2026‑27 edition · facts checked 12 October 2026
Beside the Job
For salaried people in India building something beside a full-time job: your contract, your hours, the money and a 90-day plan.
₹999GST included · nothing renews · files at once
| Taxable value | ₹846.61 |
|---|---|
| IGST 18% | ₹152.39 |
| CGST 9% | ₹76.19 |
| SGST 9% | ₹76.20 |
| You pay | ₹999.00 |
UPI, cards, netbanking and wallets through Razorpay. Your bank statement will show GrowMint Media, which runs quietlybuild.
Anywhere in India but Punjab, the GST is IGST.In Punjab, where the seller is registered, it is CGST and SGST. The total is the same either way, and a GST tax invoice comes with the order.
A guide, a workbook, eight letters and a set of printables, for salaried people who want to build a side business without trouble at work, at tax time or at home. XLSX, DOCX and PDF; kept current for 12 months.
- Edition
- 2026-27
- Checked
- 12.10.2026
Draw your week. See your studio hours.
Your contract decides what you may do. Your salary decides your tax slab. Your week decides whether anything ships: mark your job’s hours, then the hours you can keep for your own work.
Your times stay on this page. Nothing is sent.
Specimen · Arjun, a fictional person
Tap or click a half hour to mark it; Shift-click fills a range in that day. With the keyboard, the arrow keys move, Space marks, and Shift with an arrow marks as it moves. Nothing you mark leaves this page.
Note: the hour that keeps the plan honest, Sunday 18:00 to 19:00.
Real pages, before you buy.
Open any page to read it full size.
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Contents01 Beside the Job, the guide.pdf · page 3 · Beside the Job -
The nine clauses01 Beside the Job, the guide.pdf · page 11 · Beside the Jobthe one most people missThe note marks: the one most people miss. -
C4, intellectual property01 Beside the Job, the guide.pdf · page 18 · Beside the Jobwho owns what you makeThe note marks: who owns what you make. -
C1, what to note and do01 Beside the Job, the guide.pdf · page 13 · Beside the Job -
A permission letter, filled in01 Beside the Job, the guide.pdf · page 36 · Beside the Jobthe IP sentenceThe note marks: the IP sentence. -
Call windows01 Beside the Job, the guide.pdf · page 41 · Beside the Job -
Old name, new section01 Beside the Job, the guide.pdf · page 46 · Beside the Jobnow section 58(2), row 3The note marks: now section 58(2), row 3. -
The set-aside calculator, specimen02b Workbook SPECIMEN.xlsx · page 1 · Beside the Job -
The switch point01 Beside the Job, the guide.pdf · page 56 · Beside the Job -
The Sunday review card04 Printables/P1 Sunday review card.pdf · page 1 · Beside the Job -
The 90-day plan04 Printables/P6 90-day plan.pdf · page 1 · Beside the Job -
The edition page01 Beside the Job, the guide.pdf · page 2 · Beside the Job
What you download.
23 files in 2 folders, with 100 pages of PDF, counted from the folder you download. The workbook opens in Google Sheets and in Microsoft Excel; Apple Numbers is not supported.
The guide runs in nine chapters: the honest read, your contract, asking in writing, the hours, the money, the 90-day plan, the year, the Sunday review and the code beside a job.
For you
- Salaried, living and paying tax in India, working for a private employer.
- In tech, product, design, marketing or finance, with roughly 2 to 15 years’ experience.
- Planning to keep the job for at least a year, with 5 to 10 hours a week that can be made reliable.
- Building services (freelance work, consulting, fixed-price projects) or small products (templates, guides, a newsletter, a small software tool).
Not for you
- Students: there is no employment contract to read.
- Anyone looking for business ideas: there are none here, only a way to run the one you have.
- Anyone who wants to keep side work from an employer.
- Government, PSU and bank employees, whose conduct rules require prior sanction.
- People who bill only clients abroad and have no job: The Export Desk is for that work.
Beside the Job, 2026-27 v1.0drawn apart by folder
- 00Start here, one file: see it in the list
- 01Beside the Job, the guide, one file: see it in the list
- 02Workbook, one file: see it in the list
- 02bWorkbook SPECIMEN, one file: see it in the list
- 03Letters, 9 files: see them in the list
- 04Printables, 8 files: see them in the list
- LICENCE · VERSION, 2 files: see them in the list
Every file, with its size
The folder you download: Beside the Job, 2026-27 v1.0
- 00 Start here.pdfWhat is in the box, the order of use, and the system on one page
- 01 Beside the Job, the guide.pdfThe method, the law and the money, chapter by chapter, with the facts register See a page: Contents
- 02 Workbook.xlsxThe working system: registers, ledgers, the set-aside calculator and the 90-day plan
- 02b Workbook SPECIMEN.xlsxThe same workbook, filled in for the fictional Arjun, to learn from See a page: The set-aside calculator, specimen
03 Letters, a folder
Letters and emails for asking in writing and recording the answer, in Word, with the emails as plain text too- L1 Permission request letter.docxYou need written permission. Attach it, as a PDF, to L2.
