Not everyone is meant to be an entrepreneur, so a side hustle is a great way to test it out and see if it’s for you (or if it’s a viable business) before you take the plunge and quit your day job. Starting a side hustle is also a great way to earn a little cash on the side so you don’t have to worry about paying your bills while testing out your business idea. Here are some tips you can use to make your side hustle a success without quitting your day job.
1. Balancing Work and… Work
Juggling two jobs is never easy, but it can be especially challenging to keep them separate when one of those jobs is your own side hustle. You run the risk of the two jobs bleeding into each other, but it’s important to keep them separate. That means, when you’re at your 9-5, you leave the side hustle at home and only focus on the 9-5. By the same token, don’t check your work email when you’re working on your side hustle because that time should be devoted to your business. Just like you don’t want to bring your work home with you or your personal life to the office, it’s important to similarly compartmentalize your two gigs.
I recommend devoting at least two hours per day to your side hustle, either before and/or after your full-time gig.
While a side hustle can be a great way to start your own business without giving up your paycheck, you shouldn’t feel like the goal of your side hustle has to be to quit your day job. If you like your full-time gig, but want to earn a little extra cash on the side, a side hustle can be a great way to do that.
If you do have dreams of quitting your day job and making your side hustle your full-time job, be sure to write out a detailed budget beforehand so you know exactly how much you need to be earning from your side hustle on a consistent basis before you can take it full time. That number may or may not be the salary your day job is paying you – it might be less if you cut out some expenses, or it might be more once you factor in things like paying for your own health insurance.
2. Use Your Day Job to Fund Your Side Hustle
Small businesses require their owners to spend money in order to make money, but the fact of the matter is that, for most small business owners, that road leads to debt and bankruptcy.
Rather than relying on investors to fund your side hustle, use your day job as your funding. Pay your bills and take whatever is left over to fund your side hustle.
At the same time, it’s important to be smart about what you choose to spend money on for your side hustle. Don’t get extravagant with fancy marketing or anything you can’t afford. Focus on providing the product/service you sell, and only pay for additional products/services after you’ve funded the basics.
If you have savings, you can use those funds to pay for your side hustle , as long as you don’t drain your savings or dip into your emergency fund to do so. Most startups fail because they can’t pay back their debts, so be sure to avoid debt as much as possible. For more tips on how to save some extra money before starting your side hustle, check out this post on easy ways to save money.
This is another advantage of starting an online business as your side hustle: all you need to get started is a computer and an internet connection, making it the most cost-effective way to build your own business.
3. Focus on What Matters
When you start small, you might not necessarily have the funds to devote to a big office or fancy equipment. Instead, focus on what matters: serving your customers. Once you have a great product/service and you’ve started generating some positive reviews and word of mouth, take action on that success by helping to spread those good reviews and creating more satisfied customers.
Only once you have a solid customer base should you start investing in fancy equipment/software or marketing. Until your sales from your side hustle start paying off, avoid investing in shiny things that don’t drive immediate results.
4. Now It’s Time to Get Started
If you have any other tips for starting a side hustle, don’t keep them to yourself – we’d love to hear them in the comments below.
For more tips on how to start a successful online business, check out this post on 6 Steps to Start A Successful Home Business as a Solopreneur and download our Free Guide to get started.
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