Why you should start your side hustle now
What's a side hustle?
Well, it depends on your preferred definition and intention. The most understood phrase is a paying gig on the side of your main job. It's usually a means to supplement your income, and in ideal cases, something more aligned to your passions or talents.
Now, there are arguments against turning your hobby into a side hustle. Not every hobby should be a side hustle, and not every side hustle should be your hobby.
Hobbies are great for relaxing.
If you have something you love doing that's for you, it's important you keep it that way (if you want). Just because you play the piano or speed knit doesn't mean you should turn it into a side hustle. Turning things you love into a business can have the effect of changing your relationship to it. Although, I reckon there's real money to be made in the speed knitting game.
There are a few things to think about though...
What are the pitfalls of a side hustle?
There's no reason you shouldn't start a side hustle, but there are a few things to think about.
It will likely take longer than you think – and that might be financially or operationally. There is no scientific base for this next sentence, but what you think it's going to take, double it and then add ten.
Your side hustle will likely be time, energy and/or emotion consuming. It'll change your life. It'll likely be for the better but that depends on your circumstances.
Doing new things may affect you physically and/or mentally. We always say that if you're choosing to embark on a new journey, you should be mindful. So take care of yourself.
Why side hustle?
The reason Tectonic exists is that we needed to make some money while we built our first startup. Our focus shifted as we started gaining traction and we realised that validating business ideas is what the market wanted.
That's one way a side hustle could pay off, but here are a few others: If done right, they can help you get extra money.
There are infinite resources online to help you figure out how to start, grow or scale.
You'll learn an incredible amount about people, products, marketing, selling, etc...
You'll learn even more about yourself.
You'll gain transferrable skills that will help you.
You'll meet lots of new people in your industry.
And depending on how successful your side hustle is, you may be able to turn it into a business.
So why now?
The internet and technology have democratised access to information, technology and importantly, customers.
All you need to do is provide timely and relevant value for a person at a cost that's acceptable for both you and them. This is obviously easier said than done, but it is easier than it's ever been. And depending on your business, that person could be ANYWHERE in the world.
You can:
Learn how to do pretty much anything from YouTube
Build a website using something like Carrd or Webflow
Build an app using something like Glide or Adalo (Excellent no-code tools)
Find groups of like-minded people on Twitter or Meetup
Build an audience with social media, podcasts, Youtube, emails, etc...
Get your audience to pay you using something like ConvertKit, Substack, or Patreon
Find more customers using the above channels
Market to new customers in person
Market to the masses at scale with social media
Take payments globally with Stripe
Track your data with Google Analytics or Fathom for the more privacy focused individual
And then iterate, adjust and repeat...
If not now, then when?
It's never been a better time to start something new. Almost half the world is still not on the internet. And you can start your side hustle with zero dollars, pounds or yen today.
The most important thing is to commit to learning about your customers, market and yourself. And also that you enjoy the process. There will be many ups and downs, but enjoying the process will help you ride out the waves. A tip is to frame what you're doing as a series of experiments to learn what the market wants and at what price.
You got this.
The next article will be about how to identify what your side hustle could be.
But if you have any questions, please hit me up at the usual places.
