Starting a side gig can be hard when you have to think about things like how much money you should spend on your business, or how to find the time to work on your side gig when you work full-time. This article will give you some do’s and don’ts for starting your own side business.
Do: Select the Right Business For You
Side businesses fall into one of six categories:
- Creating products
- Doing physical work
- Helping others
- Performing
- Providing services
- Running a business
Do a self-assessment of your interests, talents, and skills to see what type of side gig could work well for you and where you’ll most likely find people interested in your products and services.
Do: Get Yourself Ready For Launching a Side Business
Do you worry about losing your full-time job? Do you want to earn more money? Are your life and full-time job steady enough that you can devote at least two hours a week to another endeavor? If you said “yes” to these questions, then you’re ready to start your side gig.
Do: Get Your Finances Ready
When you examine your finances, look for any weak spots in your spending and budget. Do you need to scale back on spending? Will you need to pay off some debt? Did you save at least three months worth of living expenses? When you put your finances in order before starting a side gig, you make it easier to focus solely on your business. As you begin earning money from your business venture, add the money to your savings account. At this time, you will also want to track your gig expenses, like your payments to an email marketing agency, for tax purposes.
Do: Promote Yourself On Social Media
Every day, spend at least five minutes a day promoting your business on your different social media accounts. On your profiles, describe your new business identity to spread the word about your products and services. Your very first customers will probably come in the form of your loved ones.
Don’t: Wait To Launch Your Venture
Many people stumble upon their side businesses by accident. One friend asked them for a favor, then they suddenly found themselves in the business of party planning, managing social media accounts, or selling items on eBay. Don’t think that you need to build up a Facebook following or build a beautiful website before you get started. People with successful side gigs said “yes” to that first opportunity. Their business started growing from that very first “yes.”
Don’t: Let Failure Stop You
Every person starting a side gig faces some obstacles at one time or another. Your pitch might get rejected, your client might give you aggressively negative feedback, or your new online course may flop. But what all successful entrepreneurs have in common is that they keep going in spite of the setbacks. One rejection doesn’t mean that your offerings are ineffective. It just means that you’re trying new things and taking a ton of risk at the same time. Some of these risks will fail. But that just means you should keep going.
Don’t: Invest Too Much Money In Your Side Gig
You can easily put a lot of money in your business before its launch date. You can spend a ton of cash on a beautiful website, certifications, trips to professional conferences, and even a brand new marketing plan. What successful entrepreneurs do differently is that they try to bring in some revenue to offset many of these costs. While offsetting the costs of their business, they’re also testing the market. For example, this could mean selling your book on Amazon before investing in paperback versions. Or it could mean offering personal training services offline before investing in a website.
