MBA2666 Q&A Wednesday: How Can I Make Time To Start a Business with a Full Time Job?

Trying to build your dream business but feel like your schedule’s already bursting at the seams? You’re not the only one wondering where those magical extra hours are hiding. In fact, Andy sent in this exact question—and it’s one that hits home for anyone trying to make big moves while juggling a 9-to-5. In this Q&A Wednesday episode, Omar breaks down what’s really holding most aspiring entrepreneurs back from launching while working full-time. He shares practical, proven tactics for carving out space in your week—including how to make a time budget, identify your “golden hours,” focus on high-leverage activities, and book non-negotiable appointments with yourself (yes, you’re that important). It’s a toolkit designed for busy schedules and ambitious goals—no fluff, just real momentum. Ready to take the first step toward your future business? Click the play button at the top of the page and jump into a lesson packed with strategies that actually work. Even an overloaded calendar can’t stop you now. To submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q. Watch the episodes on YouTube: https://lm.fm/GgRPPHiSUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 1:30Speaker 00

  I was in your exact shoes when I was a full-time school teacher with a packed schedule with barely enough energy or time to get through the week. And yet, I still managed to start my business, and eventually start the $100 MBA and my software company Webinar Ninja, which I was able to sell for a life-changing exit. So in this episode, I'm going to break down what's really stopping you from finding the time, the mindset shift you absolutely need, the tactical proven methods that I've found to carve out time for yourself, and what not to do in this process. And I'm going to show you how to get real results, even if you have just a few hours here and there. Let's jump into it.

• 2:16Speaker 00

  Welcome back to the $100 MBA Show. I'm your host, Omar Zenhome, where I deliver practical business lessons three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, to help you start, grow, and scale your business.

• 2:29Speaker 00

  Real quick, if these episodes help you in any way, hit the follow button on this podcast app. It helps us to keep bringing you practical business insights three times a week for free. Thanks. Here's the truth. You already have time. You're just spending it on the wrong things. I know you don't want to hear this, but it's the truth. I know because I lived it. I know that sounds harsh, but I'm saying this with love because I want to see you get out of this phase. Let's look at reality. The average person spends about two and a half hours a day on their phone, mostly on social apps. Netflix or streaming services about an hour and a half a day, on average, per adult. Then they got random tasks and errands and just chill time. What if even just temporarily, you took that time and

• 3:14Speaker 00

  poured it into building your business? I'm going to show you how I was able to unlock 10 to 12 hours per week instantly. You don't need more time. You need more focus. That's something I had to learn the hard way. Let me take you back when I was a school teacher. I was teaching full-time. I was grading papers, I was prepping lessons. I was in the classroom from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. But I made one non-negotiable rule for myself. I must spend 12 hours a week, minimum, on my business. So how did I do this? Two days a week, during the week, I spent three hours after work. I would go to a coworking space and work on my business for three hours solid. So that was two days a week. I did that. So that was six hours. And then another six hours I would spend on Saturday to work on

• 3:58Speaker 00

  my business. Yes, this sounds brutal, right? Sounds like I'm having a one-day weekend. And it's true. That's what it was. But I did it because I had a bigger vision. I knew I was building something that would get me out of the nine-to-five loop. And I knew it was temporary and I was excited about what I was building. This was fun for me. I was spending a full day on the weekend, building my future. And that's exactly what happened. Those windows of work, those 12 hours a week helped me escape my nine to five like I was Andy de Fresne escaping from Shawshank. Here's a strategy I recommend you start with. First, I want you to create a time budget. Time is worth more than money, but for the sake of the argument today, we're gonna treat it like money.

• 4:44Speaker 00

  If you only had $168 in your bank account, would you just let $12 just disappear in the thin air? Of course not. $12 means a lot. Every dollar counts. Yet 168 is how many hours you get each week. So pull out a sheet of paper and break it down. How many hours are you sleeping? How many hours are you working at your job? How many hours are you eating? Meals, commuting, hygiene, family obligations, free time, and be honest. I'm talking about all the little stuff in between too. Now look for your golden hours. The windows where you can carve out 90 minutes a day, a couple hours here, three hour blocks on the weekends. This could be before work, after work.

• 5:26Speaker 00

  Even 10 hours a week is enough to build real momentum if you focus. Number two, choose your highest leverage activities. When you're only dealing with limited time, you can't do everything, right? You can't spend hours tweaking a fancy logo, no endless research, no scrolling through Twitter for inspiration. Please, no, don't do that. You need to build or sell every time you sit down to work. That means talking to potential customers. That means making your first offer. That means working on your product. That means delivering value and iterating on your product, right? Progress beats perfection always.

• 6:05Speaker 00

  Number three, use the one work session a day rule. Don't think of your week as like, I'll work on my business when I have time. No, when will you sit down and work on your business? Treat it like a non-negotiable appointment. Every 60 focused minutes can move the needle towards you being independent. The key is consistency and the more you do it, the more consistent you'll become, meaning the harder it will be to break that cycle. These days, you can get an answer from the internet, an influencer, or AI in seconds. But when it comes to legal matters for your business or your family, a quick answer is not the same as the right answer. With 25 years of experience, LegalZoom knows how to start you off right. When you need a legal hand, visit LegalZoom.

