There is rise in people who are holding on to a day job and building a business at nights and weekends. Many of them are online businesses - run by women. Last week, 'Working 5 to 9 - how to start a business in your spare time' was launched.

More than five million people are working from home after finishing their day job, according to new research published this week, based on a survey carried out by Enterprise Nation, the UK's largest website for home based business.

Of those 5-9ers questioned, 50% said their business was growing and over 60% expected to be going full time within the next 12 months.

Enterprise Nation Founder Emma Jones: "We were amazed by what we found. Although we knew there had been a tremendous growth in home business, we had no idea that much of this was coming from the 5 - 9 trend.

"What's particularly significant is that the current economic climate is the impetus behind this trend. For some people it's about increasing their income to cope with a partner's redundancy while others felt uncertain about their future career prospects and wanted to make sure they were better placed if they lost their job.

There's also the added attraction that building a business at night and weekends from a spare room is low risk and low cost, allowing people to increase sales, confidence and cashflow, whilst holding onto a salary.

The survey also highlighted that 72% have considered giving up their day jobs to spend more time on their home business.  When asked what would make them leave their job, 42% said it was the only way they could grow their business while 32% said it would be when they could afford to.
One of the consequences of this phenomenon is that shops, like Staples are considering different shopping schemes, such as a 5-9ers club, which will reward people shopping after 5pm, which is the time that part-time entrepreneurs start shopping fo their 5-9 business.

Requests for part time and flexible working that enable starting a home based business are likely to increase as changes come in to force from 6 April
2009 extending the right to request flexible and part time working to parents of children aged 16 and under. The move means that up to 4.5m parents
will have the right to request flexible working arrangements.

Freelancing website, Peopleperhour.com, has seen 35% of registrations from the category of 5 to 9ers in the past 12 months. Other possible business, suitable for a home business, taken from the book:

• Catering
• Virtual Assistant
• Online Magazine
• Profesional Services

'Working 5 to 9 - how to start a business in your spare time' is available to order - for free- at Enterprise Nation.