Is Your Business a Side Hustle? It Could Be Much More!
Starting a side business is a great way to test an idea in the market and get feedback from the first paying customers.
In the United States, running a business in your free time is very common. In fact, 45% of Americans have a side hustle. On average, they earn $483 monthly and spend 13 hours weekly on their gig, primarily after work, at night, and on weekends.
The reasons for starting a side business differ widely. Almost 50% do so out of financial necessity to supplement or diversify their income, while a third want to enrich their lives.
Popular side hustle jobs are digital marketer, social media influencer, online seller of products/crafts, online tutor, and virtual babysitter. The common theme of these gig jobs is that they can be done remotely and outside regular working hours.
Outgrowing Your Side Hustle
Several factors determine whether your side hustle will earn you enough money to quit your day job.
Scalability is a factor that ranks at the top.
Unfortunately, few side hustlers think enough about growth when they start their gigs. However, designing products to deliver 20 or 50 pieces as efficiently as a single piece is crucial to maximizing one’s earning potential. The same applies to services. It’s very different to provide a service to 10 or more clients instead of one.
Suppose a company can produce ten units of the same product every month. Suddenly, this product becomes a big customer hit. How quickly could they ramp up production to make 100 or even 1,000 units? If this product isn't scalable, they can't. Instead, this company would have to face an expensive and time-consuming product redesign to enable production in larger quantities.
In my experience, the lack of scalability of products and services is one of the main reasons many entrepreneurs with side businesses cannot quit their day jobs and make their side gig their primary job.
Is Your Business Idea Scalable? Even if you want your company to stay small, scalability is the main reason your business is financially viable.
Taking Your Side Hustle to the Next Level
Starting a side business is a great way to test an idea in the market and get feedback from the first paying customers. Don't leave your day job until you are confident that your products and services are resonating with customers and that those customers are willing to pay the prices your company needs to make a profit.
But once you have proven your business case assumptions, pushing beyond the ceiling a side job imposes takes time, focus, and effort.
That's the proverbial fork in the road where entrepreneurs must decide whether they are fully committed to taking their companies to the next level.
Every business owner will eventually reach that point. Some will choose to stay small. However, some will continue on their journey and become full-time entrepreneurs.
Running your own business is an extraordinary adventure with many risks and rewards. If you are up to it, you could grow your side hustle into much more.
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