In this blog, we break down three common mistakes that you should avoid when starting a side hustle.
Here’s what we’ll be covering if there’s an area you’d like to skip to:
- What is a Side Hustle?
- Not Balancing The Work For Both Your Employer And Your Clients
- Not Having A Plan For Your Side Hustle
- Not Doing It At All
What is a Side Hustle?
It’s important to share our definition of a side hustle because the mistakes we talk about are directly related to our definition.
For us, a side hustle is something you’re doing on top of another job. You have some other source of income, a regular job full-time job, and you have an entrepreneurial itch that you’re trying to scratch.
So you decide to build out a business on the side: evenings, weekends, whatever works around your regular work schedule.
You might start a side hustle for a couple of different reasons:
- You want to start to build a business that ultimately you’re going to transition into full time.
- You have a passion that you want to bring into your life.
- You really want to generate another source of income.
There are lots of reasons, but the key idea is this: it’s something you’re doing on top of your regular source of income.
Mistake #1: Not Balancing The Work For Both Your Employer & Your Clients
The first mistake that comes to mind when we think of starting a side hustle is the notion of not effectively managing the work that you do for your employer and at the same time not effectively managing work for your side hustle’s clients. Both your work and your clients are going to expect you to show up to do the work on a timely basis.
At a minimum, you want to check your employment agreement to make sure there’s not an NDA in place or something that prohibits you from doing work on the side. Then, you should start to think about a plan for delivering high-quality work to your clients in the time they need it, and at the same time, not letting your work suffer with your full-time employer.
We suggest that if you have the opportunity, go to your employer with your plan and be transparent with them. You can tell them something along the lines of, “This is something I’m excited about. I’m going to do this on the side. Here’s how it’s going to work… Trust me that my work quality will not suffer, but if it does, come talk to me. But here’s why it’s not going to…”
In short, you’ll want to put together a plan that effectively balances your client’s needs and your employer’s needs.
Mistake #2: Not Having A Plan For Your Side Hustle
The second mistake we see people make at the start of a side hustle is not having a plan for their side hustle.
We’re not just talking about the plan between your employer and your clients, but a plan in general.
What is it that you’re actually going to be doing in your side hustle? Many times, we see awesome people jump straight into forming an LLC, naming their business, and branding it, because they’re so excited about their idea.
But a better place to start is thinking about the strategic questions that will guide you and help you create your business plan for the long-term.
Some strategic questions are:
- Why are you setting up your business?
- What products or services will you offer?
- How will you deliver those services?
- Who is your ideal client?
- How does your business model work financially?
Knowing the answers to these questions will give you a better foundation for your business. You’re going to create a different business plan if you’re trying to make as much income as possible versus if you’re just trying to do more of the work you love. Maybe there’s a way you can bridge both of those? (We know there is!)
It’s important to ask these strategic questions and create that plan. Otherwise, if you don’t have that good foundation, you might be stuck with a business name that doesn’t reflect you. You might jump the gun on becoming a corporation or choose the wrong type. You might provide services you don’t like because you started before thinking it through.
Don’t get caught up, thinking “Wait! I just built this business, but I don’t even enjoy doing the work!” Part of that issue might be working with clients you don’t feel passionate about.
Give yourself time to explore and to plan before you get into doing the work of your side hustle. You’d be surprised to know how many small business owners have built businesses they don’t really like. It sounds good on paper, but when they get in it, it’s not something they want.
Mistake #3: Not Doing It At All
The final mistake we don’t want you to make is to not start a side hustle at all!
In 10 years from now, 20 years from now, we don’t want you to look back and say, “I had this really great idea. I didn’t do it, and I regret not trying.”
Just get started.
Dream and then do.
Plan something, and then take those next steps!
If you wait until the time is perfect, it probably will never be. There will be kids to be fed, and other demands on your time, and a better economy. There’s always an obstacle to overcome.
The question is, how will you start to execute your plan in spite of the obstacles? There will be hesitation, you will have resistance, but how can you just get started
Don’t mistake having to get the whole thing done with making progress.
Your Next Steps
Take time to give the strategic questions some thought. That’s a great next step! Then, figure out your plan one step at a time. Eventually, you will have a side hustle that fits you and reaches the goals you want to accomplish.
At LEAP, we have resources to help you along the way:
- LEAP Launch Series: Start and grow your consulting business by walking through six lessons with accompanying tools – either with a live cohort or via on-demand video recordings. These lessons cover:
- Biz 101
- Defining Your Expertise: Becoming a Thought-Leader
- Identifying Your Ideal Client
- Building Your Network by Design
- Marketing Your Services
- Selling Your Services
- Free Downloads & Resources: Discover downloads and video recordings that can help you figure out if consulting/freelancing is right for you.
- Consulting Conversations with Kris & Katie: Weekly, Kris and Katie share insights into starting and growing your consulting business.
- Build Your Consulting Brand: Do you feel like your business’s foundation is solid and you’re ready to begin? LEAP’s founder Katie can help you build your business’s branding and marketing materials. Click here to learn more about her business, Elevate Online.
Meet Kris & Katie
Kris Taylor’s 30+ years of work experience are rich in variety – from Fortune 200 (14 years) to non-profit (10 years) to leading her own consulting firm, Evergreen Leadership, since 2004. Over 50 organizations have partnered with Kris and her firm in the last seven years to implement successful change.
Katie McNamee founded Elevate Online, a marketing agency, in 2016 after graduating from Purdue University. Since then she’s helped dozens of businesses create meaningful relationships with their customers and increase their digital marketing ROI.
Together, they created LEAP to help others launch and grow their consulting careers.