• 6:50Speaker 00

  Go to LegalZoom.com to get started. LegalZoom provides access to independent attorneys and its law firm, LZ Legal Services. LegalZoom is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Today's episode is sponsored by Whatnot. You've probably heard about live selling and it's taking off on Whatnot. Sellers on Whatnot don't need a storefront or paid social media ads to reach customers. This is what I love about it because with live video, you interact and engage with your customers. You just need your phone and buyers can ask questions. They can make purchases in real time. On Whatnot, you could see people selling from living rooms and warehouses, selling sneakers, electronics, vintage, even a guy on a boat selling lobsters he just caught. Thousands of items are sold every minute because customers get to know sellers

• 7:34Speaker 00

  and see the products live. For many sellers, it's gone from side hustle to full-time job since they're selling 10 times here than on other marketplaces. I've personally shopped on Whatnot and found the whole experience actually pretty fun. I got to bid on a product that I was looking at, which was a little tripod for my phone. And when I won the bid, the seller gave me a shout out and gave me a little demo of how the tripod works. In a couple of days, the tripod was at my front door. It couldn't be easier. Search Whatnot, W-H-A-T-N-O-T, in the App Store. Download and start selling right away.

• 8:10Speaker 00

  Number four, front load or back load your week. If you can't carve out time every day, then block out some deep work sessions like a four-hour block on Saturday or a five-hour block on Sunday. Or batch everything together in one day off. That's how business gets built, in one block at a time. So if you can't carve out, you know, eight hours throughout the week, then just do eight hours in one day. Now, let me say something a lot of people won't. You can't start a business and live like everyone else. There must be sacrifices. If you're gonna gain something out of this, you have to let go of something. You have to give things up, like TV time, or sleeping in, or lazy Sundays, or brunch with friends. But it's temporary.

• 8:55Speaker 00

  Starting a business while working full-time, it's not easy. I know this firsthand. But it's not forever. And if you do it right, you might be able to be 12 to 18 months away from full-time freedom. And that's an incredible deal. I would take that deal over and over and over. Before we wrap up today's lesson, I want to stress what not to do in this stage. Don't spend six months trying to come up with the perfect idea. No. Just start building, start testing, and let the market tell you. Don't get lost in 20 online courses or 15 business books. Use this time to implement. Don't build some sort of fancy flashy website before you made a single dollar.

• 9:37Speaker 00

  You can start off with something simple and validate your idea with a sale. You want to validate fast, you want to make offers quickly, you want to use your time like an investor, not a hobbyist, okay? You want to get clarity by taking action, not by thinking harder. Andy and everyone else who's listening, I want to say this directly to you. You can do this. You don't need 40 hours a week. You need seven, 10, 12 consistent hours. You want to have those hours focused, no distractions. You want to work on the right things. You want to have the willingness to trade short-term comfort for long-term freedom. And that's it.

• 10:19Speaker 00

  Build momentum and your business will begin to earn back your time. Soon, you won't be asking, "How do I find the time for my business?" You'll be asking, "How soon can I leave my job?" That's exciting. One last tip, once you decide when you're going to be dedicating time to build your business, whether it's a couple hours after work or six hours on Saturday, put it in the calendar, put it in your Google Calendar or whatever you use, and make it an appointment you can't miss, non-negotiable. Talk to your family, tell them, "Hey, family, I'm working on my new business. These are the hours I'm working on. Please, I can't be interrupted during this time. I have to focus. I can't go out. I can't go to game night on those nights, whatever it might be."

• 11:02Speaker 00

  And by getting in front of it, one, you're getting the support of the people that are close to you and that live with you. Two, you preempt having to say no. You know, if they come to you and they say, "Hey, we got invited to this and it's during the hours where you work on your business," say, "Hey, I would love to, but these are non-negotiable. Like I mentioned before, I gotta work on my business on these days during these hours." And it's like, "Yep, fair enough. You did say that." It's going to take some discipline, it's going to take some sacrifice, but boy, is it worth it. I'm telling you, on the other side of it, it is worth it. And the only thing I regret is not starting sooner.

• 11:38Speaker 00

  Thanks for tuning into the 100 MBA Show, being a listener, being a subscriber. My job is to continue to deliver practical business lessons to you every single episode to help you build the business you want, the life you want. Because hey, one of the things I love doing is sharing to make people's lives a little easier. No need to keep it to myself. If you found today's episode helpful and you want more practical business lessons to help you start, grow, and scale your business, the best thing you could do is subscribe to this podcast. Hit subscribe or follow on your favorite podcast app, the one that you're using right now, whether it's Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. By hitting subscribe, you get our next episode automatically, and it's the best way to support the show.

• 12:20Speaker 00

  It's absolutely free, and it's a way for you to commit to growing your business. And now that you've subscribed, I'll check you in the next episode.

• 12:34Speaker 01

  Hey Fidelity, how can I remember to invest every month?

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  With the Fidelity app, you can choose a schedule and set up recurring investments in stocks and ETFs.

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  Oh, that sounds easier than I thought.

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  You got this.

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  Yeah, I do. Now, where did I put my keys?

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  You will find them where you left them.

• 12:57Speaker 03

  Investing involves risk, including risk of loss. Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC, member NYSE, SIPC.