It’s quite the understatement to say that this new decade has gotten off on the wrong foot. Despite a knee-capped economy and a stagnant job market across several industries, people have shown their entrepreneurial resilience with the popularization of side hustles. When a job (or lack thereof) couldn’t provide enough, many took to doing odd jobs and monetizing their hobbies to make a little extra income. Many readers may also be considering their own side hustle in today’s environment.
From personally designed clothing lines to innovative software solutions, many creative and driven individuals have turned their passion projects into promising and profitable startups. This growing interest in unconventional income streams has also fueled the rise of platforms focused on unusual wealth-building ideas and modern side-hustle culture. In particular, the last few years have shown just how quickly a passion project can transform into a full-on side hustle business.
Key Takeaways
- The decade began with economic challenges, yet many people embraced the side hustle trend to generate extra income.
- Entrepreneurs should assess their willingness to turn their side hustle into a full-time business, taking into account their current priorities.
- Key signs include regret over missed opportunities, market demand, and financial stability of the side hustle.
- Successful businesses often face initial financial struggles, so resilience and sound money management are crucial.
- To scale a side hustle, entrepreneurs need to assess labor needs and consider innovative solutions for growth.
Think before you leap
Taking that leap and committing to a full-time business can be daunting for many entrepreneurs, and it can be tough to decide whether your side hustle is worth taking to the next level. As the co-founder of the content marketing platform Cohley, I can say it took my fellow co-founder Erik and me a few years to muster the courage to fully pursue our passion, which has now grown into a rapidly expanding startup over the course of five years. So how can you tell when to make it a full-time gig, like we did, alongside so many other first-time founders?
Before seriously committing to founding a company, it’s important to assess your current balance of priorities. Side hustles can often be a fun way to make money with your extra time, but it’s important to ask yourself whether you would enjoy it as your livelihood. Not to mention that financial stability is hard to come by in the early days of any fully realized business venture. If these thoughts don’t shake your resolve, then your next step is studying the signs that mean you should pursue your ambitions. Evaluating whether your current side hustle could actually deliver the fulfillment and profit you need is essential before making any leap.
Risk vs. reward
The first sign comes through a bit of introspection – will you regret not taking the risk a few years down the road? It’s worth considering whether abandoning your side hustle would leave you with a nagging regret later on.
If you wouldn’t be able to live with the “what if’s” in a few years, you’ve encountered the first signal that you ought to take your potential business opportunity seriously. The next step is reading the “room” (AKA the market and your current position within it). If you’re already receiving an overwhelming amount of orders and inquiries about your enterprise, the writing is on the wall. However, that doesn’t mean a less lucrative business can’t flourish in the long run. If you can see a path to success for your ideas, especially by exploiting market gaps, a slow and steady approach can absolutely work.
No matter how many dollar signs you’re seeing at the moment, though, the bigger financial picture should inform your actions in the long run. Most successful large-scale businesses endure a rough, red first few years without turning a profit. Resilience and sound money management are key, so you should evaluate your current savings-to-spending ratio to determine whether your side hustle is financially stable enough to hit it big time. If you’re seeing a significant surplus of cash each month, this is yet another box to cross off the checklist. But as with the previous sign, there are exceptions. Those looking to found a tech startup as we did at Cohley shouldn’t realistically expect to be running a sound business for a while, though that shouldn’t discourage you. Give yourself at least two years before expecting any sort of viability, and you can work your way up from there.
Last consideration
The final sign to consider before expanding your side hustle is the need for labor from others. While you have been running a self-sufficient operation, you’ll struggle to grow without the expensive work of other real and talented people. What matters is the amount – how many people and how many hours of work must you pay for to successfully scale your future company? There are ways to work around bloated payrolls, such as integrating innovative software that saves time and brings greater value than a handful of employees. If most of your labor can be carried out by your digital infrastructure, you’re on the right track to exponential growth. At the end of the day, deciding when to involve a team often results from your side hustle entering a new phase of growth.
Ultimately, the decision to make your side hustle a full-time business depends on your current priorities and goals. If one or more of these signs resonated with you, know that it may be time to shift your focus and turn your aspirations into a reality.
