It is estimated that up to 44 million Americans now have some form of side hustle and are spending their spare time working hard on their money-making passions. Of course, the goal is often to earn enough cash from that hustle so that the demands of a traditional 9-5 can be skipped, resignation letters sent in, and those side hustle passions become your main stream of revenue. That means treating your side hustle in the right way. If you want to take your side hustle to the next level, you need to take the time to turn it from a fun hobby with a little monetary reward into your main focus. Whatever your side hustle, here’s how to take it to the next level.
Have a Goal
Everyone with dedicated business management training, or those that have a lot of experience opening and managing businesses, knows that you need to have set goals. That’s because it’s vital to have a target. Those goals, usually making up a part of your business plan, can help to keep you more organized, more focused, and more aware of how successfully you are moving your side hustle forward. Have clear goals, and then break those goals down into actual tasks that you can do. Goal setting has been proven again and again to help get desired results, and that makes daily to-do lists that are linked to long term ambitions more likely to see your hustle become successful.
Make the Most of Tools
It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you’re starting a new project, and a side hustle has the potential to be very overwhelming. If your current workstation (whether that’s a home office, the kitchen table, or sitting up in bed) is filled with hastily scrawled notes and post-its, then you’re going to be far too scattered to approach your tasks and manage them successfully. There are sites and online tools available that can be used for note-taking, budgeting, or even for cutting down your daily tasks. If you’re selling a product online and using Shopify to do so, there’s a good chance that you spend a lot of time and energy on monitoring your sales and profits. That’s time that could be better spent. Luckily, tools like Profit Tracker by Become can dramatically reduce wasted time, leaving you free to focus on what’s needed. This clever app is key for Shopify sellers. It enables you to track and analyze your profits in one place. Money management is vital, but it’s also time-consuming, so make sure that you use all of the tools at your disposal.
Brand Building
Never underestimate the importance of branding. There are thousands of guides and tips available online regarding what branding is, why it’s so vital, and how to develop your own branding strategy. You’re going to need to focus on branding, and this should be done as early as possible. If you’re yet to launch your side hustle, then having your branding ready to use will give you a huge advantage. Think about your target audience, what they want from you, and what kinds of brands they are already interested in or following on social media. Take the time to get your branding right, and your side hustle will be significantly stronger.
Whether you’re just starting and you have grand ambitions, or you’ve been working your side hustle for a while and not getting the gains you wanted, there are more ways to start moving forward than ever before. As the side hustle continues to grow in popularity for millions of Americans, maybe it’s time to take yours to the next level.