The idea of running a side hustle might look glamourous on social media. But if you’ve already started your business, you’d agree that it is a lot harder than it looks! It means hustling on weekends and pretty much any free time you get. It makes you reprioritize everything in your life.
Everybody has a different reason for starting their business. You might be working toward financial freedom, or looking to pursue your hobby professionally, or simply exploring different opportunities to live up to your full potential. Whatever your reason is, you are working hard to make things happen.
So it’s important to focus your efforts in the right direction to see amazing results! Otherwise you might find your enthusiasm fizzle out or you might feel burnt out before you get anywhere.
If you want your side hustle to taste success and generate real income, then you’ve got to read about these 6 key commandments that will help you stay motivated and thrive!
1. Set a schedule
Just the fact that you’re running a “side” hustle means that you have other commitments that take up the majority of your day. It could be your education, a 9 to 5 job or your family.
It can be quite tiring to focus on multiple priorities at the same time. Especially if you are not great at multi-tasking like me!
That’s why it’s crucial to schedule your day and stick to it. When it’s time to work on your side hustle, dedicate your full attention to it. Treat this time as your “office hours”. This will help you stay focused and disciplined.
2. Avoid half efforts
Despite how passionate you are about your side hustle, don’t neglect your other responsibilities.
“Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.” – Ron Swanson
This is even more important when you have a 9 to 5 job. It is obviously unethical to use company resources and work hours to do your side hustle activities. Financially speaking, your full-time job is keeping you afloat and giving you the independence to pursue your business. So don’t neglect your work and risk losing your main source of income!
It’s best to set aside a specific time in your day to work on your business. This will help you stay dedicated to your full-time role!
The same applies to other commitments too! Whether it’s college, family or friends, make sure to balance your priorities without neglecting them.
3. Don’t waste your time and money on things they can’t see
As a new entrepreneur, you’ll inevitably get sucked into the rabbit hole of “improving” things. But to work effectively and grow your business, make sure that you are focusing your efforts on something that benefits your customers.
Invest your time and money only on things that will take your business further. As a perfectionist, this was one of the hardest habits to overcome! 😅
For example, spend your time on creating content or products instead of beautifying your office space or tweaking minor details on your website. You could spend weeks redesigning logos, tweaking the fonts and colors on your website, but your audience won’t notice it. What they care about is the value from your content and products.
The same applies to money. Fund your side hustle with your savings and avoid going into debt for it. It’s easy to fall into the cycle of buying premium tools for your business too early in the game. Like a $500 printer when you’re only getting 2 orders a month. So focus on your needs and not your wants!
4. Choose what you really love
If you are like me, then you might have multiple passions that you want to pursue! That’s great, but it’s important to narrow it down to that one idea that you really love AND enjoy doing to earn money. (I love making DIY furniture but I’d lose my interest real quick if I had to do it as a business.)
Running a side hustle will take up pretty much all of your free time. It may require consistent efforts over months or even years before you finally see results and earn an income. So choosing something that you don’t fully love is the quickest way to lose your focus and interest.
Entrepreneurship will need you to push your boundaries and try things that you thought you could never do. Like making videos for your social media accounts! But the core foundation or the skill that you need for your business should be something that you are already good at.
5. Be ready for change
Change is inevitable! Side hustles may sometimes take a wild turn and evolve into a different business altogether!
You might start out with a baking business and end up running an event management company! Okay, maybe that one’s a lil too wild! 😝
It’s all about experimenting, listening to what your audience really wants and being open to change. It’s important to have well defined goals to pursue, but don’t get too attached. Make way for better things and bigger successes that come your way!
If your customers are looking for something else, then consider adapting to their needs. For example, if your customers keep asking you about breakfast recipes, don’t write a cookbook on the basics of French cooking! Keep checking to see what works with your audience and what opportunities are opening up for you.
6. Take advantage of communities
Communities make running a side hustle a little bit easier! Whether it’s your own brand’s community or a group for like-minded entrepreneurs, it helps you refocus, find insights and get support.
Building a community for your business is a great way to build a loyal following and get valuable insights and feedback about what’s working for your audience and what’s not.
On the other hand creator/entrepreneur groups are a great place for you to meet people in the industry and it makes the journey a little less lonely! You learn valuable lessons and ideas from others and it’s a great platform to network, share and support each other’s work. Like everything else in life, it’s easier with friends around!