How to Start a Business—Without Quitting Your Day Job

Recently, a friend of mine shared a secret with me: She wants to quit her job as a buyer for a Fortune 500 company and start her own jewelry-making business. She begged me not to tell anyone. After all, in this still uncertain economy, how would her boss and coworkers feel if they knew she spent the day wishing she were working somewhere else? But, according to this Wall Street Journal article, she isn't alone. Many employees, especially corporate workers burnt out on office hierarchy and bureaucracy, fantasize about leaving it all for the independence, freedom and challenge of working for themselves.

These would-be entrepreneurs are on the right track, says John Jantsch of the Duct Tape Marketing blog, but they would do better to get their venture off the ground before turning in their two week's notice. While "you have a moral obligation to your employer to do focused work," Jantsch says, that doesn't mean you can't launch a business on the side. So if you're sitting at work right now daydreaming about going it alone, how do you make it happen? Drawing on insight from small business owners who got their start this way, the article offers several tips on how to test your idea, make the right contacts and build the foundation of your business—all without quitting your day job. So that leaves you with just one question: What are you waiting for?