The pandemic has brought about many new changes in the business world that are here to stay. With everything from transitioning to hybrid work environments, to working remotely altogether, for many people, side hustles have become one of the main sources of happiness and income.
Side hustles used to just be a way to earn some extra money. However, it has now become an essential way for many people to add to their income. The beauty of having a side hustle job is that it’s all done on your own time, and that you can choose a job that lets your creativity shine. Whether it’s helping people level up their social media presence, or designing the next viral product on Etsy, there are many ways to use your skills to help turn your side hustle into a meaningful career.
If you are thinking about ditching your day job, and turning your side hustle into your new nine-to-five, you are in the right place. Read on to explore what business experts have to say about how to turn a side hustle into a full time job.
Focus on the Finances
Ann McFerran, CEO Glamnetic
One of the key things you want to focus on when turning your side hustle into a full time job is how to manage your money. After all, you’re completely replacing your nine-to-five income, so you need to have the right budgeting techniques in place. When transitioning your side hustle to a full time job, you first want to make sure that you have the adequate capital in place to do this. Next, you need to create a budget for your side hustle business, in order to make sure that you don’t spend your money too quickly. You also need to make sure that your new job will have enough revenue coming in to cover all of your living expenses, as well as the needs of the business. Remember that if you need help with managing your finances, you can also find a financial advisor to help you on your new business journey.
Start Small and Then Gradually Expand
Ryan Rockefeller, Co-Founder Cleared
Whenever you start out on a new business venture, it’s always important to start small and then gradually build your way up. If you are trying to turn your side hustle into a full time job, start by launching one single service or product. This will help to generate a steady cash flow for your new business, while also teaching you valuable business lessons along the way. Once you are comfortable with the workload, you can then add on new products or clients, so that you can slowly build up multiple revenue streams.
Advertise and Build Up a Steady Client Base
Karim Hachem, VP of eCommerce La Blanca
Knowing how to market and advertise your company is one of the best ways to help your side hustle flourish into a full time job that you can depend on. Just like running any type of business, having a steady customer base is key to bringing enough money in to make a profit, and to keep your business afloat. Having the right marketing strategies will help with this. You can use social media to help build your brand, as well as thinking up creative ways to market your product or services in your local community. It’s also important to network with other business leaders and entrepreneurs, so that you can collaborate with other companies, and seek advice from those who have successfully built their own business as well.
Find Your Passion
Miles Beckett, CEO and Co-Founder Flossy
Every person has a different reason why they have a side hustle. It could simply be to make extra money or to be your boss, but some of the most successful businesses and side hustles start out as passion projects. As with any business, you have to be willing to put the time in, in order for it to succeed. This is why having a business built on something that you are passionate about is key, as it will make all of the long hours and difficult times worth it. You can also use your passion and skills to help you build your brand. For example, start an online community centered around the mission of your business. This will help you to connect with a niche audience, who can simultaneously help you to grow your company. You can also think of ways to give back, and design an entire campaign centered around a purposeful endeavor, in order to gain positive exposure and future sales for your business.
Set Goals For Your Business
Lisa Odenweller, CEO and Founder Kroma Wellness
When you are in the process of turning your side hustle into a full time job, you need to set realistic goals to help your business stay on track. This will help you to manage your resources, and to help your business be the best it can be. You can begin this process by coming up with goals for you to hit within the next year. You want to make sure that you are setting goals that you can attain, and that you are looking for people to help you along the way, especially if you are headed towards a goal that you know you will need some guidance to attain. Along the way, measure your progress and see what is working best for your business. Once your side hustle becomes your full time job, you will have more time to devote to reaching all of the goals you set. Remember that once you hit a goal, you need to celebrate this milestone, as it will help to propel you forward so that you can reach the next one.
Use Social Media to Help You Market Your Business
Melissa Rhodes, CEO Psychics1on1
Social media has become one of the best tools for small business owners to use when marketing their business. If you are trying to turn your side hustle into a full time job, you should try using different social media platforms to help you reach your target audience and to give you exposure, at an expedited level. For example, if you have a demonstrable product, try filming some engaging TikTok videos to draw attention to your brand. Make sure that your content provides value to your audience, and that you encourage engagement so that people will want to interact with your videos. You also want to create a content calendar, so that you can make sure that you are posting regularly and are keeping your audience engaged. All of these things will help you to build up a loyal audience, that will in turn hopefully translate into higher sales for your business.
Believe in Yourself and Your Mission
Lottie Whyte, Co-Founder MyoMaster
I worked in some incredible businesses, but I just didn’t feel like I was changing the world. Now, I get to get up every day feeling like I’m actually making a difference to people’s lives. We spent the best part of two years working every evening and on weekends around our jobs to scale up the business. Finding the right people is difficult, because when you’re starting out, you need people who can do 50,000 things. You need people who are really excited by the mission, who can accept that they’re not going to get the biggest salaries but are totally onboard with the journey and what you’re building. They need to be true hustlers: nine till five goes out the window when you’re starting a business.
The best way not to fail is just to keep going, to keep finding another way. My top tip is, whatever you do, have full faith in your idea. Don’t let anybody tell you that what you’re doing isn’t right. You know your vision, so stick with it and be relentless about it. You will have a million conversations where people say, ‘Oh, there are already other people doing that’, or ‘This isn’t different’ or ‘That’s a terrible idea’. Don’t let anybody shake your self-belief. You have to be really proactive in managing that mindset: personally I like to meditate for 15 minutes every morning – a time when it’s just me, listening to stuff that tells me I can do it.
Connect With Your Audience and Do Your Research
Latasha Peterson, Founder Arts and Budgets
As someone with a background in musical theater and performing, I have always been good at finding multiple side hustles to make extra money each month, anything from participating in focus groups to working as a brand ambassador for local radio stations. I came up with an idea for a side hustle blog, and after I left my day job as a substitute teacher. After I had been at it for a year, I began to monetize my blog and officially turned it into an online business. When I started, I knew I had a passion for helping others find side hustles to build income and gain financial freedom. But it took me much of that first year to really figure out the best way to connect with them and create content that would be the most helpful to them. One of the ways I did this was by spending a lot of time in Facebook groups and Pinterest communities about side hustles and exploring the topics they discussed on those platforms. A big part of my research was finding other people who had found success with their own side hustles and incorporating some of what they did into my own plan. Because of my business, I am now on track to hit my goal of earning over $60,000 this year.
All in all, if you do your research, and put the time in, you will be able to turn your side hustle into a full time job that may eventually turn into a successful career. As you know, the more you hustle, the more goals you will be able to hit. You will love looking back at your career journey, and seeing how your leap of faith paid off.
