A webinar debrief in collaboration with Geekulcha
Fire round of 15 questions: Turning side hustles into main hustles.
We hosted our first-ever online webinar in May with our friends from Geekulcha and man oh man, did we have a good time ?? Geekulcha is an award-winning tech movement and are considered, the “home of the geeks”, you really should check them out here ?? The developer and tech community is very close to our hearts. Many of the stubbions are part of this community and it’s always a great time when we hang out together.
For those of you who missed out on the webinar (don't worry there are plenty more events to come), we debated all things turning your side hustle into your main hustle, tips, and tricks for dev/techie businesses' to succeed and the panelists answered a bunch of questions.
We promised we would answer ALL the questions that we didn't get to, there’s never enough time when we are having a good time! So here we are, fulfilling our promises. We’ve tried to keep them succinct and to the point so that this blog post doesn’t take you a day to read. But if it’s not enough detail for you, drop us a line on any of our social channels and we can further the chat ??
Before the hustle is a hustle (even though, it’s always a hustle)
How to officially step into the market?
There is lots to consider when reaching the point to officially step into the market. Some of these factors include; business planning, financial setup (hint hint: use stub, it’s free), legal and regulatory requirements, branding and marketing as well as your operational set-up. You also need to think about the launch of your business and its service or product. This may seem like a long checklist but try not overthink it, and just start. Take it one step at a time ??
Talking about profitability, what is best between a broad target market or a niche one?
On the theme of development and tech, a niche market may be an easier start as you can leverage your skills and talents in one area or domain and offer specialised services, you could then look to expand your business offering to a larger market.
What are the best ways to show traction with customer insight before building the full MVP or prototype?
There are a few tactical ways that you can achieve this but let’s focus specifically on three:
What side hustles do you recommend for newbie web and app developers in Africa?
E-commerce platforms and custom web apps is where it is at.
What is the best way to approach freelancing as a developer in South Africa?
Check out platforms like Toptal, Upwork, Freelancer, fiverr, and guru. Focus on delivering high-quality work, manage projects effectively, and build a network of clients that you work well with.
Once the hustle is in motion
Tips for transitioning from your 9-5 and focus on your hustle?
What’s the best way to focus on freelancing as a developer in South Africa?
Focus on building a good network of customers by understanding them and meeting their needs. Focus on delivering high-quality work.
How to balance my tech side hustle and my full-time job to avoid burnout and ensure high quality work in both?
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Three tips for scale once your side hustle is your main hustle?
How to build a company profile?
Your company profile will build over time, it’s not something to be rushed. What is important is how you expose this profile to potential customers or partners in the form of something visual, so that they can see that you are a trusted and reputable business. A website is usually the go-to place for this info.
What is the best way to manage payments and how can I guarantee payment for my work?
Send a legitimate quote so that your client knows what they are expected to pay and make sure you receive a confirmation to move ahead with the job in writing (a formal quote approved email is probably your best bet). You could consider taking a deposit before the work starts to ensure that the client is committed to payment.
Once the work is complete, send a professional invoice with all the details of the job on it. Add an easy way to pay on your invoice (stub digital payment links make it super easy for your clients to pay you, by the click of a button) ??
How to advertise software as a service?
Advertising software as a service is a strategic skill that requires in-depth knowledge into who your customers are, and what they find valuable. Content plays a super important role here; it should engage your audience and also offer them something informative to take away.
Optimising your website and leveraging SEO can also help with brand awareness and further conversion. One of the stub team members wrote a blog on how a book by Martina Lauchengco inspired some of the stuff we do at stub, read it here for more insight into product marketing tips and tricks.
How to prepare yourself for the rapid changes that occur within the technology industry with little to no corporate programming skills?
In the current world that we live in, innovation and disruption is the norm and the technology industry will always be at the forefront.
3 tips are:
Embrace an attitude of lifelong learning
Seek feedback and mentorship
Develop problem-solving skills
How can we manage our finances better?
Suuuper simple, use accounting software like stub ?? It’s free and super easy to use as a starting out entrepreneur.
Wrapping up...
We know this was a bit long but we reeeeeeally wanted to make sure we got to all the unanswered questions from the webinar. You showed up, so here we are showing up too ???
That’s us for now! Shoutout again to Geekulcha for the time spent together and to all of you for reading this, you guys rock ??
Original blog post available here: https://stub.africa/blog/a-webinar-debrief-in-collaboration-with-geekulcha-