- L2 Permission request email.docxThe covering email for L1.
- L3 Disclosure notice.docxYour contract or policy asks for notice of outside work, not permission.
- L4 Confirming a spoken yes.docxSomeone agreed in a meeting or on a call, and you need it in writing.
- L5 New employer disclosure.docxYou have an offer from a new employer and haven’t signed yet.
- L6 Follow-up after no reply.docxTen working days have passed since L1 with no answer.
- L7 Accepting conditions.docxThe yes came with conditions.
- L8 First client scope email.docxA first client in India says yes (chapter 6). Not a contract.
- emails.txtL2, L4, L5, L6 and L7 as plain text, ready to paste
04 Printables, a folder
Cards and paper planners to print: A4 sheets and A5 cards- P0 Print all.pdfEvery printable on A4, the cards two to a sheet with cut marks
- P1 Sunday review card.pdfThe Sunday review on the front, the Week Card on the back (A5) See a page: The Sunday review card
- P2 Week Card.pdfThe Week Card on its own, to print each week (A5)
- P3 Hours ledger.pdfFour weeks of the hours ledger, with the 55-hour line (A4)
- P4 Clause finder.pdfThe clause register for C1 to C9, on paper (A4)
- P5 Offer card.pdfOne buyer, one problem, one result, one price, one format (A5)
- P6 90-day plan.pdfThe 13 weeks on one page, then a checklist for every week (A4) See a page: The 90-day plan
- P7 Year plan 2026-27.pdfFour quarters, and the dates that matter in tax year 2026-27 (A4)
- LICENCE.txtWhat you may do with these files
- VERSION.txtThe edition, the date the facts were checked, and a SHA-256 for every file
13 weeks, and a file for each.
A 90-day plan, never a promise of a result: one offer, three tasks a week, and a review on paper every Sunday. The targets are defaults you can change.
The plan’s phases across the 13 weeks:
- Your contract before week 1 guide ch. 2, 3
- The offer week 1 P5 Offer card
- The proof week 2 guide ch. 6
- Paperwork week 3 L8 scope email
- Conversations weeks 4 to 7 the pipeline
- Proposals weeks 8 to 10 the pipeline
- Deliver, get paid weeks 11, 12 the set-aside
- Review week 13 P6 and P7
Each week, in words
- before week 1Your contract, read and asked aboutRead the clauses and ask in writing. Week 1 starts on the Monday after the answer is in writing, or after you have confirmed you need none.01 The guide · chapters 2, 3; letters L1, L2
- week 1The offerWrite the offer on one card: one buyer, one problem, one result, one price, one format. Open the side account and start the money ledger.04 Printables · P5 Offer card
- week 2The proofMake one sample of the work, labelled as a sample, and work out your price floor.01 The guide · chapter 6
- week 3The paperworkAdapt the scope email, set up the invoice tab and decide how you will be paid.03 Letters · L8, the scope email
- weeks 4 to 7ConversationsFive conversations a week, each logged the same day; a proposal to anyone who asks.02 Workbook · the pipeline
- weeks 8 to 10Proposals and a first yesFollow up every open proposal, keep to your floor, and agree the scope in writing.03 Letters · L8; the pipeline
- weeks 11 to 12Deliver and get paidDeliver, invoice and collect, and move the set-aside the day the money lands.02 Workbook · the set-aside
- week 13ReviewKeep, change or stop, and set the next quarter’s three outcomes.04 Printables · P6, P7
- every SundayThe weekly reviewForty-five minutes on paper: the week reviewed, the next one set.04 Printables · P1 Sunday review card
Its sources, and buyers’ questions.
Sources
Each legal and tax line in the kit carries an ID that resolves in its facts register, with the date each source was read. These are the primary sources. If a source changes, the kit changes, and what changed says what and when.
