A common life rule that we always recommend is that you should never have one source of income regardless of how much money you make per month. This is because no matter where you work, bad things can happen. Your company could downsize. It could also go bankrupt. Just ask the people who used to work at Sears. Or Enron. Or Lehman Brothers. Or the hundreds of companies that have gone bankrupt in the past decade alone.
Having multiple sources of income will help you be protected in case the inevitable happens. In this article, we will look at some of the best ways you can transition your side gig to a real company.
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What is a Side Gig?
A side gig, also known as a side hustle, is any work that you do besides your full-time job that brings you income. With the average weekly working hours in the US being about 34.5, many people have a lot of time in their hands to do something. As a result, many people in the country are doing more than one job. A recent report by the Census Bureau said that more than 7.5 million Americans were doing multiple jobs per day. There are several reasons why most Americans are having side hustles. These are:
- More money. Most people working two jobs do so to complement their current salaries.
- As a launchpad to their companies. A good number of people use side gigs as a way of launching their businesses.
- To kill time. Other people who work for a few hours every day use the side gigs as a way of passing time.
- Hobbies. There are other Americans who do side gigs as a hobby. I know many people who make money in their side gigs doing what they love.
- Increase experience. Most employers in the country want to hire people who are experienced. For this reason, having a side gig can help you boost your resume.
Examples of Profitable Side Gigs
A commonly-asked question is on some of the examples of side gigs or side hustles. The reality is that there are limitless examples of side hustles that you can do. This is simply because a good side hustle should be something that you are interested in. It should be something that you love. Here are some good examples of side hustles you can start today.
- Graphic design – This involves designing things like brochures, logos, and magazines.
- Search engine optimization – This is where you optimize the search rankings of companies websites.
- Online trading – This is where you trade stocks and other financial assets online.
- Ride sharing – This is where you use online platforms like Uber and Lyft to make money.
- A side business – You can start a small business to run alongside your main work.
- A blog/vlog – This is where you publish content online and make money.
What are the Qualities of a Good Side Hustle?
As seen above, side hustles are not created equal. There are those that help you make money as you sleep and others that require a lot of work. For example, if you are experienced in trading stocks, it will be an easy thing. If you are a vlogger, it will only take you a few hours every day to record your videos. A good side gig should have a number of qualities:
- They must be things you love doing.
- They must bring in money.
- They should not interfere with your full-time job.
How to Transition Your Side Gig to a Full-Time Business
Now that you have seen what a side gig is and some of its examples, we will look at how you can transition your side hustle to a full-time company. History is filled with big companies that started as a side hustle. Some of the companies that started as side projects include big names like Houzz, Groupon, WeWork, Twitter, Instagram, and Udemy among others.
Be good at what you do
You need to be good at what you do. If your side hustle is online coaching, you should do the best that you can to build excellent courses. The courses should be unique and designed in such a way that they add value to the students.
Have results before you quit
A common mistake we see with many people with side gigs is that they quit their jobs before they prove their hustles. We always recommend that you quit when you are seeing results. For example, if you have a YouTube channel, you should quit your job when you are making good money. If you have an SEO side gig, you should quit when you have established yourself as a leading professional in the industry.
Hire assistants before you quit
At times, you don’t even need to quit your fulltime job. Some of the tasks you do can be done by an assistant. For example, if you run an SEO company, you can hire assistants from various platforms like Upwork and Fiverr. As a result, your job will be to manage the assistants and get orders from your clients.
Have enough cash on the side
The good thing about having a job is that you have predictable income. You are sure that you will have a paycheck at the end of every month. As you shift from an employee to a business owner, you need to understand the realities of life. The amount of money you make could be hampered before your gig starts to grow. Therefore, you should have some good cash on the side to take care of any eventualities.
Grow
Finally, you should put all your effort on your new business and how you can make it grow. This means that you need to double or even triple the amount of time you spend working on the project. You should also accelerate hiring of staff who will support you in growing the business.
Takeaway
Having a good side gig has many advantages. It will help you make good money that you can use to pay your loans or even pay for your bills. I know people who never touch their main salaries because of the side gigs that they have. As your gig grows, it becomes important for you to expand it. You should only do this if you believe that your gig can become a big organization. If you decide this, you should follow the strategies we have mentioned to transition.
