5 to 9 entrepreneurs get tips on making their living

Entrepreneurs who have started a business in their spare time can get advice on running a firm alongside work, family or studies, after the launch of a new book by Emma Jones, the founder of home business advice website, Enterprise Nation.

Working 5 to 9 includes facts and figures of the growing trend of businesses that are run during the evenings and weekends. It also includes 50 examples of different types of business that can be started outside of work hours, and tips on how to set them up.

The book also includes case studies of people who have set up businesses while continuing to work, study or look after their children during the day.

?I noticed there were a growing number of entrepreneurs starting their business in this way, and I realised a book would be really useful for them,? said Jones. ?I wrote it to celebrate the stories of the people who are doing this successfully, while giving tips and links to other people who are thinking of doing the same thing. A lot of people are still worried about losing their jobs and starting up a business gives them back-up.

?The statistics in the book will give people reassurance that they are not alone in starting a 5 to 9 business, and the ideas will be useful for people who want to start their own business but are not sure what type or how to go about it,? she added.

One of the case studies featured in the book is Gwen Howell, who works as an estate agent by day and a rare breed pig farmer by night. While 51 per cent of the 5 to 9 business owners that appear in the book intend to give up their job and run their business full-time within the next 12 months, 49 per cent are happy to keep their business as a 5 to 9 activity.

The oldest business owner to feature is reaching retirement, while the youngest is a 17-year old school pupil saving money to go to university.

Emma Jones will appear at an event in London on 23 June, to promote her new book and meet her readers.