6 Simple Steps To Start Your Side Hustle

Unfortunately, your salary doesn't always cover all your bases and bills are left in the draw screaming out. If you're looking for a way to earn some extra income, starting a side hustle could be your answer. If you enjoy writing perhaps, you might consider ghostwriting on Fiverr. Do you have a lot of things you don't need anymore? Maybe your side hustle is as simple as selling stuff on eBay or Facebook Marketplace. If you're struggling to decide your side hustle and you don't know where to start, continue reading on. 

1. What Do You Care About?

The first step is to write down a list of ten things that you care about, such as hobbies and causes. Reflect on your strengths and think about your skillset. A great way to stay motivated and keep hustling is to be interested in what you're doing. Out of these ten things, identify which one's have the potential to generate income. Next, choose one or two to research further. 

2. Understand Your Market

Look into your areas of interest and see if there are any existing trends and pain points to solve. If you find potential competitors check out their reviews on their website to learn more about your potential customers.

Many people worry that their ideas have already been done before, and you're right; most of them have! But don't let that deter you off from pursuing your idea. If you're finding yourself in a flooded market, you can identify where the weaknesses are in each business and find ways to solve customer pain points. Furthermore, if businesses are doing well, you know that there is money to be earned. You just need to be the best in the market or serve a niche within the market.  

Related: How To Test Out If You Have A Great Idea

3. Create A Plan And Start Setting Goals 

Without a sense of direction, you won't be sure where you'll be heading. Create a vision and imagine yourself where you want to be. What goals do you need to set to get there? Think about the long-term and short-term. 

When you're setting goals, they must be SMART:

Write a business plan. A business plan is a roadmap for your business and gets you thinking about all the important aspects you need to consider. The Australian government provides excellent resources for new business owners and entrepreneurs. Click here. 

4. Educate Yourself On Your Target Audience

Identifying your target audience will help you fine-tune your product or service, assist your marketing and direct you to where they are most likely to hang out. Furthermore, when you test your idea out, you'll be able to collect more information to learn about your potential audience. 

Related: Identify Your Target Market 

5. Test Your Idea

New business owners or entrepreneurs are often afraid of taking risks. Testing your idea is a great way to see if your concept serves your potential audience. It's also a great way to see if this is something that you want to pursue. Build a prototype or test out your service. Find out where your customers hang out, ask smart questions and learn as much as you can from them, especially their pain points. The more you test your idea, the more you will be able to refine it. 

6. Be Realistic About What You Can Accomplish

Starting a side hustle isn't always easy and often requires time to set up, so it's important, to be honest with yourself on how much time and effort you're willing to dedicate. Depending on what your side hustle is, it may require long-term attention. If you can identify a side hustle that produces income whilst you're gone, that may be smart. An example of this could be running multiple Airbnb's and automating most of the process, writing ebooks or creating online courses. 

Related: Side Hustle Ideas

Investments 

Once you start covering your expenses, the money you earn from your side hustle can be either reinvested into the business or invested into shares, for example. However, you must do your research to learn which investments are worth it and match your level of risk. Money invested smartly works for you. Educate yourself and become financially literate; you will build sustainable wealth. Be wealthy, not rich. 

Keep learning, 

Kobi Simmat