Side Hustle- Building a business from scratch
I recently read “What if it Does Work Out” by Susie Moore. She’s a former executive sales manager evolved into a life coach who has written for many major publications as a contributing author to grow her brand, and a big advocate of turning things you love to do into side hustles. While I personally have always taken the opposite approach, I recognize highly the value in her approach for the majority of people. She advocates for spending as little money as possible, acquiring a few customers even if they are not paying to gain some traction and reputation in what is is you do, and then quickly become the spokesperson/advocate for your business, understanding that long term 15% of your time is doing what you love and 85% is administrative sales, marketing, HR, business development etc. Her mantra to grow slowly and organically until you’ve reached a point where you can afford to take a pay cut (and just focus on the side hustle you love as a main hustle), with less risk, makes sense.
I typically have taken the opposite approach. She advises to do your research but take action and start moving. I tend to do a fair amount of research, and then jump in with both feet. Even when I didn’t have money to lay out, I would borrow, or save up quickly, and go all in, head first, time after time. I did it with DJing, I did it with Ecommerce, and then again with The UPS Store franchises. I did it when I wanted to expand to printing in The UPS Store, and was a fairly early adopter. I did it again in a laundromat, and while I can’t say all of those were successes, I know that for me to commit to something fully, I need to feel that overwhelming, sometimes debilitating pressure, which brings me out swinging, and quickly forces me to climb out of the hole and pound my chest with success, or admit my failure, create an exit and move onto the next thing.
No matter what your approach, the hardest part of getting your side hustle started, is actually starting. You’ve done some research, you have an idea of what you want to do, now you just have to start doing it. As adults we often forget about starting things from scratch. Children learn fear over time. Ultimately babies fall often while learning to walk, but they keep getting back up and walking. As adults, we have to do the same, starting a new business is like learning to walk, we just have to keep trying until we succeed! If you have questions about starting a business or identifying your side hustle, don’t hesitate to reach out via my contact form and ask questions!
