How to start a Side Hustle

If you’re thinking about starting a side hustle or working towards getting your idea off the ground, you might have a few reasons behind the inspiration:

1. It’s a hobby that you’re spending a lot of time doing anyway and you want to find a way to generate some passive income from it.

2. You’re looking to diversify your income and want to achieve some financial goals or find financial security outside of your primary income.

3. You want to move out of your profession or industry and a side hustle is a way to test it out.

4. You have an incredible idea and want to see whether it has the wings to fly by itself in the big wide world of business.

Whatever the reason, if you’re thinking of starting a side hustle, you’re in the right place! We can tell you that it can be one of the most satisfying, rewarding and enriching ways you can spend your time. But it can also be stressful and filled with confusion and uncertainty. And that’s why finding balance and identifying your success and failure triggers are important to put in place before you go all in. (Read more about those here!)

The best way to start a side hustle

You might want your idea and your business to be innovative, world-altering and revolutionary. But those businesses – think of the ‘disruptive’ ones that have changed the way we go about things in our everyday lives, like Netflix, Spotify, Amazon – took an insane amount of work and funding to get to where they are. Those are unique businesses that were not only difficult businesses to start but took a very specific type of entrepreneur to build them.

If you’re worried that your idea isn’t innovative, that’s okay! Your business idea doesn’t have to be glamorous to be successful. Instead of trying to wrack up an innovative idea first – focus on the basics of what your business offers and how you can sell to customers. 

The basics of building a business

Before going all into your side hustle, remember that your first idea might not work out in the way you expect. But regardless, your side hustle will teach you some valuable lessons and you’ll realise what works and what doesn’t. 

To give yourself the best opportunities for success, get the basics under wraps earlier rather than later. It’s the “fail to plan and plan to fail” adage and it’s an important one to realise. Okay, you don’t need to have a fifty-page documented business plan, but giving some thought to where you want your business to go will give it a much better chance of getting there. 

Important things to think about for your side hustle:

#1: Will it conflict with my current work? 

Building a business while working a full-time job is possible, but you’ve got to make sure you’re doing it the right way. For example, if you’re going to be building a side hustle that will compete with your current job, you’re likely headed for trouble pretty early on. Check your contract and be open and honest with your employer. If your side hustle isn’t taking away your time and focus on your primary employment, it’s probably not going to be an issue. Just make sure you get these ducks in a row before testing the waters.

#2. Create boundaries and make your time a resource

It can be easy to get wrapped up in your side hustle and spend all of your free waking moments thinking about it, building, strategising, looking for new ways to market it, etc. But it can be a dangerous trap to fall into and it can come at the cost of other important aspects in life, like relationships and physical health. Rather, put boundaries in place and dedicate specific time (not all of it) to work on your side hustle. Then use that time to really focus. You’ll be surprised how limiting your time to work on your side hustle can make you that much more efficient in that time block.

#3. Ask for feedback  

Working on your idea without any other external feedback can be detrimental to your side hustle. It can be a great idea – and one the world might need – but without testing it out on others, you might not be building it in the way that it can be appreciated. Remember: You’re not building the side hustle to sell to yourself.

Asking for feedback from customers, family, and friends will give it much more room for success. Not only can they give you valuable feedback about what might not work, but they might also say something that sparks a brand new way of thinking – which might lead you to a brilliant business strategy. 

#4. Think long-term

If you’re hoping to see immediate success and an influx of profit, just remember, you’re building a side hustle, not making overnight oats. These things take time to build, tweak, adapt, market and – finally – make sales. Make sure your perspective is headed for the long-term game and build for sustainable success that can be scaled. A long-term mindset also helps when you hit an obstacle because your focus is on a bigger picture rather than the zoomed-in outlook. And that approach can keep you going much further and much longer than you might imagine.

#5. Prioritise rest and don’t glamorise burnout  

It’s a simple one and yet it can be so easy to get wrong. But putting yourself before your side hustle is crucial in building it sustainably and making sure your energy and enjoyment last. Sleep is not for the lazy and prioritising yourself is not selfish. Taking time to rest and recover won’t delay your side hustle’s progress, it will probably help speed it up. If you’re constantly fatigued, you’re probably not working at full efficiency and you probably won’t be as happy. So rest up, work smart, and start that side hustle!