personal relationships as well y'all okay it's always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission all right because you could always play dumb and be like oh I I I didn't know or I wasn't aware oh wow I I I had no idea that this would land this way thank you so much for bringing that to my attention listen use that corporate talk all right and that passive aggressiveness that tends to work very well in a corporate setting use that to your advantage all right use it to your advantage use their own medicine against them okay also another way that you can really start positioning yourself is by speaking right going on speaking engagements now where it can get dicey is if you're getting paid for these speaking engagements your employer finds out right they might not really fly with that but let's say you are speaking at your church right at a committee meeting you're speaking at a nonprofit you're speaking at something that is community related right that is different from you getting hired by a huge conference to come and speak on that stage right because your employer you are representing their brand essentially in outside the office and they want to make sure that you don't have them looking a fool out here that's really what it's about right they want to make sure that you don't have them looking a fool outside all right so what you want to do is if you're going to do speak engagements which I highly encourage you to do I would flirt with opportunities where you're able to practice right you're able to practice talking about yourself you're able to practice talking about your area of expertise you're able to practice out outside of work right because it's one thing when you have that corporate Talk inside the office right and you're talking to colleagues and you're talking to your boss like it's a different vibe when you are representing yourself in that Arena versus when you are representing yourself as you the individual as the business owner it's a very different vibe so the more practice you can get with that the better so if you have opportunities to volunte ER and to coach as a volunteer in your you know Community Clinic do it because you're going to start building up your confidence and also flexing your muscle if you're watching this video I'm like flapping my I'm flapping my arms for those who are listening and not watching but it's an opportunity for you to flex your muscle and get into this groove and really put your business hat on that you're really doing it okay so you want to put in those reps and it'll be much easier for you to build the business case and have a stronger argument if you're just volunteering right and your job finds out be like well I'm volunteering and what you can also do to secure yourself and also to secure your employers before you speak you can always say these are my opinions this is why a lot of people's like Twitter accounts or X whatever you want to call it I still call it Twitter I will always call it Twitter I don't know what Elon Musk was thinking he actually did a poll the other day saying you know how do you do you still call it Twitter or X and the majority of people was like Twitter and he was like too bad we're keeping it X I'm like what was what what was the point of that poll like he is such a great example of not giving your consumers what they want and like still winning like it's crazy however that is why you see on people's Twitter profiles uh you know these are my opinions these are are not anybody else's opinions because they want to make sure that that distinction is made and you should practice that I think that's a good best practice for you as well because you can also bring that back to your boss man or whoever and be like well before I spoke I did say I did say that these opinions are mine okay and nobody else's so I follow the rules right so that's another way for you to safeguard yourself okay and then the real takeaway here y'all is if you're working for an organization that you know is literally like surveillancing your life they are tracking your every mood they're tracking your freaking keyboard Strokes which is insane that organizations are doing this like if you're going to let people work from home like let them work from home if they're still getting work done let them get their freaking work done like stop trying try to micromanage these people like it's crazy but if you're at an organization that is literally all up in your space and not letting you live like not letting you live and is not giving you freedom to be the amazing individual that you are they are just monitoring everything then you really need to question whether or not you want to be there y'all like do you really want to be there do you really want to be working for an organization that has that much authority over your life is it worth it truly like is it worth it is it worth it because I'm pretty sure it's got to be frustrating to know that so much of your life is being monitored because they're offering flexibility for you it's like they're giving you a treat but there are strings to that treat you know what I'm saying like yeah work from home but you need to have your camera on and we need to monitor all of your strokes and we need you need to have a clear background we need to make sure you're like working from home I was also reading this on threads if you don't follow y'all I'm I'm a threads fan right now like I'm on threads I'm you will not find me on X Twitter whatever you want to call it but you will honey you will find me on the threads so actually follow me over on threads if you're on threads I love it over there right now I actually saw this on threads too where this girl was working from home but she decided to take vacation but she was working from vacation like she was still working she was at a hotel and she was still you know she's clocked in 9 to 500 she's going to be working 9 to 5 but she's at a resort and her boss first was hackling her because she had her background blurred and the boss was like hey you know the rules you can't have your background blurred you need to like have it clear and she's like why do I need to have it clear like I'm here you're seeing me I'm on video like what does it matter what's happening behind me I don't want to show you what's happening behind me and the boss supposedly got like really nasty to the point where she let her see what was behind behind her and then the boss proceeded to then ask her where are you are you not working from home you know the policy is that if you're working from home you actually have to be home and home girl was like why do I need to be home like I'm showing up from work you're still getting what you want like who cares where I'm at and then the boss's response was well what if I need you in the office and she's like what are you going to need me in the office for like I'm not a doctor I'm not saving lives like what do you really need me in the office for today like for what and there was really nothing that the boss could say but it was one of those things that really made me feel so blessed and have so much gratitude that even though this entrepreneurship thing is very hard it is very hard it has its EV and flows it is an emotional roller coaster it is stretching me in ways that I never dreamed imaginable and yes it would be so much easier to go work on 9 to 5 it truly would be but in these moments when I hear these examples I'm just like wow how lucky am I that I get to decide where I work when I work how much I work who I work with how I show up how I dress how I talk all the things like how lucky am I to have that type of freedom and so I just want you guys to think about it you only have one life to live like is it really worth it is it really worth it you working this night to five and if it is cool no doubt but I'm really interested in in why you listening to beging anura cuz over here we about starting and growing our businesses that's what's we about I mean we're about a lot of other things too let me let me not throw shade let me not throw shade uh but ultimately guys what I'm trying to say is you are the architect of your destiny and if you allow someone else to dictate how you show up in life you will have regrets you will have regrets and you will feel like you you're a sellout and you didn't really live up to the potential that you have because you allowed someone else to literally determine how much money you make where you work your family Dynamics how you speak how you dress how you show up in the world and I just want you to ask like is it worth it so real quick reminder earlier I spoke about private coaching that I'm offering so if you are in this place where you're stuck and you want to get out you want to color outside the lines like you're ready for this next chapter but you're unsure of what direction to take next because you're unclear you don't know what your purpose is you don't even know what your life would look like outside of a 9to 5 or maybe you're in a 9 to5 five and you just want to figure out how to balance it all how to incorporate everything so that life just becomes more fluid and fun you know like you feel alive like you feel just like this this this this energy to wake up in the morning and just feel thankful for for living for breath for life if this speaks to you definitely fill out the application in the show notes I can't wait to hear from you and I really appreciate you guys tuning in to today's episode as always please please please give us your feedback let us know what you think in the comments and I want to send so much love to you thank you so much for tuning in I'll see you in the next episode guys M Besitos M I need your help look the real game behind podcast is we need to really understand our demo AKA you our audience so that when we go out to SP sponsors who help us put on this amazing show and deliver this content to you that they can clearly understand who we serve and what is significant to you and what you value and the only way for us to get that information is for you to give it to us so we just created this survey I'll put it in the show notes it will take you less than 3 minutes literally but it will be so helpful for us to get a better understanding of what it is that you care about what's important to you what do you value so that when we're at out in these streets trying to secure the big bag and get sponsors for this show they know exactly who our audience is and what you care about so we can bring you the best products we can bring you the best organizations that are out here serving the Cultura the community you so please take a moment and fill out the survey I'll link it in the show notes appreciate you hey guys if you enjoyed this video I'm pretty sure you're going to love the next one so make sure to click right here and tap in to the next episode.