Turn your side hustle into a full-time career – things to consider before making the leap
LOCKDOWN has seen a sharp rise in the number of people taking on secondary income streams like side hustles, but how can one turn this into a primary income stream in the coming months?
Celebrities With Successful Side Businesses
Many people found side hustles as a way to help grow their financial wellbeing, pay off debt or just keep busy during the pandemic. By turning passion into profit, some side hustlers have gone into full-time careers, leaving behind the office job to do something they enjoy, and often for a bigger salary.
What are some things to consider before going full-time with a side hustle?
Plan it out
Every side hustle is different, and in order to make a true success one needs to thoroughly plan everything out before they even think about quitting their main job.
This includes the costs of the business, for example a jewellery-making side hustle requires tools and materials to make, alongside shipping and e-commerce or store renting expenses.
Ensuring that one knows all these expenses can help them properly gauge whether it is a suitable career choice for them.
Alongside this, the number of hours and expertise involved in the business should be considered so that it doesn’t conflict with the lifestyle someone is aiming to have.
Check the finances
Starting a full-time career as a side hustler might leave some with a financial deficit for the first few months.
This accounts for the fact that a start-up needs to first stock-up on supplies and products before they begin to make a profit.
It also provides a safety net to fall back on while figuring out the right marketing tools, strategies and audience demographics.
Ensuring that one has enough savings to survive a few months will be beneficial regardless of how good the business does in the beginning.
Research audience
Learning more about one’s audience and demographics can also shed a light on whether this is a financially viable option.
Perhaps a side hustle was just doing really well because it was a market of maybe 100 customers and no suppliers.
While this scenario is great in the short-term, it is not sustainable especially if the products are reusable or last for a long time.
Understanding whether ones’ audience is large enough to sustain a long-term full-time career can save a lot of heartache in the near future.
Practice advertising
Where most entrepreneurs tend to fall flat is not knowing how to advertise themselves, their brand and their products.
There are plenty of free digital marketing or advertising courses online that can assist with this.
And even if they decide not to pursue a full-time career in their side hustle, the fact of the matter is that this aspect of business will be a part of one business life indefinitely, so it is a useful skill to have nevertheless.