5 Ways To Start A Successful Side Hustle
Who doesn't like earning a few bucks with a side hustle? But not when it comes at the expense of your full-time responsibilities. Check out 5 ways you can start a successful side hustle.
Money. Who in the world is fully satisfied with the amount they have? Even if they are, the idea of a little bit more never hurts. For which reason, a side hustle has been on a loom, with more than 44 million Americans reporting they have one and 36% claiming they make $500 or more. Well, why not if it’s making a positive difference in your pocket, is flexible and gives you the freedom you’ve always wanted while avoiding you to quit your job, makes perfect sense why it’s on trend!
But while it sounds all hopeful, the flip side isn’t quite thrilling. In fact, the vast majority i.e. 9 out 10 of new businesses are doomed to fail. Where do people go wrong? It’s the gap they miss in the execution of their flawless yet utopian idea. So let’s figure out how one can set themselves for success and start a successful side hustle:
- Identify Your Skills & Areas Of Interest
The premier step to starting a side hustle is to self reflect and make a list of your unique strengths, marketable skills and areas of interest. Are you planning on diving into an industry that you don’t have much knowledge or experience in?
Reconsider it. Or keep billionaire investor Mark Cuban’s advice, “your business will only succeed if it’s something you love to do and something you’re good at”. Once you have them noted down, you can then analyse which one’s best investing in and allow you to set relevant objectives.
2. Assess If You Have The Necessary Investment
Next, you need to evaluate your available bandwidth and determine if you have the required resources your side hustle requires. A side hustle can take quite a bit of your time daily especially initially so if you have a day job, set aside time in your calendar in the evening or on weekends.
If you desire to keep your weekends free and worry that anything over your full-time job can lead to a burnout, then this might not be the best option for you as it requires additional dedication and time commitment.
Apart from time, side hustles can demand financial resources too. While they’re not super expensive, they can demand different sorts of investment. For example: if you wish to start a blogging website, it might require capital for editing tools or even advertising efforts for your tutoring services. So whatever your expansion plan is for your side hustle, be aware of the costs that may follow and accordingly decide if you’d want to continue. But, if you choose to grow, use effective marketing tools and native advertising platforms to save both time and money.
Success Tip: If your side-hustle starts to grow, you might consider setting yourself up as an offline business globally. In that case, some cities have special programs and company formation services with financial advantages, such as the Dubai free zone.
3. Establish A Set Routine
Once you’ve pronounced that you’re ready to give your precious time to it, it’s time to manage it as well. If you have a blogging site, it’s essential you plan the days you intend on posting and accordingly set aside time in your calendar to write prior.
Having a routine and treating it like a scheduled task will help keep you on track and avoid you to push it off. When it’s part of your routine, it’ll also feel less like a drain on your resources. But make sure to not set unexpected to-do lists, use the SMART goal framework to get started. Check out 5 items that should not be on your to-do list.
Ensure to not overwork yourself either, for which setting boundaries to ensure you don't end up taking time from other priorities in your life is crucial. Several time management and focus applications can allow you to block time block distractions and boost productivity.
4. Learn To Lump Tasks Together
When starting out, balancing your full time job, your personal life and your new hobby can be quite a challenge. You’ll find yourself attempting to multitask and juggle between writing an email and unloading the garbage thinking it’ll save you time, but in reality it does rather the opposite.
Instead, it’s better to lump certain tasks together to save you some extra minutes. Some ways you could do that is by making a mega meal on the weekend and spreading it throughout the week and heating it up when needed.
Counting down stops until your destination during your commute? Why not read a book that’s about your relevant field! Walking the dog? Take that business call then or catch up on that motivational podcast you’ve been postponing to listen to!
5. Believe In The Power Of Delegation
While it’s tempting to do everything by yourself, we sometimes make the mistake of valuing money over time. But it’s core to remember time is priceless, money is not. When asked by popular entrepreneurs how they do it all, most of them reply with a “I don't”.
Remember your time is a limited commodity and with tasks that you can automate through tools or through delegation like outsourcing a social media virtual assistant, you must! With that saved time you can focus on your strengths and the bigger picture instead of doing everything by yourself and getting cognitively and mentally exhausted.
Final Note:
Businessman and philanthropist Tony Robbins believes, “business success is 80 percent psychology and 20 percent mechanics.” In easier words, regardless of however ever exemplar your product or service is, without the determination, commitment, grit and an attitude that focuses on helping your customers or clients you won’t get too far. So before you start a side hustle, ask yourself do you actually like your idea or are you in it due to the notion of it making you rich.
And once you begin, remember you have a demanding full time job so don’t overcommit and overwork yourself. Keep time for personal relationships, development and self care.