The ultimate path to becoming your own boss is starting a side hustle. There are several benefits of having a side hustle. And we're going to teach you how to start a side hustle and make it profitable.
To start with, it acts as job security in case you lose your main source of income.
Even better, starting a side hustle may lead to new job opportunities.
If you’re starting out in your career, most white jobs aren’t enough to pay for your dreams. When you calculate all your bills such as food, rent and transportation, you are left with little or no money at all.
A side hustle income can bail you out in such scenarios.
Nevertheless, starting a profitable side hustle is not easy owing to the limited time outside your day job. It takes prioritization and the willingness to get creative on a daily basis. If you have plans to start a side hustle, below are a few steps that can help you begin a successful venture.
10 steps to begin a profitable side business
You don’t wake up one day and pull resources to start a side hustle. No matter how simple the idea looks, a successful side hustle requires meticulous planning. If you follow the steps below when starting your side hustle, you won’t regret it.
1. List down your interests
Side hustle or not, you need to love what you’re doing for it to succeed. If you have a day job, consider doing your side hustle outside office hours. It will need patience, energy and motivation to make it work. Therefore, you must be passionate about what you want to venture into.
So, to start off, sit down and brainstorm about all side hustle ideas around your skills and interests. Make sure you exhaust all of them, even the simplest of them.
2. Match your interest and skills
To achieve great results, you should back your side hustle with relevant experience, skills, and knowledge. After all, a successful business only happens when the right skills meet the right areas of interest.
3. Validating your side hustle
Make sure to validate your side hustle with a paying customer so as not to create solutions to problems that don’t exist. If nobody is interested in your product or service, the resources (effort, time, energy) you invest will go down the drain.
To avoid such scenarios, validate your idea with a paying customer. Consider more practical opportunities and abandon ideas that don’t get a positive response.
4. Be unique
Competing against established players in the market can prove to be an uphill task. You need to start something unique from the already existing ones. That way, you have a chance of a smooth breakthrough. One way of doing this is reinventing in a different way to minimize competition. Whatever you do, make sure you have a competitive edge against your competitors.
5. Define clear goals
It’s commendable to have big dreams. But, to meet your target, you must start small. When you find one satisfied customer, it’s time to bring more on board. You may get overwhelmed with the number of customers and everything that requires your attention. Having practical and attainable goals helps you develop positive habits. It keeps you in check even when under pressure.
Read: Importance of a business coach to your business
6. Setting milestones
A viable side hustle should be launched, iterated and monetized. To help you beat stagnation, draw a simple action plan that shows milestones and deadlines to guide you from start to end. Otherwise, you’ll waste precious time and resources. Stick to deadlines, hold yourself accountable and avoid making excuses. Sharing the good news with family and friends is one perfect way to keep yourself in check. Then work on moving from one milestone to the next.
7. Don’t get fired
Don’t use company resources to build your side hustle. Paying so much attention to your side hustle and neglecting your main job can get you fired. It is a violation of company agreements. Be sure to honor your contract and continue performing even when your side hustle is booming.
8. Ask for customer feedback
You expose your side hustle to the risk of failure if you don’t interact and exchange ideas with your customers. It is therefore advisable to request feedback from your first customers. Without external feedback, you won't be able to gauge your business. The customer feedback is like your business mirror.
External assessment during these infantry stages is very crucial. Internalize harsh feedback from your customers and find a solution to the complaints.
9. Outsource duties outside your expertise
You cannot be an all-around person. Everybody has their strengths and weakness. To run a successful side hustle, you need to identify the things you are good at and specialize in that. You can outsource the rest to someone else. That means you need a network of specialists and experts. Otherwise, your not so good skills may turn off potential long term customers.
10. Don’t quit your job yet
Have a considerable sum of money saved up before quitting your day job. In the event that your business doesn’t grow as fast as expected, the money you saved up serves as a backup plan. With bills to pay, quitting your job without a proper substitute should be the last thing on your mind.
Here's a blogpost on how to save money on a tight budget.
So, wait until you have established a steady flow of customers and income. Then you can resign and concentrate on your side hustle as the main job. We recommend saving at least six months income. When you are sure that your savings can sustain you for 6 months, you can then think of quitting.
Conclusion
Statistically, a good number of new business never blossom beyond establishment. However, that shouldn’t scare you off the market. Besides, the benefits of being self-employed speak for themselves. If you desire financial freedom, starting a side hustle must have crossed your mind at one point. If you are wondering where to begin, we’ve given you a starter pack. The above steps should guide you to start and run a successful side hustle.