Follow These 6 Must-Have Tips When Starting a Side Hustle

Keep reading for our top tips to help you create your side hustle

• Side hustles are taken up to supplement an individual’s income. Primarily, side hustles taken up to help an individual make ends meet, accelerate growth in their savings or just for the fun of it!
• Many of the most popular side hustles today didn't exist in pre-internet times. Technology has removed a lot of the barriers to entry for part-time work.
• It’s important to evaluate your lifestyle to decide if a side hustle is for you, as they are not for everyone for various reasons.

1. Don't Overdo It

Remember, this is a side hustle, so start small. The need to earn extra income shouldn't mean that your side hustle starts to conflict with the commitments to your full-time occupation. If you wish to turn your side hustle into a full-time occupation, work on it slowly, perhaps even over a few years. According to The Hartford, half of American side business owners spend 10 or fewer hours per week on their side hustle. This is probably an appropriate amount of time to spend.

2. Do Your Due Diligence

Just like a regular job, don’t start a side hustle that you aren’t in a position to perform. Although you’re likely to be better at performing a side hustle in something that’s an existing hobby, that’s not to say you can’t retrain to perform in something else! If you are going to create a side hustle from an existing passion of yours, ask yourself, is this idea financially feasible? Do your due diligence on what it is you’re getting into before you pay for any upfront costs for a business (e.g. a domain or stock).

3. Beware of pyramid schemes.

Yes, unfortunately, side hustles can really just be scams. Again, this comes back to doing your due diligence before committing. 

4. Value Your Time

Don’t charge fees way below the service's average rate! Lowering your prices to increase sales can be detrimental to you. It’ll attract customers whose priority is to save cash rather than best solve their problems. If your work is of good quality, customers will be willing to pay good money. Get the best-paying customers by spending time and some money on customer acquisition!

5. Pinpoint a Suitable Side Hustle for You!

Never jump on a side hustle just because your friends are doing it. Embrace your strongest skills in deciding what the most suitable side hustle is for you.

6. Know Exactly Why It Is That You’re Starting up a Side Hustle

There are numerous motivations for setting up a side hustle. Knowing what your motivation is will help you set objectives. For example, a side hustle set up to fund a $2,000 holiday in 12 months' time requires earning an average of $166.66 profit (after-tax) per month.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

There are lots of reasons to have a side hustle and lots of ways to go about it. Opportunities are out there, but you’ll need to put in the work to find out the types of side hustle that you could take on – not everybody can manage a side hustle. 

TIPS FOR STARTING A SIDE HUSTLE. COMPLETED. ✅

Sources:

1. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/28/people-start-a-second-business-for-a-lot-of-reasons-but-mostly-its-this-one.html 
2. https://mms.businesswire.com/media/20180925005605/en/680213/1/TheHartford_Side_Business_Survey_InfographicFINAL.pdf 
3. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sponsor-story/godaddy/2017/12/12/how-people-side-hustling-around-globe/108532604/