- The Income-tax Act, 2025 Gazette of India
- The Finance Act, 2026 (No. 4 of 2026) Gazette of India
- The Copyright Act, 1957, with the Copyright Rules: sections 17 and 18 of the Act Copyright Office, Government of India
The other twelve primary sources
- S.O. 5320(E): the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 in force Gazette of India
- Model Standing Orders, 2026 (S.O. 2312(E), 8 May 2026) Ministry of Labour and Employment
- CGST Act, 2017, section 22: who registers Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
The other nine primary sources
- The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 Ministry of Labour and Employment
- CGST Act, 2017, section 2: aggregate turnover Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
- CGST Act, 2017, section 25: when to apply Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
- Notification No. 10/2017-Integrated Tax, 13 October 2017 Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
- Circular No. 242/36/2024-GST: place of supply for online sales Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs
- The MSMED Act, 2006, section 15 Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
- Notification No. FEMA 23(R)/2026-RB, as amended on 22 September 2026 Reserve Bank of India
- Circular No. 8/8/2017-GST, 4 October 2017: the Letter of Undertaking Central Board of Excise and Customs (now the CBIC)
- Long working hours increasing deaths from heart disease and stroke, 17 May 2021 World Health Organization and International Labour Organization
Questions
Is this legal or tax advice?
No. It is a system and a set of templates, checked against official sources on 12 October 2026. General information, not tax or legal advice; for your own situation, ask your CA or advocate.
Will it tell me whether I’m allowed to work on the side?
It shows you where to look, what the clauses usually say, what courts have generally held, and how to ask. Your employer decides what it permits, and an advocate can advise on what your own documents mean.
Will it help me keep this from my employer?
No. It helps you ask openly and keep clean records. Quiet means without noise, never in secret.
I work for the government, a PSU or a bank.
Your conduct rules require prior sanction before any trade, business or other employment. The letters can help with the wording, but the kit is not written for service rules; your rules decide.
My contract bans all outside work.
Then the guide’s advice is not to start. It sets out three options: ask for a narrower scope, wait for a change of role or employer, or change the plan.
Do I need to register for GST?
Registration is needed once your aggregate turnover from supplying services passes ₹20 lakh in a financial year (half that in some states); exports count towards it. The workbook’s GST watch tracks it month by month. Your CA confirms the threshold for your state.
Which apps do I need?
Google Sheets or Excel for the workbook, a PDF reader, and Word or Google Docs for the letters. Apple Numbers is not supported.
Will I get a GST invoice?
Yes, a GST tax invoice with every order. You can claim input credit on it if you add your GSTIN at checkout.
What about updates?
Free updates for 12 months from your purchase date, including any new edition released in that time. Every change is listed, dated, on what changed.
Can I get a refund?
If a file is faulty, doesn’t arrive, or isn’t what its page describes, write within 14 days and I’ll fix it, replace it or refund you in full. A change of mind isn’t refundable once you’ve downloaded the files. An employer’s decision not to permit outside work is not a fault in the files, so it is not a reason for a refund after download. Look inside first: the clause finder, a clause spread and the permission letter are shown above.
₹999, once, with the GST shown.
You pay₹999.00
UPI, cards, netbanking and wallets through Razorpay. Your bank statement will show GrowMint Media, which runs quietlybuild.
Own Read Your Contract?
Add the rest of Beside the Job within 60 days of buying Read Your Contract. It is its own product, at its own price.
Use the email you bought the pack with and its order number (QB-…, on your invoice and in Your orders).
₹499 GST incl.
The price, and the terms, in brief
- What you get
- 23 files in 2 folders: PDF, Excel and Word. A personal licence, for one person: use the templates for your own side business and your own request to your employer; don’t share, resell or publish the files.
- Updates
- Free updates for 12 months from your purchase date, including any new edition released in that time. Nothing renews automatically.
- Refunds
- If a file is faulty, doesn’t arrive, or isn’t what its page describes, write within 14 days and I’ll fix it, replace it or refund you in full. A change of mind isn’t refundable once you’ve downloaded the files. An employer’s decision not to permit outside work is not a fault in the files.
- Delivery
- Your files appear on screen as soon as your payment is confirmed, with your GST invoice. At the same moment I email you a link to them and to the invoice; the email’s link works for 30 days. Download them again any time from Your orders; each file up to 20 times in any 30 days.
- Invoice
- A GST tax invoice with every order. Add your GSTIN at checkout for an input-tax-credit invoice.
- Not advice
- Checked against official sources on 12 October 2026. General information, not tax or legal advice; for your own situation, ask your CA or advocate.
What you won’t see here
No struck-through prices, no timers, no invented reviews and no counts of buyers. Prices are held for 60 days at a time, and the price log is dated. The dark-pattern self-audit
Updates · Beside the Job
When the rules change
One short email when a rule this kit covers changes, about once a month, with its source.