More people than ever are exploring the growing phenomenon of embarking on side hustles for extra money or a career shift. According to CreditLoan.com survey results published in 2018 at Small Business Trends, 15 percent of Americans are working a side hustle to start and grow their own business.
Seeing as 76 percent of respondents recently surveyed for Side Hustle Nation reported loving their side hustle, it probably comes as little surprise that more and more people are working to take their side hustles to the next level. You may be one of those people. If so, try these four ways to turn your side hustle into your full-time career.
1. Start by Choosing a Side Hustle That Relies on Your Strengths and Satisfies You
If you wanted to work at a job just to pay the bills and waste away the day, you could stick with your day job. Your side hustle—at least the one you choose as the pathway to your new career—should have more meaning to you, drawing on your strengths and passions. Find a hustle where you can provide a unique offering to your prospective customers that your competitors cannot.
Whether you make things that are challenging in terms of materials and skills, you have the training and disposition to work with a special group of people with physical or mental challenges, or whatever you do that stands out, zoom in on your niche and work toward expanding it as your career.
2. Invest in High-Quality Online Business Tools
Most people can’t help but monitor the clock while working for someone else, wishing away the minutes until it is time to go home. When you are working for yourself to bolster your side hustle, however, time becomes a precious commodity. Investing in high-quality online tools can help you keep everything organized and on track for success.
Consider social media management tools like Hootsuite, financial management software like ScaleFactor, or invoice tracking apps like Invoice Ninja to help you save time and energy to focus on core tasks for your product or service.
3. Distinguish the Difference Between a Real Business Opportunity and a Pyramid Scheme
Some opportunities may seem too good to be true, and many times they are. However, it is important to know the difference between a great opportunity and an outright scam. Make sure to do your research on any business endeavor you take on. Some long-standing businesses have proven their worth, in spite of suspicions that their business was not above board. Look at Amway, which has had to ward off the suggestion that there is some type of Amway pyramid scheme going on. With a 70 year history of delivering quality products to satisfied customers through hard-working people doing their own side hustle, it is easy to dispel such a suggestion. Amway is a direct selling organization where independent workers make money through the sale of high-quality products.
4. Build Your Brand
Entrepreneur urges anyone leveling up their side hustle to focus on his or her brand. It is one of the most important strategies to take your side hustle to new heights, so start developing your business’s identity right away.
Here are a few steps you can take in building your brand:
- Choose a name that reflects you and what you do
- Invest in an expertly designed and unique logo
- Create a style guide for your brand, covering colors and fonts you plan to use
- Build your website around all these steps, including name, logo and appearance criteria
Choosing the right side hustle, tracking time and progress, discerning good prospects from questionable ones, and building a strong brand are just a few of the many ways you can move up to the next level with your exciting side hustle.
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