With the rise of the internet, creating your own business has never been easier. All you need to do is tap into the online market with a product you can sell and you’re good to go. While it’s still incredibly difficult to run your own business (especially if you’re the only employee), there has never been a time when creating a business was easier, cheaper, and more accessible.
These businesses can be small and varied. Perhaps you’re an artist who takes commissions every once in a while, or you resell products for a little extra cash. Before people would get a second job when they needed more money, nowadays, more and more people are opting to take the economy into their own hands and make their 2nd stream of income their own business.
That’s where most people stop. They have their main job with guaranteed income, even though it’s underpaid, and then a side hustle to help folks keep up with rising costs of living. But for some, they have bolder plans to grow their side hustle into their own, fully operational business.
Chances are, you are one of those people. How do you do it? How do you convert your side hustle into one solid organization? It’s not easy, most businesses fail after five years, but there are steps you can take to make the transition easier.
The best advice we can give boil down to these three categories:
- Timing: Know how long a project takes and anticipate longer. Know how much time you have and give yourself more time. And if you don’t have time, learn how to make time.
- Research: No one has all the skills or expertise to know everything about running a business. But the internet has infinite libraries with insight into marketing, business creation, organization, invoicing, taxes, and everything else you need to know.
- Organization: If you are not organized your business will flop. There are too many people involved, too many invoices to make, too many tax laws to keep in mind, to not be organized. Anyone can be organized, it is a skill you practice, and everyone has their own unique way of being organized. But at the very least, you have to have a place for everything and everything in its place.
Next week, we will dive into timing and explore how a good businessperson is able to organize their time to be the most productive!