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EXCELLENCE
Excellence Business
EXCELLENCE BUSINESS

Start a Side Business

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LEVEL 1 · 0/3LEVEL 2 · 0/3LEVEL 3 · 0/3LEVEL 4 · 0/3LEVEL 5 · 0/3START
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Start a business without quitting your job: why the hybrid route helps founders survive, an idea sized to your evenings, your contract and who owns what you make, US tax rules for side income, testing like a scientist, protecting your health, and deciding when to leap, from the research, the US Copyright Office, the SBA and the IRS.

3h5 constellations
AT THE SUMMIT, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO

01Size a side business to the hours you really have

02Keep your employer side clean: contract, ownership and consent

03Report side income correctly and set tax aside as you earn

04Test demand like a scientist and decide when to go full-time

Every lesson of Start a Side Business

15 lessons in 5 levels, about 3 hours. Level 1 is free.

Level 1Start on the SideFree · 3 lessons
  1. Keep the day job, for nowSee why starting on the side is a smart route, not a timid one.11 min
  2. An idea that fits your eveningsSize an idea to the hours you really have.12 min
  3. Checkpoint: your side business in one lineState who it's for, what it is, and what it must prove.12 min
Level 2Your Job and Your BusinessMembership · 3 lessons
  1. Read your contract firstCheck what your employment contract allows before you start.12 min
  2. Who owns what you makeKeep ownership of your side-business work clean and clear.12 min
  3. Checkpoint: telling your managerTell your employer about a side business clearly, and get it in writing.12 min
Level 3Tax and RegistrationMembership · 3 lessons
  1. Hobby or business?Know how the IRS tells a hobby from a business, and what registering really involves.12 min
  2. US: self-employment taxKnow the US taxes a side business adds, and how to pay them.12 min
  3. Checkpoint: set money asideSet aside tax as you earn, and keep the records that back it up.12 min
Level 4First Customers on Ten Hours a WeekMembership · 3 lessons
  1. Test like a scientistTurn your idea into hypotheses and cheap tests.12 min
  2. Protect your time, and your healthKeep total working hours in a healthy range while you build.12 min
  3. Checkpoint: your first three customersPlan exactly where your first three paying customers will come from.12 min
Level 5Grow It or Go Full-TimeMembership · 3 lessons
  1. When to quit your jobDecide on evidence (revenue, runway and what you've learned), not on mood.12 min
  2. Keep clean books from day oneSet up records that make tax, growth and the leap easier.12 min
  3. Capstone: your side-business planPull the path into one plan you can start this month.13 min
FREE

Level 1 is open.

Membership opens every other level of this path.

See membership
AFTER THE CORE

Keep going where this path leads.

Build Your Business from ZeroWhen the side business becomes the business · 9h 29m
Legal Basics for FoundersSole trader, company, contracts · 2h 59m