Why Keeping Your 9 to 5 Job Is An Advantage To Starting A Business

At 13 years I old I knew I wanted to live a life of martial arts and fitness.

With that desire to be in control of my own reality so I could live the life I wanted for myself, it lead me down the road of entrepreneurship.

This path taught me how to turn my ideas into reality & one day when I was 20 years old, I started my own gym out of my Mom's garage.

I saw some success in the matter but not enough to see growth at the pace I would like it. This lead me to making the decision to close my garage gym down and go work in a gym to get first hand experience.

This would mark the moment where I realized how having a 9 to 5 job is the smartest strategy for new entrepreneurs.

By working a 9 to 5 at a gym I put myself to learn everything I needed to know about running a gym and now Im getting ready to reopen my garage gym once again.

Today I want to share the biggest lessons I learned from keeping a 9 to 5 that allowed me to build my brand and set out to open a gym once again.

Keeping a 9 to 5 allows you to learn risk free.

The beauty of starting a business is that you call all the shots and remain in complete control of your business.

The downside is that you also take on all the responsibility, all the risks, and all the consequences if you were to mess up or fall short on anything.

A 9 to 5 that aligns with the type of business you plan to start allows you to learn and make mistakes (to a degree) without any risks.

The biggest risk you can face at a 9 to 5 is just getting fired. Running your own business have risks far bigger than just being fired.

Don't place yourself under so much pressure if you don’t have to. Instead, place yourself in a work environment that allows you to learn new skill sets that you can apply to your business or expand and sharpen your current skill sets so you can be ready to venture on your own.

Personally, I just took on a role as a Sales Manager at a local MMA Gym so I could refine my skill for sales.

During this process I've also learned

• how to operate different gym softwares

• how to set up automations & workflows

• how to gain new leads with content

• how class programming affects a gym

Could I have learned this on my own, yes but I was able to learn more efficiently by learning from a gym that has a program that works.

Plus though I came here to refine my sales, I was still able to learn a bulk of other things on top of that which serves me a greater purpose overall.

Learning the proven Systems & Failures of a business is your playbook for success.

This is the #1 advantage for working at a 9 to 5. Post people's business fail because they don't have a system that works or lack knowledge of a system that has already been proven to work.

Having systems in your business is like having organs in your body. They are needed to make sure your business can work seamlessly or on autopilot.

It's also important to know the failures of the business you work for because in some cases failures can be universal across the board.

This will help you identify what not to do in your own business. On the other hand, failures can also be used as a means to find solutions to something that doesn't work.

You can use another business failures as a experiment, find out what caused that failure, and then try to turn that failure into a success.

This can even be a business within itself. Businesses will pay top dollar for someone to come in and figure out why their problems aren't being solved.

Those who can master systems, understand failures, and solve problems will never go hungry in this world.

Your business will never go hungry with your Employer being your Investor.

Not everyone can start a business with a $20,000.00 loan nor does everyone come from a family of money to start whatever business venture they want.

During the time when cash is tight, having a 9 to 5 could be your salvation to keeping your business running and if I’m being honest Im a prime example.

Closing my garage gym didn't hurt me too much but when covid hit, that changed my business drastically!

Not only was my business wasn't making money any more but I wasn't making money anymore because we were out of work.

The moment we did go back to work, I made a mental decision to start depositing a portion of my check into a separate bank account just to keep my business running.

When I released my first book a year later, I didn't have to worry about printing cost because I already had money set aside from my 9 to 5.

Later in the year of 2021 when I started my first martial arts school & lead a team of fighters in a tournament, I didn't have to worry about scraping up money for uniforms because my 9 to 5 money covered that.

The other advantage of having a 9 to 5 is that is gives you a number goal to hit.

If you know you make $5K/month and you want to eventually quit your job to work for yourself full time, then you know you have to make at least $5K or more every month in your own business to make that transition.

A 9 to 5 is not the bain of your existence.

Staying complacent and never striving to venture outside of your 9 to 5 can be though.

Never feel ashamed to have a job is that job is going to be the determining factor that will help you scale your business in the future.

Alot of successful entrepreneurs today have built their brands while simultaneously working their 9 to 5 job by simply documenting their process and sharing their knowledge online with just 1 hour a day with hopes to help and inspire others.

Just like what I’m doing with this Newsletter.

If you want to start your own business while working your 9 to 5 so you can eventually break free from it and live life on your own terms, consider starting your newsletter with Beehiiv! (It’s what i use so it only makes sense to recommend what I use; you can check out more below!

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RastaRiek | The Martial-Preneur

About the Author: 

RastaRiek, also known as The Martial-Preneur, is a dedicated martial artist and entrepreneur committed to helping fellow martial artists achieve success both on and off the mat. Through his newsletter and coaching services, RastaRiek empowers martial artists to turn their passion for martial arts into a thriving business, following in the footsteps of legends like Bruce Lee.