Web 2.0 Entrepreneur

Working on Internet business while having a full-time day job

• Posted by Tengku Zahasman on June 27th, 2007 filed in Thoughts, Entrepreneurship, Financing/funding


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It is quite common nowadays for working citizens to do some kind of *side business* in order to add more value into their fixed monthly income. Thanks to all the financial gurus out there who introduced the mantra of “creating multiple-streams of income in achieving financial freedom”, we are seeing more and more of our people indulging themselves in businesses and entrepreneurship, albeit in many different ways. Some people do this by selling “curry puffs” in front of their houses every morning before they go off to work, some become part-time freelancers doing photography or video editing on weekends and on special events, some decided to do professional consultancy jobs, other more desperate people resort to MLM businesses, network marketings, direct sellings and pyramid schemes (no good!).

Web savvy users however are more likely to conduct part-time businesses online. Smart option. These people manage their own e-commerce sites and sell stuffs online, some managed to create high traffic online subscription portals, some do Internet Marketing, good writers write and sell e-books, more technical people provide Internet services like web hosting or web design, other less technical people simply write blogs and get the extra bucks out of Google AdSense, while the rest of us venture into the Web 2.0 industry providing Web services and develop social applications. The Internet business is so flexible that you can run it and manage it from anywhere as long as there’s Internet connection that it is quickly becoming a trend for people to adopt it as their side business.

Running Internet business part time…

I’ve had experience of running an Internet business without having a full-time job before (the few months after I graduated from university) and I also have the experience of running an Internet business while going off to a 9-5 work every weekdays (which is what I’m currently doing). Unless you’re very well funded, having a full-time job really helps a lot when it comes to stabilizing your finance. As a self-funded Web entrepreneur, I fund myself using the monthly salary I get out of working in an Internet security firm. My bills, loans, leisures, food and travels are all taken cared of using my salary. In fact I sometimes even use some of them for my business, I call it an “investment”. That means I don’t have to touch a single cent of my Internet income for my personal use. This is very effective for maximizing your business’ profit.

Before I had a full-time job, my business money were also my money. Separation of entities doesn’t work in this case because we also need to feed ourselves. It’s hard to grow your business this way because money will run out very fast, sometimes it’s just enough for you and your business to survive in that particular month. That’s very choking. By having a full-time job, business risk is also reduced because I know if something doesn’t turn out right with my Internet venture, at least I still have my monthly pay to back me up. Boy that’s a relief. That fact alone gives me the confidence to do risky things in my venture.. and that’s truly interesting.

The downside of having a full-time job is that you’ll be struggling to find “time” to focus on building your Internet business. Managing it is easy, but developing it is something that takes a lot of time and focus. Everyday and every weekends you’ll be pressured to allocate a few hours to focus on your Internet business, and in some situations that can be pretty frustrating.

So what happens next?

It’s every entrepreneur’s dream to start up their own company. I’m sure most entrepreneurs out there who are still working full-time have that intention of quitting their job one day to become their own boss. However, starting up a company needs capital, plan, experience, networks, and portfolio. These are the things you can gather while working on a full-time job and conducting an Internet business at the same time. People who jumpstart their company too soon always fail miserably. As I said before, unless you’re pretty well funded, don’t quit your job just because you have started an Internet business. Do that only after you can at least make a steady Internet cash flow three times larger than your monthly full-time job salary. Can you do that?

Coffee houses are becoming my part-time office

• Posted by Tengku Zahasman on May 26th, 2007 filed in Ramblings


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Starbucks One Utama

Secret Recipe (can’t remember where tho)

I’m not sure when it started, but it is becoming a habit of mine recently to do my part-time work (ie building my web application) while sipping lattes or hot chocolates in coffee shops like Starbucks and Coffee Bean. Doing work at home makes me feel very lazy - it’s hard to be productive when your bed and TV are just a few steps away. But whenever I’m at a cafe, I find myself feeling more focused, relaxed, mentally conscious, creative and productive. So far I always leave knowing that I have done a lot of stuffs. At home, I find myself to be doing more readings and surfing around compared to doing the actual work that produces something. Even at this moment, I’m writing this very post in some cafe called The Black Canyon.

