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How to Make Money on the Side: 7 Tips for Success

person running a home business

Starting a side hustle or home business is undoubtedly intimidating but can also be very lucrative if you can make it work for you. For many people, the thought of potentially giving up their steady paycheck, benefits and stability in exchange for uncertainty can be downright scary.

But there are plenty of benefits to starting your own business, even on the side. It can be an efficient way to generate extra income or create more time in your schedule to spend with friends and family. This article will teach you seven tips for becoming a successful side-hustler:

1. Consider why you want to start a side-hustle

You need to consider why you want to start a side-hustle because it takes a lot of time and effort – adequate motivation is essential. If you have a full-time job, maybe a family too – things may get even harder, but not impossible.

Make sure to schedule and keep the hustle frequency and intensity consistent from week to week. With the dedicated time in your week, you’re more likely to be able to keep up with your side-hustle schedule. Otherwise, you may burn out and find it increasingly challenging to get another break from the hustle like you used to.

2. Make a plan and set goals

Goals are fundamental to keep the right things in focus, and planning how to get there is crucial. Don’t forget about the big picture – as you expand your side hustle, you want to feature as many people and projects as possible. Look to work with someone who isn’t as established as you. Right now, you might have just one or two employees – that’s the first step, but at some point, you might want to take on a partner at your level of experience.

Think about your hustle hours and make the most of them – if you don’t work, you won’t get paid. This will also help with good self-discipline. Stick to a working schedule – you might just find it easier to hustle in the morning because it’s easier to evaluate and plan your moves on a fresh start.

3. Learn the basics of running a business

The first thing you should do is learn how to write a business plan. If you have a limited budget, you need to decide your cost of business and your profit margin. You’ll find this out by simply doing a Google search for “own your own business” or “business plan”. Once you have a business plan, you can focus on how to make your side hustle profitable.

Your cost of business is how much you need to spend to make money from your side hustle. Your profit margin is how much you can turn into a profitable business. The profit you can turn is known as your take rate.

A good business plan should be a blueprint for a successful business. First and foremost, the business plan should convince you that your idea makes sense – ultimately your time, your effort, and your money are on the line. Figuring out if an idea fails on paper can help you avoid wasting time and money on a business with no realistic hope of success.

4. Set up your business to sell online

To get your business off the ground, it’s essential to make sure everything is aligned. Selling online will allow you to reach customers beyond physical frontiers. You can quickly set up an eCommerce store by using platforms like Stor.co that allow you to build and manage your shop. With drag and drop functionality and integrated payment systems, together with analytics you can be up and running in no time.

You can also use the full power of social media to test social selling – a method of selling online that uses social links. These links are shared on the customer’s preferred social platform, which would allow them to complete their purchase without leaving that platform.

5. Learn how to market yourself effectively (and inexpensively)

Before you can sell your product or service, you will have to market it. Market research helps you figure out who your customers are, what they want, how to reach them and how to get them to buy your product or service.

You can research your potential customers or ask Google for some business-related keywords you can search for. Designate an hour or however much time you can spare each day to look for keywords on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter – this will show you a snapshot of the market and help you make better choices.

6. Set up a pop-up event

Once your business is set up, if you are selling physical products, you can set up a pop-up event so that customers can test them and purchase them in person.

Make sure you use smart POS Devices like TRU POS that make your customers’ experiences as smooth as possible and process transactions in seconds while using a wireless connection via 4G, 3G, 2G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

7. Don’t burn yourself out; instead, build up slowly over time

If you want to start any creative endeavour, you need to build up to it. Don’t burn yourself out by trying to do everything at once. Instead, build up slowly over time and focus on a few key projects at a time.

Giving it your all is pretty difficult to do, especially when you’re actively trying to keep a steady pay check, or when you’re working 40+ hours a week, or when your team is juggling a dozen other tasks.

Successful side hustles are about relationships. By side-hustling for a few weeks or months and expanding your network, you’ll open yourself up to a lot more people who are in need or who have the development instincts to help you out.

Outside of your 9-to-5, you will have the freedom to explore new parts of town or neighbourhoods and meet many new people. There are great side hustles to explore – some may require a lot of time and a high level of skill, but this might just be your next level up.

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