It is no secret that both small businesses and individuals have found things difficult over the last 3 years. COVID shut down many high street stores, and while there has been some recovery since then, the road has continued to be bumpy, with high energy prices and rising raw material costs. This, in turn, has lead to real time wage reductions as inflation has taken hold and people have less money to spend. For some people, this has seen them experiment with starting a side hustle to supplement their current wage with additional income. A trend that has only increased in years gone by, there’s much to learn about starting a side hustle.
What is a Side Hustle?
A side hustle is essentially a small, often creative endeavour that someone will do alongside their current full-time role. These jobs are often treated as ‘pocket money’ for those doing them and can often be seen as a way of achieving the creative satisfaction that sometimes a job can’t give you.
For example, someone with a standard 9-5 day job may start up an online shop selling sustainable jewellery. This business, being something that trades mainly on weekends and evenings, would be known as a side hustle. This business may bring in a decent level of income to compliment that of their full-time wage. With prices rising for customers and consumers these jobs can help people continue to live life with extra cash in their bank.
What are the Benefits of a Side Hustle?
There are a variety of benefits to having a side hustle. Here are a few:
Ease
Usually, these kind of small business ventures will be easy to set up. According to Money Donut, 48% of side hustles take less than a few days to set up, and cost less than £500 to start. If you’ve got an idea for a hustle, know that all it needs is a little bit of cash and knowhow.
Flexible
The reason people love them is that they’re flexible and can be worked around your other commitments. No matter whether you work a traditional day job or something that’s shifted differently, you can always find time to invest in your side hustle.
Your Own Boss
Along with the flexibility to work whenever and wherever you want, you’re also able to take things at your own pace and be your own boss. There’s nobody else to tell you what success looked like, and what targets you need to hit. It’s just you doing what makes you happy.
Top 5 Side Hustle Ideas
Side hustles are becoming more popular. On one hand, people shouldn’t need more than one job to afford the things they need. However, many people find these extra jobs as something that can satisfy them creatively, and test out new waters for their career. Some popular side hustle ideas are:
- Freelance creative work
- Selling vintage books, clothes and games
- AirBNB
- Self-published writing
- Proof-reader
How to Upgrade Your Side Hustle to a Proper Business
This is the tough part. According to the same Money Donut article, citing Go Daddy, 70% of people with side hustles want to turn their side business into a full-time thing. That’s the vast majority. But there’s risk there, and it’ll take time. Here are a few things that can help:
Only Start When You’ve Got Proof of Success
There’s nothing fun about trying something out and it needing to be a success. The positive about doing things part time is that you can ensure the success is there to translate into a full-time option.
Ensure You Understand Your Market
The more time you spend understanding your market and competitors, the greater your chance to improve on their works, and improve on your own, to give yourself the best chance of success. This is a must.
Plan Ahead
There’s no time like the present to think about the future. Are you going to expand you range of products or services? Are you going to target a specific market or customer? How you do these things can determine exactly how your success plays out.
Growing your side hustle will always be difficult. But with that flexibility and hard work you will be able to do it. And when it grows into a proper business, companies such as Direct365 will be there to help.
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You also might find our article on 10 important apps for small businesses useful to help you stay organised and focused and some guidance about setting up your own business. Once you’ve taken the plunge, we’d love to have you on board. You can check out our extensive range of essential workplace products and services online, but if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.