First off, I want to explain what I consider a side hustle. It's not necessarily a full-blown business on the side. It can be, but more than that it is a secondary revenue stream to your day job. And I believe that it's critical that everyone have one. Regardless of how much it makes, it will help reduce your stress, give you more freedom, and make you happier. Regardless of what you choose, anything can pretty much be a side hustle if you construct it correctly, but some ventures lend themselves to lower maintenance and faster revenue.
For instance, I encourage all of my employees to start and run their own websites. I suggest they use the skill sets they gain from working at our agency and put those towards building something of their own. And just within the vertical of websites there are dozens of different types of websites that can make you money. Blogs, eCommerce, social communities, and eBooks are just a few of the ways you can have a website that helps you generate another stream of income. And yes, they start off slow and small. But everything great starts from something insignificant. Thus, you have to get started if you ever want to have something of value. Getting started is so much of the battle. In my previous article I explained how in just one month you can accomplish some pretty amazing things online. The trick is you have to actually do it.
But, once you've decided on what your side hustle will be, you'll want to ensure that you don't let it cannibalize your current job or income. You can't steal from Peter to pay Paul in this one. If you lose your main source of income, you're going to be much worse off. So, ensure that you're not breaking any rules or contracts you're under with your current employer, then write up a gameplan, then get to work. And once you do, here are the reasons you'll end up loving your side hustle.
It will give you an outlet for your passion
This isn't mandatory when choosing your side hustle, but I do recommend you select something in a field that you're passionate about. Why? Well, because you'll work harder on something you love and it will give you an outlet to take part in your passions. Which will make it feel less like a job and make you look forward to working on it. For instance, I have a guy that works for me that loves to hunt and be outdoors. And his side hustle is a social community for wild game cooking. It's not a massive community and he doesn't make tens of thousands of dollars from it. But he gets free products that he loves from manufacturers who want him to review his goods, he loves interacting with his followers, and he gets to indulge in the things he loves most in order to grow his business. It's a win, win, win.
It will give you more enjoyment in your day job
One of the best parts of having a side hustle is the money it can provide for you. When I was still employed at a 9 to 5 job, I had a side endeavor that started earning me more money than my salary was paying me. And you'd think that this would make me less committed to my job since I didn't need the money. But instead, it did the opposite. Because I wasn't going to work for the paycheck, I started loving going into the office. It was a place for me to socialize and push my limits by working on cool projects. All of a sudden I started getting promoted because I was putting in extra effort all over the place and my ideas were getting recognized. Eventually I left that job to chase my side hustle, but for the time that I was doing both it was amazing.
It will give you freedom
As I just mentioned, I eventually left my day job to pursue my side hustle and it wasn't all that scary of a proposition. Many people describe leaving their job to start a business as a leap of faith. But if you're already making a significant income from your side hustle BEFORE you leave your day job, then where is the leap? Instead, I was downsizing my workload to focus on something I loved. My family didn't take a hit in our finances and there really wasn't that much risk.
It will make you more creative
When you're working for someone else, it can sometimes feel draining. You get home and all you want to do is "decompress". You sit on the couch and veg out to some Netflix and call it a day. And after a while, you realize that it's been months since you've done anything new and exciting. But if you look forward to coming home so you can work on your side hustle and it's something you're passionate about, then you'll instead feel energized and you'll push your limits and try new things constantly.
You'll meet new people and join new communities
When I had a day job, I went to business networking events and business conferences. I met new people, but they all seemed to be the same person. We all talked about the same stuff and we all did the same things. But when I was working on my side hustle, I was introduced to dozens of different types of folks and all sorts of new communities. The networking was less forced and I genuinely loved the small talk and chit chat about the subject matter. It was night and day from the typical business networking I was used to.
You'll be happier
Finances can be one of the biggest stresses for most people. But the money you make from a side hustle is always frosting on the cake, thus you have more freedom with that cash. So, even if your side hustle is only making you $50 extra dollars per month, that's additional money that you weren't planning on. So now you can use it to go out with your spouse, or buy some new golf balls, or do something you really want to do. Because your salary usually goes towards the things you HAVE to pay, your side hustle allows you to use the money for the things you want to pay for. And this can lessen your stress, let you indulge more in your passions, and become happier.
I hear from a lot of people that they have all these ideas for their side hustles. They're just not ready to launch it. But the thing is, I talk to those same people a year later and they're still waiting. And their biggest regret is what that endeavor could be today if they'd just gotten started last year. Thus, there's never going to be a perfect time to start your side hustle if you're waiting for the universe to provide you with the opportunity. The time to start is right now!
