Roughly two-thirds of all small business owners started out working during the early days of their business. The main reason is to supplement their incomes until their business become financially solvent. It’s not an easy transition, but one that alleviates some of the risk of starting your own business.

It’s easy to become overwhelmed with keeping it all under control, but here are a couple of tips that can help you manage.

Set clear boundaries so the 2 don’t overlap and your primary paycheck is secured until you can replace that income.

Start networking join as many groups and events as you can. The local relationships you establish extend beyond your current employment. Networking can be a powerful tool when it comes time for you to start marketing your small business and transitioning out of your primary employment.

Start out small by testing the marketing and knowing who your potential clients are and who your competition may be. Use the transitional period to identify and quantify some of the assumptions you made in the business plan you developed to enter into the small business venture.

Identify some milestones you need to attain that will trigger you to either proceed with your small business venture or back off and focus on your primary employment. Knowing when to pull the trigger will give you goals to complete that will get you self-employed faster.

Being a small business owner can be difficult and frustrating, but the rewards you receive far outweigh the trouble especially if it’s the kind of work you enjoy.