Building a Business at Midnight
I finish work when most people are waking up. And then I try to quick-change from “employee mode” to “founder mode.” Some days, I manage a little. Other days, I crash and burn.
People say you can build your dream in your spare time. That if you want it badly enough, you’ll find a way.
What they don’t tell you is how it feels when your “spare time” is 8AM and your body is begging you to sleep.
I work an overnight contract job. It pays the bills. It’s fun, I get to write. It’s dependable. It gives me a tiny bit of breathing room. It pays very well. But it also eats my best sleeping hours, because I spend most of my year in the Philippines, and my job is in the U.S.
Those time zones are a killer.
I finish work when most people are waking up. And then I try to quick-change from “employee mode” to “founder mode.” Some days, I manage a little. Other days, I crash and burn.
I’m trying to build something sustainable. A real product. Several small business. A few streams of income. A second act that feels like mine. I’m writing. I’m coding with AI. I’m doing my best to stay consistent on social media.
I’m running through a checklist every day of tasks that never quite seem to end. Branding. Positioning. UX. Outreach. Customer research. It’s a full-time job in itself. Only I’m doing it in the margins.
And I’m tired.
Really tired.
Not just physically. But soul-tired. The kind of tired that comes from constantly switching gears, from pouring energy into something that doesn’t yet pour anything back. From trying to “stay visible” when all I want is to rest.
The truth is, building a one-person business is hard. Building several? Don’t ask.
Building anything when your creative hours are secondhand leftovers is hard. It’s lonely. It’s slow. It’s not glamorous.
I’ve launched features I barely remember writing. I’ve edited blog posts with eyes so heavy I can’t recall what I said. I’ve recorded voice notes half asleep because I was afraid I’d lose an idea before morning.
I’m no longer a spring chicken. I’m 56. To say that my aches and pains are real is an understatement.
And still, I keep going. Because deep down, I know what I want. I want freedom. Ownership. I want to make something real, something useful. Something that matters. I want to be financially successful by 60.
But I also want to be honest: I don’t have it all figured out. I’m not waking up at 5AM for cold plunges and miracle routines. I’m surviving on strong coffee, to-do lists, and occasional bursts of fragile hope.
Some weeks, I feel on fire. I see traction. A new subscriber, a helpful comment, a tiny win. Other weeks, like this week, I fall behind and everything feels pointless.
And still, I show up. Even if it’s just for an hour. Even if it’s just to check in with myself.
This is the unfiltered version. The version that doesn’t make it into LinkedIn wins.
I’m not just building a product. I’m rebuilding myself. From exhaustion. From burnout. From the lie that success has to look like hustle and hype.
If you’re in the same boat, working the job that pays for the dream — I see you. It’s not weakness to struggle. It’s not failure to move slowly. It’s just what building something solid in the real world looks like.
So yeah, I’m building a business at midnight. Tired, imperfect, behind schedule, but still building.
If you’re out there doing the same, I hope you’ll keep going. One honest hour at a time.