In the past 10 years, many people have decided to make extra money on the side, due to an unstable economy and a cost of living crisis. However, many people have found that their side hustles have become extremely lucrative, and could potentially make them more money than their regular 9-5 job. Many people, unfortunately, believe that it’s hard to make the leap, or are scared about possible repercussions. Despite all of this, if you follow a few simple steps, a bit of rebranding and make sensible business decisions, you could potentially turn your side hustle into your own business. Here are all the things you need to know before making the leap into becoming your own boss!
Get Your Branding Perfect
This is crucial for any type of business you want to start, whether it’s service-based or product-led. For example, if you’re selling your skills or consultancy, your branding will need to reflect your expertise and attract the right people. Furthermore, if you’re selling products, you will want to make sure that it reaches the target market in order to increase sales. For example, if you’re selling vegan skin care products, your branding will need to target consumers who will be interested in that sort of product. Your company’s branding is crucial when it comes to succeeding at turning your side hustle into a serious business venture, as you will need to set yourself up apart from your competitors.
Create A Business Plan
One of the best ways you can convert your side hustle into a proper business is to set out a business plan, with ideas for projection, growth and budget. Here, you will be able to define your mission statement, aims and objectives in a more specific way. When you take the time to set up a business plan that will help you transform your side hustle, you will be setting yourself up for success. Once all of your time will be taken up by your side hustle, you will need to know how much time you can allocate to yourself, and if you need to hire employees to facilitate growth. This is one of the most important parts of starting a business and will be important if you want to see your side hustle grow.
Scaling The Right Way
The most common error new businesses make is that they scale projections for growth and profit wrong – often they expect to be making more than they actually do. However, there are many hidden costs that can be involved when you’re setting up a new business, so you should ensure that you’re making correct and accurate projections that are realistic about your goals. If you make goals that are too high, you might become dejected and frustrated when you don’t reach them. Make sure you’re being realistic about what you want to achieve as part of your business.
Pay Yourself
Many people start side hustles because they want to make a bit of extra money. However, ensure you’re not losing money because you want to convert your side hustle into a business! Ensure that you are properly paying yourself and preventing yourself from getting into debt – if you go bankrupt, your business won’t be able to grow at all! By keeping your finances separate and creating a personal and business cash flow for yourself and your side hustle, you will better secure your financial goals, and your business’s longevity. You need to ensure that your business is making you money, not draining it from your account.
Don’t Get Burnt Out
You will need to ensure that you’re managing your time effectively if you want to make your business successful. It can be hard managing your time well once you have switched from full-time employment to self-employed, as it can be hard to define your hours and know when to stop. Managing burnout is one of the most important things you can do for yourself and your business. Once you become exhausted and burnt out, it can be hard to function normally again, which could cost your business in the long run. Ensure that you’re taking breaks and switching off for the day to manage burnout.
Consult A Financial Expert
It’s one thing to manage the finances that come from a side hustle, however, if you need to manage a growing small business’ finances, this could be a little more difficult. This is especially more difficult if you need to pay employees or pay for extra services, such as website building. If you consult a financial advisor, this may help point you in the right direction and help you put your skills to good use. Getting just a bit of help from a financial advisor could set you up a lot better in the long run when it comes to finance management.
Solidify Your Digital Presence
If you’re advertising your current side hustle via a freelancer online marketplace, or selling products via an existing digital platform such as Etsy, you might want to consider creating your own website. If you want to transform your side hustle into a serious business venture, creating your own website can help you when it comes to defining your business goals and setting yourself apart from your competitors. Your own website can increase your digital presence and solidify your branding, resulting in more visibility and customers.
Start Marketing Your Business
Once you’ve branded your business and created a digital presence, you should consider investing in digital marketing and other forms of advertising. Digital marketing is increasingly important in the modern world, as most consumers look for products and services via search engines like Google. They also might be more likely to pay attention to social media advertising, as many people use social media every single day. Looking into digital marketing and considering whether it is right for your business is essential if you want to transform a side hustle into a legitimate small business.
Protect Your Company
Business in the modern world can be extremely unpredictable due to the economy – if you want to create a serious small business, you should invest in protecting your company from financial disturbances. Setting up a fund that will keep your company running for a while in case of a rainy day is one of the smartest financial decisions you can make when running a business. You may need to invest in different forms of insurance to protect your company. For example, if you have a website you should probably invest in cyber insurance, and if you’re selling products, you may need to invest in export credit insurance. Making good financial decisions for your small business is crucial if you want to transform it from a side hustle into your small business empire.
Turning a side hustle into a business will take a lot of work, but it will also be one of the most rewarding experiences in your life. If you’re considering it – take the leap, and use these tips!
