A Beginner’s Guide to Starting Your Side Hustle

And why you absolutely should have one.

First things first, if you are reading this, and you’ve never started your own business before: do it now. Start right now and take one step towards starting your very own business. Maybe, it's only a name, or registering a domain, DO IT. This is even more relevant if you are young. In fact, the younger you are the better.

I wish I had started my first business earlier than I did.

Why?

The lessons you learn are invaluable. And they are lessons that can you can only learn through experience. No textbook can teach you what it's like to sit down in a meeting and negotiate a sales deal.

I’m not aware of any schools which have subjects like, How to build an e-commerce store, or, How to provide great customer care. Most of all, there is no teacher like experience. Experience allows you to figure out first hand where your interests lie.

You can’t gain experience without putting yourself out there. There’s never been a better or an easier time, just do it.

In this article you’ll find useful tips about finding an idea, making it work alongside a busy work-life schedule, and practical tips on actually making the business a success.

Find something you know a bit about

This goes a long way to ensuring you have a viable product. If there’s no demand for what you’re creating, you don’t have a business. There’s no better way to gauge demand than by being immersed in the ins-and-outs of an industry.

You often hear people say things like, “Why don’t you create an app that can do x, y, and z?” Without any industry knowledge, this is going to make your job very difficult. Not only are you trying to develop a new product, but you’re also learning about a whole new industry too.

I have been playing in the online space since I learned how to use a computer. I’ve always built websites, messed around with a bit of coding, dabbled in a bit of e-commerce, and a few other odds and ends in-between. The online domain (ha-ha), is a space I am pretty dialed into (remember those days!).

Pick a space you’re familiar with, and then go deep in a niche where you can add value that doesn’t exist.

Aim to minimize operational time requirements

Pick something that requires little ongoing maintenance.

Think of it this way: you want to spend your time building and growing the business, not running it. Day to day tasks should all be outsourced. Pick an area that allows for this relatively easily.

Don’t mistake operational time requirements for the time required to set up the business. Sure, you want something that is easy and quick to get going. You will have to accept, though, that initially there will be some upfront time investment required.

Forget about TV

You likely won’t ever have time. You will also likely feel that it’s time wasted, and that detracts from the enjoyment of it. Knowing that you could be spending that time growing your business, or resting efficiently, will mean there is always a slight guilty twang that comes associated. If you want to wind down, here are some things I enjoy doing, which you might too:

• Read or listen to an audio-book or music
• Spend quality time with friends/family (they become pretty scarce)
• Journal
• Do some exercise or just go for a walk

Arrive an hour early to work

Arriving early gives you some extra time every day, where you can work on your business in peace and quiet. Alternatively, if you need to make calls or have meetings during work hours (depending on how flexible your employer is), you can do formal work during that hour to free up an hour later on.

Make sure you make that hour count. Turn off your phone, mute distractions and go deep. You’ll be surprised how much you can achieve with just 5 focused hours every single week.

Another perk: you’ll likely be in the office before your boss every day — something he’ll notice.

Save time in other parts of your life

Your spare time and energy are golden. Avoid spending it on things that are trivial and unnecessarily drain your mental energy.

One of the best ways of doing this? Reduce decision making fatigue. The fewer decisions you have to make about your day to day life, the better.

Here is an example: Most weeks, I cook a bunch of food on a Sunday. This goes into Tupperware and into the fridge. I eat different combinations of those foods for lunch and dinner every day. I mix it up with different sauces/dressings if I’m feeling tired of the same thing. I practice intermittent fasting so I don’t even have to think about breakfast.

This free’s up a lot of wasted time (grocery shopping and cooking every day), as well as decision fatigue (trying to decide what I want for dinner). This is the time and energy I can spend on running my business.

Look after yourself

Make sure the food you’re eating is healthy and you are keeping healthy. When you go down the entrepreneurial rabbit hole, it is very easy to neglect everything else and burrow deep.

Movies like The Social Network fantasize 24-hour slog-fests where founders of startups have little-to-no sleep, surviving off energy drinks, coffee, and cigarettes. This is not sustainable for a time frame that’s required to build a business.

You need proper fuel to keep things going. Remember, you have a 9–5 to perform in as well. Sure, there are going to be some long hours required, but make looking after your body a priority, because when it shuts down, you won’t be able to do anything.

Keep track of your mental state of mind too. A little bit of stress, every now and then is sometimes good. It keeps us on our toes and our senses sharpened. An excessive amount of stress for an extended amount of time is not good. It’s one track path to burning out and ending up at the bottom of the rabbit hole looking up, not being able to see any light or sign of a way out.

A good way of keeping track of both of these is to take stock every now and then. Set a reminder on your calendar (mine is bi-weekly on a Sunday evening) and review your mental state of mind. How are you treating the people around you? What is your gut-reaction to minor inconveniences throughout the day? Answering these sorts of questions will give you a good idea of your general state of mind.

Form a solid routine

There’s no better way to reach your goals than building stairs to take you there. Each step in the flight of stairs is a habit. Good habits are tools that allow people to consistently improve and do great work.

“I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately, I am inspired at 9 o’clock every morning.” — William Faulkner

By building a routine, you are carving out time every single day to work on your business. That means every single day there is a small step taken towards making your business a reality (pre-launch) or better (post-launch).

Launch as soon as possible

One of the worst loops you can get into before launching is telling yourself “It’s not quite ready yet”. Get your product out the door as soon as people will give you money for it.

Getting stuck in an endless improvement cycle can often lead to getting despondent and losing motivation. Because you aren’t moving your product, you aren’t receiving feedback. feedback is the lifeblood of an entrepreneur. Having people tell you, “Hey, this is great, but I’d love it if it also did x, y and z”, is so much more valuable than asking your aunt what she thinks of your prototype for the twentieth time.

It also gives you the boost of seeing people using what you created. It’s the reason you started your business in the first place and is the best motivation to keep going.

Most importantly: Keep at it

My most important piece of advice is to remember that success isn’t going to come overnight. It takes time and consistent effort to make a business work. This applies whether its a side hustle or your full-time job.

You have to wake up every single morning and go to work to grow your business. If you’re certain you have a demand for what you’re selling, consistent effort — despite your current level of success in the business — is the difference between your business failing and succeeding.

Keep at it. Most people don’t, so make sure you do.

If you want to learn how to build your own business, check out The Signal. It’s one email every week where I teach you how to do it, step-by-step. Sign up here.