I’m not very sure what makes these places very comfortable to do work. Maybe its because of the people walking around and chatting which makes me feel energized and alive. It keeps me going. Or maybe because of the music they played which are relaxing and heightens up the mood. Maybe because of the caffeine from the lattes themselves which stops me from feeling sleepy. Or probably it’s the combination of all of them that keeps me coming back. I know, I know. These places are not cheap. A latte can cost you around 10 bucks each; and that’s only the small sized one, mind you. But in my opinion, if it can make me be productive, then it’s probably worth it anyway. Afterall, it beats paying for an actual office But of course it’s even better to bring along a companion or a teammate to boost up the productivity.

However, not everyone is comfortable doing work at cafes. In fact, some do the exact opposite -> reading and learning at cafes, getting their hands dirty at home. It doesn’t matter where you feel most productive both in development or learning, be it in a cafe, at home, in the library, in the office, at your friend’s aparment, it’s good to know where that place is and use it to your advantage. So go ahead and travel around, see which place gets you more work done.

Below are some the places I like to stick around:

- Starbucks KLCC, third floor, above Coffee Bean
- Starbucks One Utama, next to Nandos
- Coffee Bean in LCCT (It’s one of the places I liked most. Too bad it’s very far away)
- Starbucks Alamanda, Putrajaya
- Starbucks Jusco Cheras Selatan
- Craven Cafe, Ampang Petronas Superstation
- Starbucks Berjaya Timesquare, in front of the cinema (strategic while waiting for a show to start) and the one at ground floor (very cozy for discussions at the upper level)
- Burger King KLCC (they have a nice booth specifically for Internet surfers. Plus, since they allow refilling ur drinks as many times as you wish, you can be sure you won’t be thirsty hanging out over there for hours)

Work with a partner or go solo in your Internet venture?

• Posted by Tengku Zahasman on May 1st, 2007 filed in Thoughts, Entrepreneurship


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People say that “two heads are better than one”. I say it’s true, but ONLY IF the other person is also as passionate as you are in whatever you’re venturing in. Getting the right partner can boost your business’ productivity to the max but be careful not to hook up with the wrong one as they will give you more headaches compared to working solo. I am currently not running my venture with anyone else. I work out everything by myself. I am the planner, I am the developer, I am the marketer and I am the technical support. That’s one of the obvious benefit of the Internet business - it allows you to run your business on your own because when it comes to the Internet, many things can be automated.

Is it cool working solo?

While I’m already comfortable working as a one-man-show, I realized that this should not continue on forever. I thought how great it is to have a partner (or co-founder if you wanna call it) who is as passionate as I am and having that person to work with me in making the business a success. Being able to share ideas together would be fun and energizing. Knowing that someone else is also working hard on your projects can be a stress reliever as you’re assured that something is being taken care of. The reason why I’m still working solo is not because I don’t want a partner, but because I have yet to find the perfect one. Finding the right partner is not as easy as finding the right staff. Finding a staff means you look into their skills and personality and offer them money. But for a partner, you want them to be as close as to your own clone. You have to be at the right place at the right time, with the right person. That’s why it’s hard to find the right partner. But it’s also not impossible. It’s a lot easier if you already have a close friend who shares the same passion with you in venturing in the Internet business and becoming a successful Internet entrepreneur.

What’s my recommendation?

If you ask me whether you should find a partner or just work on your own, I’ll have to ask you how huge and how far do you want your business to go. If you only want to be a work-at-home mom/daddy and get thousands of dollars a month out of blogging, then you can do it solo (your siblings or your spouse can be your partner if you ever need one). But if you’re aiming in building a huge business one day, developing international web applications, getting tenth to hundreds of thousands of dollars a month, getting an office with a few staffs or maybe even build your own skyscrapers (woah!), meeting people and making your own business travels, then you better find ‘the right’ partner soon. Be smart.