The Side Hustle

You, me, the neighbors, the mailperson and every 4th person you meet has something to say about side hustles. Its like this product no one can buy but every one knows about it and wants it. Some figure out how and some consider it more work. Every successful entrepreneur has a story of hustling their way to the top or how that one little side hustle in their basement started it all.

Whether you have considered it or not, there are things you should know about the side hustle that one day may come in handy.

What's a Side Hustle?

A side hustle is like a passion project or a gig you do on the side to earn extra cash. It's that graphic design business you run after work or the online store you manage on weekends. It's about pursuing your interests and making money while you're at it.

Most people consider a second job as a side hustle but its not a side hustle. Its a second job. The mistake people make here is that they prioritize immediate monetary compensation from the idea of a side hustle. While this is the goal of the side hustle, it is approached incorrectly. Think of the mistake like winning the Boston Marathon because you used a motorcycle. While yes you won, you did it in the wrong spirit and therefore you have experienced and learned nothing.

A side hustle should be about you, your skills and how far you can take them.

Why Side Hustles Matter?

If you are following along then you know that side hustles are not just about the money. Side hustles give you the freedom to discover who you truly are and what inspires you to create something of your own. A good side hustle is the shortest pathway to financial independence because you control the scale it grows at. If you truly enjoy it then you can go all in and take you financial wellbeing to the next level.

More so than that it acts as insurance against sudden layoffs, expenses or another layoff in the future. This hedge against uncertainty will take your mental well being to the next level and give you the assurance that you are prepared for uncertain times.

How Side Hustles Can Impact You?

The day you decide to commit to a side hustle, you also commit to learning at least a few dozen different skills apart from what you already know. Commonly you will find yourself exploring the world of Marketing, Pay Per Clicks, SEO, graphic design, web development, copywriting, outsourcing, finance, automation, AI tools, funding.... the list goes on. The line is drawn by you. You learn as much as you want to learn and you outsource or make do with what you can.

The more you put your heart into it the better you will come out no matter the outcome. This alone should make it worth your effort and time.

One of the most talked about benefits of a side hustle is the independence to just pack up and go because the prospect of frequent vacations and excursions becomes a viable option with increasing income. And with most side hustles now becoming digital first, the idea of moving to a vacation destination and working from there is also becoming a much enjoyed benefit.

And no matter how a side hustle goes, whether it succeeds, fails, stays small, grows into 谷歌 , you will have learned something and you will have grown far more than when you started. The more you put your heart into it the better you will come out no matter the outcome. This alone should make it worth your effort and time.

5 Tips to Build Your Side Hustle

1. Start with Passion: There are two ways to go about this when starting. You either start with professional passion or creative passion. Professional passion is leveraging your professional skills like graphic design to start your own graphics design agency whereas creative passion is using your graphics design skill to create and sell 3d printed flower pots. Both have their pros and cons but at the end of the day it comes down to what makes you want to get up every day and put some time into it without friction.
2. Manage Your Time Wisely: Create daily blocks of time to go over tasks that can help move the needle just a tiny bit. Set a start and an end time. A side hustle is meant to start off slow and then snowball. Conserving your energy and time will produce results that do not cause problems later down the line. Good time management leads to good project management.
3. Set Clear Goals: Set some goals with your side hustle. Start small like get 1 follower a day for 5 days or create 1 blog post every 2 weeks and then move the goal post forward when a consistent pattern appears. Next set of goals could be to generate 1 sale a day or reach 500$ in revenue a month. Dont aim for the end game from the start like have a million followers or generate $20 million in revenue a year. That will overwhelm and lead to paralysis. Break the goals down and move forward. As you get comfortable the distance between the goals will become bigger.
4. Network Like a Pro: Networking is a sure shot way to generate some buzz and free awareness for your side hustle. Partnering with the right people can get your side hustle the range it needs to find more conversions. Networking is also a great way to quickly learn tips, tricks and tools of the trade which will help save you time and money. You are struggling with abandoned carts? Jeremy who sells hand painted water bottles with turtles on them has just introduced you to retargeting. Struggling to get raw materials shipped to you on time? Alicia who imports Star Wars Turkish rugs has just introduced you to the world of 3PL. Build and leverage your network.
5. Be Consistent: The trick to growing a side hustle isn't in how well prepared you are but in how consistent you are. Putting in the work every single day is important because that is what pushes the hustle from experimentation to reality. Aim to spend 1 hour a day working on your side hustle. Set a different goal each day like, write a newsletter on Monday, update logos on Tuesday, work on website Wednesday, call supplier Thursday, and schedule social media posts for the week Friday. Consistency will naturally push you to plan better and the task variation will keep procrastination at bay.

Dont let the memes and internet culture ruin side hustles for you. They get a bad rep because the culture around it has become more showboaty than actual boaty. Wannabe hustlers have made it about sacrifices, pain and buying Lamborghinis when in reality it offers a lot more than that. The type of independence working for yourself brings is a different kind of peace worth working for and experiencing.

In my strong opinion, everyone should try and spend some time trying to build a side hustle. The growth, learning, adventure, reflections are worth the effort, win or lose and who knows you might go on to build the next big thing.

You will never know if you dont try.

Shameless plug: Please check out dygres at www.dygres.com. It is an experimental communication platform that I have been working on in my free time. It is in early alpha and has a long journey ahead of it. Please let me know what you think.