Mastering Your Side Hustle
Whether you’re hustling in a corporate job, being a full-time student, or creating your next big idea as an entrepreneur, you should always have a side hustle. It helps build character and allows you to be creative. This could be blogging, coaching, tutoring, or dog walking, just to name a few.
The tricky part is mastering your new side hustle so that it develops into more than just a hobby. This way it can bring in some money to help fund your new dream or pay off your student loans.
What Are The Trade Secrets?
What are the tricks of the trade to master your side hustle? I have started a few side hustles over the years and have learned tons by trial and error. It would be a lie if I said it was even remotely easy, but then again if it was easy, everyone would be doing it! I put together my list of the top 4 things you need to know in order to master your side hustle so that you won’t make all the mistakes that I did!
1. You Have To Be Passionate
Making money through a side hustle takes lots of work! You need to be prepared to eat, sleep, and breath your side hustle, even when no one else is.
This takes dedication, and frankly motivation, to come home from your day job and then start working on your side hustle well into the night. Sleeping in becomes a thing of the past because “the early bird gets the worm.” This may mean that you need to be up at 4:00 am each day in order to get the most out of it and move your side hustle forward.
If you are not passionate about what you are doing and the side hustle you have started, you will burn out!
Don’t lie to yourself. You can do something for awhile even if you’re not passionate about it, but in order to master the side hustle, you have to want it, and want it badly! Not doing this is probably the number one reason most side hustles fail!
2. Your Family Has To Be Onboard
If your spouse, partner, or significant other is not on board with this side hustle, do not do it! The havoc that it will cause on your relationship is not worth any amount of money in the world.
Your family has to be willing to get in bed with your side hustle.
I am a living example of this. I have been blessed with an awesome wife who has forgiven me for my crazy amount of side hustle ideas and has been willing to go through the fire with me for a few of them. Value your marriage or serious relationship. Listen to their concerns. At the end of the day, if they are not onboard with the idea, try to reach a solution that you both agree on. This may be adapting your plans, changing your side hustle, or even deciding to wait a few years.
I could tell you many stories of young and old entrepreneurs who have great ideas; however, their families valued their time with them and asked them to not pursue their plans. The problems arise when the entrepreneur is not willing to step back, compromise, and realize family is worth more than any amount of money.
3. Invest In Yourself!
When you make that first bit of money from your side hustle, it’s like “YEAH! I can go buy something that I might want!” WRONG. You need to invest it back into your business and yourself. You won’t regret it. This is how your small business grows and continues to make money so that eventually you can take money out of it without it falling apart!
I remember when I got my first $100 from detailing cars. All I wanted to do was to go out and buy a new video game for all my hard work, but instead, I needed newer and better equipment to clean carpets. That $100 would get me the supplies I needed to be able to clean carpets quicker and make a better profit on the next cars.
Trust me it was hard!
4. You Have To Be Ok With Hard Work & Wearing Multiple Hats.
As I have said multiple times before, you need to be willing to work the hardest you ever have in order to make it work. This means hours of extra work in the evening and early mornings. It also might mean you have to ditch some plans with friends on the weekend’s because that’s the only time you can work. Trust me: if you can master your side hustle though, it will all be worth it!
When you are starting or growing a business, you have to be ok with wearing multiple hats in the company. Your job is not going to be like that of a corporate job where you have one task, and that’s your responsibility.
You will have to play customer service like your life depends on it when starting out. Making sure the customer is happy and satisfied will go a long way in repeat service and word of mouth.
The hat I hate the most is the role of the accountant and bookkeeper. I feel like I have no time for finding receipts and making sure I have expensed each item out. But trust me, you want to keep a tight book! Make sure you have some dedicated time each day, or week, to work on the numbers of the business. However, you’re going to want to hire an accountant to do your quarterly things. It will save you headaches and will be money well spent.
Finally, be ok with playing the custodian.
Remember: No one will take care of your business like you will!
Is It All Worth It?
That’s really for you to decide, but I think so! I am where I am today because of the side hustle. My character and worth ethic are stronger because of it. Who knows, it might help you become the person you want to be!