9 Steps to Working on Your Side Hustle Full Time
Whether you’re a freelancer, a small business owner, or just looking to make your side hustle into a full-time gig it can be really exciting breaking out of the standard 9 to 5 and doing someone all on your own. This great deal of freedom of being your boss can be an exciting new beginning where you get to choose your work. You get to bring your passion into the work that you do. Depending on your work, you may even get to just work at home in your PJs. While this does seem like a dream, there is unfortunately the chance of it all going completely wrong. These tips will help you prepare yourself to switch to your side hustle full time.
What Makes You Happy?
Are you currently happy with working a full-time job? What sort of work makes you feel happy? While work shouldn’t entirely involve your life, this will be what helps you survive, so this should be something that can make you happy enough. If you’re completely sure that working on your side hustle full time will bring you more happiness than your current 9 to 5 job, then it’s best to then begin formulating a plan.
What will you find successful?
Everybody has their idea of what success is, some people think it’s working overtime in the corporate world while others believe it’s owning their business. Think about what will make you feel successful and content. Also, ask yourself:
- · What are the reasons for wanting to switch to the side hustle?
- · What hours did you have in mind working?
- · Are you working from home or plan to travel for clients?
- · What are you expecting in terms of income?
- · What will make you feel happy?
Really think about these questions as they will help you figure out what you’re wanting to achieve.
Create a Plan
In order to break away from your current full-time job, and get into your side hustle, you must begin formulating a plan. It’s really important to go ahead and map out how the next few months will look for you and how you plan to expand the side hustle. You should also think about whether or not you can hold yourself accountable and be fully responsible for your finances, client satisfaction, and in general managing your side hustle. During this planning process, if you live with family or a partner, it’s time to discuss this plan with them as well.
Begin Networking
You need clients if you expect to work on your side hustle full time. It’s important to begin networking before you break away from your 9 to 5 job. This will help you get more established and it increases the chances of getting clients. Also, try going to conferences that involve the niche or industry that your side hustle is in. An example would be going to a dog or pet-related convention and your side hustle involves you making bandana colors for dogs. Getting your face and brand out there will help with building credibility and possibly even building up your community too.
Figure Out Your Finances
Plenty of small businesses fail due to running out of funds. You want to avoid this happening to you at all costs, especially if you have a family. You need to straighten out your finances before you quit your daytime job. Try to organize your finances so you can determine whether or not you have enough money in your savings and also think about how much money you’re currently getting from your side hustle working on it part-time.
Think about what your living expenses are, calculate whether or not you’re in debt, and how much can you put into retirement savings or emergency funds. This all needs to be thought of and calculated before taking the big step of transitioning into working full-time on the side hustle. Look into getting a budget planner or use budgeting software to help you determine whether this is a good idea or not.
Keep Good Relations with Colleagues
Your current colleagues from your job could help you expand your side hustle without you even realizing it. Make sure you stay friends with everyone, and if allowed, mention your side hustle to them. Depending on your service, your colleagues may know someone who could be interested in it. This could help you out in the long run with getting more clients and customers.
Establish an Online Presence
While this should be something that should’ve happened right when beginning the side hustle, it’s better to start late than never. You’ll want to establish yourself and your brand online. You don’t need to go out and spend a lot of money on marketing, you can start simply by just setting up social media accounts such as LinkedIn. Having a website will also help make your brand appear far more professional too. A lot of people will use sales funnels to help get clients, this is a great method too. Just try and do some research on some fun ways to get your brand out there to get noticed.
Gather the Right Tools
Depending on your side hustle, you may have been using only free online tools to help your brand expand. While free things are great for starting when it comes to small businesses and side hustles, they should never be fully relied on. Think about what you want, what you should, and what you can afford to invest in to expand your side hustle. This could be anything such as construction document management software or even just some automation tool. But it’s so important to begin investing in your business while you’re still working your 9 to 5 job.
Ask Yourself when it’s Time to Take the Leap?
You shouldn’t rush yourself with taking the big leap of leaving your 9 to 5 into transitioning to working on the side hustle full time. This transition should be slow because this is a huge leap. Once you feel like your side hustle has gained enough traction and you know you have the finances to cover your expenses, then think of planning the big leap. More people are switching from their day job into their side hustle and focusing on that like their small business. This exciting leap can bring so many opportunities and fulfillment to you that your current job could never do. Just be sure it’s all planned out accordingly.
