In my years of trying different side hustles, I have been successful at some & failed most of them. Failing is not really a bad thing as I am able to learn from my mistakes & move on to my next side hustle & make it better. Before I started my BBM blog, I also tried 2 different blogs which are MMA-related & food blog related. Both failed in less than 6 months but there are definitely things that I learned from it. Starting a side hustle can be both easy & hard depending on where you put your mind to it. It is easy if you are just looking to do it at a small scale with a minimum plan & it is hard if you are planning to do it at a big scale with no plans. Personally, I think it is easy.
We have friends or people around us that have their side hustle business. Some are doing really well that they managed to convert it into their full time job. For some, they are doing it while they are working their full time job. In my case, since all my side hustle is after working hours, therefore I can enjoy the best of both worlds where I can earn from my full time job & work on my side hustle after working hours. When talking about earning extra income, who doesn’t want it? 9/10 individuals will definitely want it but they may not have an idea of what or how can they start their side hustle. Below are some simple guides that you can refer to if you plan to start your side hustle.
1. Figure Out What Is Your Work Expertise Or Your Passion
Let’s split this into 2 parts to have a better understanding of how can you use a single expertise or both to create a side hustle. For example, if you are a salesperson at your 9-5 job & you are good at presentation or public speaking. You can consider creating a course or teaching people how to be better presenters or public speakers. If you are a data analyst & Microsoft Excel is your forte, creating a side hustle that can guide individuals that need these skills can be also a form of extra income for you. If your passion is related to singing. Perhaps you can consider taking a side hustle gig for singing during weekends to earn extra income while enjoying what you are passionate about.
A friend of mine had a passion for doing an emcee gig for as long as I have him. He used to volunteer as the emcee of his ex company for free & he even did multiple free gigs over the years. Eventually, as he was able to get his name out there, he started to take some paid gigs while working full time & a few years later, he was able to be a full time emcee. It does not take a day to actually achieve that but it took him years to achieve it from doing it for free to becoming a full time emcee. If you think that you have no passion or no expertise from your day job, you can also consider taking some courses to enhance your skills so you can start a side hustle.
2. Think Of A Side Hustle That Can Have A Repeat Or Referal Model
When building a side hustle, you have to figure out from the beginning how can you get repeat orders or if your customer can refer your product or service to other potential customers. This is very important as you need to have repeat orders or new orders that can keep your side hustle going. Let’s go back to the example of you singing as your side hustle. You may perform at wedding events but most of us only got married once therefore your service may not be a repeated service to the same customer. Will your customer refer you to their friends or family for their upcoming event? If you are a part time baker, your customer may order from you once a month or perhaps every few months depending on how good your product is. Both repeat & referral model needs to be determined early before you start on your side hustle. If your business model does not have both repeat & referral models, your customer acquisition plan needs to be solid in order for you to have new customers each month.
3. Quality First, Profit Second
I am a true believer in quality first, and profit second. When you have good quality products or services, you will eventually see your business grow & your income will eventually increase. This is what I am applying for Black Belt Tape where I am selling the best quality finger tape at an affordable price. Since 2020, the feedback that I am getting from customers are mostly positive & we are currently selling worldwide to many parts of the world. Similarly, I am doing the same for my gym where I ensure that my coaches & classes are conducted professionally & systematically. We are investing in some of the coaches whom we put through some courses to ensure that their teaching skills are on point. While we are investing in them, we are still the most affordable MMA, Muay Thai, Boxing & BJJ gym in Penang.
4. Go-To-Market Strategy
When we talk about go-to-market strategy, it sounds like a big business that you need a strategy. Whether it is a small or big business, go-to-market strategy is definitely important. For small side hustles, your strategy can be including support from friends & family. You will be surprised at how supportive some of your friends or family can be to support your side hustle. That is the fastest way for you to go to market but eventually, you will need to find ways to get business from outsiders out of your friends & family circle. That can be true through word of mouth or via social media marketing. Getting your friends & family to share your social media post is one of the best tools to reach your potential customers without spending a single cent on marketing.
5. Be Patient
Every single business or side hustle needs time to grow or to be matured. Some find success in their first few months & eventually, their business starts to drop. For others, their business may start slow & eventually, it grows. In both situations, it is best for you to be patient in both circumstances as all businesses will need time to grow & mature. Never give up when business is bad & stay determined as you may reap benefits in the future.
6. Stay Relevant
Whether your side hustle is a service or product, you have to stay relevant & find ways to keep improving. Staying relevant can be keeping yourself updated on the services you offer or the products that you are selling. You need to know what your competitors are doing differently or what is your edge over your competitor. Enhancing yourself by taking up some courses can help to support your side hustle growth too.
Conclusion:
As I mentioned earlier, starting a side hustle can be really easy as long as you are willing to do it. The possibility of earning money from your side hustle is endless as long as you are willing to put your heart & time into it. People that always mentioned that they have no time may use that as an excuse for themselves not wanting to do it rather than they find ways how can they make time for it. Time is never an issue to me despite me working a 9-5 job. Right after work, I will need to train, coach & run my gym up until 10 pm daily. Time after that is for me to use to work on my e-commerce fulfillment & my weekends are when I use my free time to write BBM blog for all of you. It is really about how you are willing to take time out of your “busy” schedule to work on your side hustle.
OSS!
You can also check out my latest YouTube video on Why Do You Need Financial Planning?
