Plan & Start

Top 6 reasons to start a side hustle while working full-time

There are innumerable reasons to side hustling while working full time but I am listing out the top 5 reasons here. These reasons have helped me vastly in my journey and I hope this will be a source of inspiration for others who are thinking of starting a side hustle but are not completely ready yet.

According to US Small Business Administration, there are over 30.2 million small businesses in the US, and over 600,000 new ones start each year. So why are we talking about starting yet another one and that too while working full-time? Read on, I will let you know why.

I can cite several benefits to starting your business, but what I want to talk about here is starting your business while still working full-time. If you are new to the world of entrepreneurship, one of the safest ways of getting started with a business is while you are still working full-time and have the safety net of a regular income coming in. Your monthly pay-checks from your full-time job relieve you of the pressure of realizing immediate profits in your new business. You can be the master of your timeline. You can set up your business roadmap and gradually work your way into stabilizing and growing your business – all with steady income still flowing into your household.

So, if it is so rosy and easy, why isn’t everyone doing it? The reason is simple. It takes time. It takes grit. It takes patience. Not everyone has these and not everyone is willing to work towards these. There is no reason to wait any longer if you are ready to put in the effort. Here are 5 reasons for starting that side business now and not waiting until you retire or quit your full-time job.

Setting the stage “right” from the start

Many small owners wear several hats. They are the entrepreneurs, the managers, and also the technicians of their business. While this is fine to start with, this should never be the long-term operating model for a business. A successful business model is where the day-to-day operations are not dependent on the owner. The owner is instead able to spend time on establishing the right process and framework which they can offload to their manager, and then focus their efforts on entrepreneurship and strategies for growing the business. Your goal with your business should always be for the business to operate on its own even if you are away for a day, a week, or a month.

The biggest advantage to starting your business while working full-time is that you already are setting the stage for how your business will run without you being physically present at the business all day. Because you have a full-time job, you structure the business to not be completely dependent on you. You establish and hire for the appropriate roles and manage those individuals remotely. You condition your business to run independently of you, which is your ultimate goal.

Pursuing your Passion

If you are amongst the few who want to get in the arena and ‘fight the fight’, then now is the time. There is never a better time.

How to choose which business to pursue? There is a lot of research online on which industry to look into but before all that, ask yourself what will interest you. What are you passionate about? That should give you the answers to what you need to research further to determine business potential and market demand. Also, check out the post on how to determine the right business for you.

What would feel better than working for yourself, doing what you enjoy? Be it arts, social media marketing, candle making, building software, or cleaning office spaces. You don’t need to be a pro in the field. You can learn and become an expert. All you need is passion and perseverance.

Financial Independence

One of the most motivating factors for starting your business is the prospect of becoming financially independent sooner in life. While “becoming financially independent” can mean different things to different people, you need to understand what it means to you. With a full-time job and steady income coming in, your risks with the business are automatically lowered.

The initial pain in starting a business is real and requires capital and should be well thought through and planned. Once you launch your business, and if you run it efficiently, you should strive to net profit goals of 15% or higher. As your business grows in revenue, your profit margins should scale as well and this is all additional income on top of your pay from your full-time job.

After you have established a well-running business, it becomes a valuable long-term asset. As the business continues to grow, its worth increases accordingly.

The ideal scenario for business owners is they retire and travel around the world, relaxing with their martinis on the Caribbean beaches. While they are doing this, their businesses are running on auto-pilot and serving as a steady source of income. While it is true that most businesses don’t get to the ‘autopilot’ phase immediately and very easily, it is certainly possible with the right amount of planning and framework.

Imagine all the things you can do with the extra cash flow – pay the debts, create strong savings and retire early, if that is what your plans are. Plus diversifying your income can only help you.

Building your skill-set

Being an entrepreneur will expose you to areas you might have no experience in. From Management, Customer Service, Operations, Information Technology, Accounting, Marketing, and Sales, you learn the basics of everything. You might not become an expert in these fields, but you will learn enough of each of these areas to run your business. In the initial mobilization phases, you might even wear a lot of these hats and you may have to find free online training to coach yourself. Thanks to the current era of overload of information on the internet, nothing is out of reach. There are several options of online classes available popular ones being Coursera or Udemy.

Owning a business will expand you in areas you have not ventured into in the past. These will all compliment you in several ways in your life. You will become more creative and get the courage to try new things – things you might have no background in and you know nothing about. It will teach you to have faith in yourself that whatever it is, you can learn. Because none of us are born knowing anything other than human reflexes. We all learn as we go.

Using your time wisely

The biggest excuse people usually make when it comes to starting a side business is “I have no time”. We all have the same amount of time. It is how we choose to use the time that is different.

It all comes down to what we want to prioritize it our lives. If you are amongst the people who bring your full-time work home and work even after hours, then you are prioritizing your work over other things. If you prefer browsing the net and social media and lose yourself in it for few hours each evening, then that’s what you are allocating your time to. If you decide to be more efficient at work and not bring work home but instead craft out 2 hours each evening to work on your business, you are prioritizing time for business over other things. And that is it. You just make time for it.

If you have the passion and the will to do it, then now’s the time. As years pass and you look back, you will be happy you carved out time for your passion.

Building your network

I cannot say enough about this benefit! As you get into learning your business, you will meet new people. These might be your employees, other professionals such as accountants, lawyers, recruiters, or these could be fellow business owners. Many people are willing to share their learnings and mistakes, and that is truly the best school. You might even find a mentor or a coach who can help you learn the ways of business. There is a lot out there and it is all available to you. You need to reach out and tap into the right resources.

A lot of you might again bring the excuse of time – “I don’t have time to meet people over week-days due to my full-time job and weekends are busy with the family.” In the current times, networking is easy with social media groups and communities. You need to be curious, be willing to research, and you can do it all with little time. Easier than you think.

Ultimately, there are several reasons and benefits to pursuing a side business or a side hustle while working full time.

Are you ready to explore more and wondering what type of side hustle to start? Check out our post here on the different types of businesses and a step by step guide to set up and launch your business.

Needless to say, as a side hustler, buying a Franchise is a smart idea to consider since you will benefit hugely by the established processes, protocols and trainings already put into place by the head office. A great place to look at the top 100 Franchise companies is to go here.

As you might have guessed, the side hustle we chose was a Service based business and it was a franchise. In retrospection, I feel like both were good choices.

I will end this post by saying don’t put it off another day. Get started and do it now. Because this time will pass away anyway, why not use it doing what you want.