5 Best Tips to Start Your Side Hustle

24 Jun 5 Best Tips to Start Your Side Hustle

A side hustle can be a lifeline. It’s not only an opportunity to earn some extra money, but it can be the key to making ends meet, paying off high-interest debt, saving for a secure retirement, or even breaking free from your day job.  A side hustle allows you to work from home, and there are plenty of work from home side hustles options.

 Choosing the right side hustle for your personality and skill set is important.  If you dislike selling, you probably shouldn’t start a business that involves reaching out to people individually. 

Before you jump in the fray, there are a few simple things you can do to give yourself the best chance of success.

The first step is to figure out a service that you can provide to others.   Experts say to look for “problems you’ve overcome in your own world or problems you can perceive other people having.”   We offer 10 great side hustle ideas later in this blog.

Pro-Tip

A side hustle needs to make money, so don’t be afraid to charge for your services. And plan to spend time on sales and marketing, too.  We sought advice from six experts, all of whom have started successful side hustles and their 5 tips to start your side hustle are below.

1. Start small, and don’t invest big right away

The value of starting small can’t be overstated. Making small steps to launch a side hustle today puts you well ahead of those who start tomorrow. 

Taking small steps also allows you to wisely invest your resources in the beginning.  The scariest mistake people make is trying to have everything perfect before they have any real validation.  Don’t invest $30,000 — or even $3,000 — before ensuring that you can monetize your side hustle idea. Validate it first, then if you have traction and you want to invest in it, go for it.

Slowly growing your side hustle allows you to make adjustments as you go, which is much less risky than going all in at the start.

2. Find the right Side Hustle for you, find your passion

The right side hustle for you should meet three criteria: You’re good at it, you enjoy it, and you can make money doing it.

If you have trouble determining your strongest skills, consider turning to those who know you best. Go to your friends, family, or coworkers and ask them to help you figure out your strengths. You can certainly use the skills you’ve learned from your previous work experience in your side hustle.

Embrace the skills you’ve learned at your current or previous jobs, which might be applicable to a side hustle. If you’re a teacher, you can tutor online. If you’re a car mechanic, you can fix up and sell used cars on the side. 

Why not use the expertise you have that’s making your employer money — to make money for yourself?  Here are 10 great side hustle ideas for you: 

1. Deliver Food And Groceries

2. Ride sharing

3. Start A Blog

4. Tutoring

5. Online Freelancing

6. Buy And Resell Stuff

7. Create Stuff To Sell

8. Help People Move

9. Be A Handyman

10. Babysitting or Dog sitting

3. Be clear about your reasons for starting

Be sure you define your reason for starting, your WHY.  Your WHY could be paying off debt, building an emergency fund, investing more for retirement, or saving up for a home down payment. Focus on why you’re doing this, not only on what you’re going to do.  For Kim and me, we started our side hustle so we can retire early, and comfortably.

When you start with an end goal in mind, it’s much easier to measure your progress. Remember that your side hustle doesn’t have to turn into the next million-dollar idea. It can still be a success if it helps you reach your specific goals.

Find a side hustle that fits into your current work schedule.  Remember you will need to dedicate hours to your side hustle.  Ultimately, you don’t want to build something you end up liking less than your current job.  Start by figuring out what your ultimate lifestyle would look like … and ask yourself, ‘what type of side hustles could I build that would allow me to have that lifestyle?

4. Prioritize your time

The 24/7 “rise-and-grind” hustle culture claims you must give up sleep to build a successful side business. Not so, says most experts.  Sleep deprivation does nothing but make you sleepy, grumpy and weaken your brainpower.  You can definitely work your side hustle and work your full-time job successfully.

It’s a huge myth that you must spend 15 to 30 hours a week on a side hustle. Instead, we recommend setting non-negotiable times to work on your side hustle.  For Kim and me, we dedicated 3pm-5pm weekdays to our side hustle.  We had the flexibility to work our Day Jobs from 8am-3pm, then shift over to our side hustle work.

And don’t underestimate the time-honored tradition of deadlines. I myself am totally deadline driven!  A project isn’t “real” to me until a deadline is set.  Once I know the expectation (deadline) now the task is real, and I will finish it on time.   

5. Ask for what you’re worth

Being afraid to charge people for your services can be a big challenge to overcome for your first side hustle.  People can feel awkward asking for payment, but you have to put a price on what you do and have a very clear method of payment,”

You will need to spend a good portion of your side hustle time on figuring out how to get your message — and product — out in the world.  You can spend the time necessary to refine and hone your product, but eventually need to release it and allow people to find you. 

Bottom Line

Creating extra income with a side hustle is a great way to pay off debt, build your emergency fund, or invest for retirement. No matter the reason for making a little money on the side you can be successful.  Just follow our tips and get ready to start your side hustle today!

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