Be your own boss

From side-hustle to CEO

What do Slack, Twitter, Airbnb and Innocent drinks all have in common?

They all started as side hustles.

If you have a side hustle you are not alone. Side hustles have been booming with Henley Business School research (2018) showing that 1 in 4 Brits have been running at least one side gig alongside their full-time job. The self-employed are also involved with figures published in 2019 by IPSE, the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed, finding that that 320,000 people have a so-called ‘side hustle’ on top of their self-employment.

From a way to make money fast to realising a passion, there is a myriad of reasons why everyday people look at creating a side hustle and developing it. Whilst some are content to keep it on the side, some want to move it into their full-time dream.

If you are a corporate woman with a side hustle ready to start making that move, read on!

Whether you are looking to replace your 9-5 income or create the next unicorn business ($1bn business), taking more concrete steps to that side hustle becoming your full-time reality might seem daunting.

Can your side hustle make money?

The first thing to establish is whether your side hustle is something that is going to sustain you. This doesn't mean it's making you your top figure right now. This means that it has the potential to do this. There is a plan in place to get in there and you know exactly what it takes to move those numbers up. Planning is crucial. Often, I meet female business owners after they have worked on their business for a few years. Something that starts as a passion and grows organically without much planning, becomes exhausting and overwhelming. You can change this by planning now and adapting your business model to fit the times.

When to leave the corporate job?

Knowing when to make the transition from your 9-5 to working for yourself full-time is sometimes a dilemma, I believe that you should leave on you own terms, in full health and ready to face the future. Being carried out of the role or saying ‘I quit’ with no plans in place because you’ve had enough, are not the best starting points!

If you are nurturing your side hustle, there comes a point where the balance tips, where the side hustle takes up more and more time and is making more and more money. However, for it to even have a hope that it's going to get there, it does need commitment, energy and a strategy.

Financial freedom and work/life balance

Creating balance and having financial freedom is often the goals I hear women saying they want when deciding to take the plunge. But how do you manage that when you are working for yourself? Sometimes, women find it hard to give themselves space to have that time off. Also, what about those 12-hour days you might be working in the day job? Do you want that to continue when you work for yourself? There, obviously may be times it's unavoidable to work long hours. But how do you really want to structure your life when you're running the thing that fulfils you the most?

You want to be able to enjoy your success and have time for the things that you love without feeling guilty that you're not working hard enough or constantly worrying about failing.

 Do you truly believe you can make your side hustle into a successful business?

What you believe is a key part of the story. You might be getting in your way and sabotaging your success!

One of the biggest differences between those who succeed and those who don't is their mindset. The ability to grow and learn from mistakes, bounce back, seeing and embodying their future.

Now, let's talk a bit more about you and your mindset behaviour and habits.

How do you operate?

·       How do you as an individual show up, day in, day out?

·       Do you understand what your values are, and what that means in terms of your business?

·       Do you know what your strengths are and how to use them to problem solve and to work through anything that is thrown at you in the world of entrepreneurship?

·       Do you know how to manage your day and create a timetable, when you are completely in control of everything you do? So that when you wake up on that first day after you have left your job, you know what you're going to be doing, how, when, and more importantly, why?

I ask all these questions because often they're not asked and many of these are questions are answered and covered in the programme that I'm launching in the autumn, Exit your 9 to five with ease, transition with less hustle more flow which is all about helping you get in the right mindset to move into your passion.

It's about enabling you to thrive, avoiding overwhelm and burnout and creating a concrete plan that helps you to move out of your day job into your passion.

This is all about working on you and getting you to be the best leader of your organisation that you can be. It's understanding:

·       how you deal with adversity,

·       how you manage others,

·       how you manage yourself,

·       how you really connect with your goals, and your ‘why’ and

·       how you can also shift those limiting beliefs that might be stopping you progressing – eliminating the ‘I'm not good enough’ and ‘why would people want to buy from me’ or ‘will I make this work?’ thoughts.

This programme deals with all that and more. If you'd like to know whether it's for you, please read this information and then book a call.