I subscribe to the GoBig Network Newsletter and received the recent post which happens to be the most straight-up honest view of entrepreneurship I have read in an article.  Call my crazy but reading this article only makes the fire burn deeper inside of me.

http://www.gobignetwork.com/wil/2007/2/21/starting-a-company-is-a-crap-sandwich/10108/view.aspx

While I traditionally do not like negative attitudes towards any kind of subject (and I do sense some negativity in this article) I do think the message is important and good to take into consideration.  All the issues that he brings up are issues that I have already been faced with in starting my business.  My attempt to put a positive spin on this article is to suggest you read this article and spend 10-15 minutes to find out were the acceptable balance is with each of these subjects.

I had to do it, as corny as it is. But Nightrepreneur precisely explains my current situation. Instead of seeking out investment from others to grow our business, we (my business associate and I) are both maintaining day jobs while working on our business at night. The income from a steady position helps us focus on creating our product, while still keeping a roof above our heads. Being a nightrepreneur is great for building a business while retaining ownership of your business, while still reducing the risk that is typically associated with entrepreneurship.

After 1.5 years of being a nightrepreneur, I have a few words of wisdom for those interested in giving it a shot.

1. Be open and honest about your business at your day job. Trust me on this one, it may seem like a bad idea at first, but if any issues arise, you are better off not having kept your side business a secret.
2. Make sure your clients are aware that you have a day job. Depending on your line of work of course, your customers will probably not need up to the minute responses on issues. Limit your customers to those that are willing to wait up to 24 hour response time and if you write a contract for those customers, be sure and include 24 hour response time.
3. Throw your TV remote away, it’s a waste of time. Once you stop watching it for a few days, you won’t miss it.
4. Focus on your day job during the day and your business at night. If your employer begins to untrust that you, you better hope that your business is ready to support yourself full time very soon.
5. Invest more time than money into your business. Save your money personally and invest your time into the business. Trust me, there are definitely times when your business will need to dip into your personal savings. Keep that savings well stocked!

I also found this article for you to read that has a lot of good points about conflict of interest. Its on Startup Nation. http://www.startupnation.com/pages/articles/succeed-business-side.asp

I invite you to forget everything you have ever learned about business throughout your years and take a fresh look at the way you operate in the business world, the way industries are run, and the way we use technology in our daily lives. Why?

We often take for granted that the fundamentals we learn for a particular subject area are solid ground on which to continue building our knowledge. My only concern with this mindset is that business, technology and industry are not fundamentally operating the same way the operated 10 years ago.

What we need to do is to go on a journey of forgetting everything we have learned thus far and starting fresh; building a new and modern foundation on which to continue our education on, and then come to accept that to continue to grow we will eventually have to forget everything and start over again.

These fundamentals do not include typical business rules. Typical business rules equate to typical returns, typical industry placement, and typical products.

This blog is not about constantly sizing up your competition, instead it is about ignoring your competition and focusing all your energy on your customers.

This blog is not about traditional system development life cycles that have clearly defined requirements. It’s about new development life cycles that allow for constant change in requirements as the needs of customers change.

This blog is not about working your way into an industry, its about reshaping the industry your working in for improvement.