The security of a 9-5 job is what makes many people stick to their job. At uncertain times, it is more important than ever to take caution when deciding to turn your side hustle into a fully-fledged business. But due to the passion they hold onto their side hustles after doing a long 9-5:30 job and then crack on with their side hustle that they enjoy is what keeps entrepreneurs going to the end. Everyone wishes they could make money from their hobby, but unfortunately not everyone can make a viable business out of their hobby.
Typically many people ask the question of whether they should take the leap and this comes from someone who can’t stop thinking about their hobby or side hustle. In the era where everyone has a side hustle, more people than ever are putting in the graft for making extra money whilst working full time it is becoming more competitive than ever. Even if your side hustle has gained some good traction and you have customers and a great first product, making the leap can still have a lot of risks involved. Here are some things to consider before jumping in with both feet and leaving your job.
Do a gut check
It’s all good doing something you love for a couple of hours when you have spare time away from your normal job to make some extra cash. The issue is that when you start a business, it is a rollercoaster of a journey full of twists and turns, so ask yourself whether you are ready to take on this role all the time. Everyone spends a couple of weeks or months deciding what they are going to do or focus on, but after that, you will be spending the next decade putting in the graft.
With this in mind, is this just a fad passion or are you willing to put in the graft long term? If it is just a passion and you think it could die down, then save your money and find something that you feel you can make into a business that you are prepared to put in the graft.
Write your strategic plan
The saying goes fail to prepare, prepare to fail. This is completely true when it comes to running a business. Everything needs to be organised and you need to have a plan for everything. Before you leave your full-time job and pack your things up to leave, you need to have a strategic plan on what you are going to do, how you are going to do it and outline the goals that you aim to achieve. There is never too much planning as you never know what unforeseen circumstances you may face.
For your new business, you also need a range of other plans. This includes a marketing strategy, a financial plan and branding. These are all extremely important if you hope to transition from a side hustle into a full-time job. This will help you to understand how much money you are going to need to successfully terminate your other job.
Learn how to market and sell.
A business can’t grow or survive if it doesn’t make any sales. Sales come from marketing, so if you don’t know how to market your product or are not clued up on sales tactics, then you need to start reading everything you can to have a good understanding of marketing and sales so that you are competent enough to not have to hire more help.
You will need to understand how to pitch your idea to clients and potential investors so that you can have them tune into your vision and patronise your business. Your ability to close a deal will feed into how much you sell. For example, if you are selling men’s streetwear, learn what your competitors are doing, and how you can do it better.
Look at your brand story and target potential customers. If you have no audience, then change your brand story to something that more people will want to join and be a part of. Find methods to trigger their emotions as this is exactly what is going to make you more sales.
Treat it like a business, even when its a side hustle
If you are going to get into the mentality that you are going to have your own business, you need to keep reminding yourself in the early stages that this is going to be making you money and you need to treat it like a real business. If you don’t, you can easily get sidetracked or lose interest or passion. As an entrepreneur that wants to be leaving their normal 9-5 for their true passion, it can be daunting, but you need to see this as a second job or business. Treat your new business like a normal 9-5 and you will be amazed at the progress you make from doing this.
Put in all the extra time
At the start of your business when you are looking at transitioning into full-time, you are going to need to put in all the extra time that you can to make the business a success. Due to you already having a 9-5 job as well as working on your business, you are going to need to make a lot of sacrifices.
This means your holiday time, evenings, weekends and your chill time will be dedicated to growing your business to a point where you can start full-time. Once your business starts to grow and becomes more established, you will have plenty of time for holidays, parties and anything else you want to do, but at the start, it’s pure graft.
Put a value on your time
Don’t sell yourself short, you need to have value for your time. You need to understand how much you are worth and how much you can charge for your product or service and make your clients understand this too.
At the start, you make feel inclined to do extra work or free work so that you can get testimonials and reviews, but there comes a point where this is going to be costing you money and result in a deficit for revenue and growth. Set a price and don’t go below it. Learn to say no as this is going to help your business to grow in your own time rather than overwhelming yourself just because it’s extra money. If you don’t have time, don’t commit as this can result in bad reviews.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
As an entrepreneur, there are obviously going to be some areas that you have no clue about. Don’t try and do everything yourself as you could risk doing things wrong and be a detriment to your business. In areas that you are unsure of such as how to market wardrobe staples, get help. This help can come from a range of things, apps, articles or even people, but this will definitely make your life a lot easier.