03 November 2021 | 5 - 8 min read
How to turn your pandemic panic into a successful side hustle
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How do you turn your pandemic panic into a successful business? Start here.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a panicky time for all of us. Many South Africans have either lost their jobs or been forced to take pay cuts. Bonuses have been cancelled or delayed. Meanwhile, as we all know, prices of basically everything seems to keep going up. It’s enough to make an adult want to cry, right?
But South Africans are resilient.
Instead of crying into our pillows at night, many of us are actively seeking additional income streams to supplement our shrinking salaries or wages. Here at Velocity Club, we’re specialists in helping our clients grow their money and one of the best ways to kick start that growth path that will allow you to reach your financial goals, is to start a side hustle.
What is a side hustle?
It’s any business you conduct for your own benefit, outside of your normal day job.
There’s almost no limit to the kinds of side hustles available to you. The only restrictions are your skills, your imagination, your determination and sometimes, your financial ability.
Some of you reading this will already have a small business on the side and if so, stick around because we have content aimed at you, too. Most of you, however, are reading this because you want to start a side hustle but don’t know how to do it, or what to expect. Or perhaps you already have one and want guidance on how to make it your full-time job. Either way, you’ve come to the right place. In today’s post, we’ve got just the information and strategies that you need to get your operation up and running as soon as possible.
Of course, before you can start a side hustle, you first need to decide what that business will actually be.
Find your passion
According to entrepreneur Thandi Gama, the secret to creating a successful side hustle and a successful business is to do something that you’re passionate about.
Thandi’s passion is makeup and cosmetics. She got started in her business by doing small paid makeup jobs in her spare time and over weekends, for friends, family and referrals. Her success with that venture motivated her to take it full-time and really invest herself in it as a career path.
In her opinion, when you do something that you enjoy, you’re not likely to feel like what you’re doing is work, so you’re less likely to feel tired or to simply get ‘over it’.
How do you find your passion? The answer to that question will be different to all of us but according to life coach Mark Manson, passion in business ‘begins with a sense of play’. Your business has to be something you love doing and, he says, sometimes that means going back to your childhood memories to see what eight-year-old you loved to do, or dreamt about doing someday.
Adulthood and adult responsibilities have a way of sucking the passion out of that eight-year-old us inside our hearts. We’re pushed to get that great job, to pursue that education and chase stability all while piling on home loans, vehicle finance and student loans. The need to meet these commitments often come at the expense of our creativity, our enthusiasm for life, and even our dreams.
Your first task, then, is to find that one thing that you will be willing to do all throughout the inevitable setbacks and frustrations that occasionally come with owning your own business. That thing that will get you out of bed every day with a spring in your step. That’s your passion.
And, according to Thandi, don’t let anyone tell you that you can only have one passion in one business either. If you have the resources to follow more than one and to do them all well, then go for it!
By following your passion, you will enjoy a side hustle that is deeply satisfying and enjoyable. The long hours and sacrifices that may come with it, will never feel like a burden. You’ll actually want to sit down and work on your business!
Next steps
Once you’ve figured out your passion and you’ve started that side hustle, it’s time to get your pen and paper out because now we’re going to teach you how to turn up the volume on your hustle and flip it into a thriving full-time career.
Step 1: Write a business plan
Your business plan is the foundation of your new company. It sets out what you’ll do, how you’ll do it, what it’ll cost, and when it’ll all happen.
Don’t let this step intimidate you! It sounds more hectic than it really is.
If you’re unsure what to write, start with a few basics in your own words. Put as much down as you think you can or should. And then rope in other resources to help you really polish it up. This might be another successful entrepreneur or even just a great resource on the internet.
But whatever you do, this step is crucial because it will help you to understand what you are really getting yourself into.
Step 2: Get to work
No, not full-time work on your new venture yet. That comes later. For now, it’s important that you set time aside to work on planning and developing your new business. Turning a side hustle into a business involves a lot of additional tasks that need to be done and systems that need to be in place. The nature of those will be determined by your business plan, but according to Thandi, the most important thing to do is to budget your personal time outside of your regular job, so that you can focus on developing your side hustle and your business. Know where every hour in your day is going.
But for now, don’t forget to prioritise your day job commitments because it’s still paying the bills.
Step 3: Investments and money matters
Starting any business requires investment, and your side hustle is no different. The business plan you wrote in Step 1 should’ve identified how much money, time or effort you’ll need to put in, in order to reach the goals you want to achieve.
So, for step 3, your task is to look at the finances or other investments that will be required to get your side hustle going, or to turn it into a business, and then figure out how you are going to fund those investments.
Sometimes, it can be cheaper or more sensible to outsource tasks to others so that you can focus on the core strategic goals of the side hustle or business, so keep that in mind when deciding how to approach investments requiring time and effort.
Do it afraid!
It’s normal to be afraid of starting your own business - whether that’s a side hustle or turning your side hustle into a full-time career.
Don’t let that fear defeat you.
Every entrepreneur experiences that nagging bit of fear and self-doubt from time to time. Instead of letting it rule you, rather channel that fear into positive tasks.
For example, focus on getting samples of your work into the hands of your potential clients to let them try it out for themselves.
Or get stuck into that difficult admin task that you’ve been putting off for ages now.
But whatever you do, take that first step. Do it afraid. Future you will thank you for it.
Watch the full webinar for free!
This post is drawn from a webinar, ‘Turn your passion into profit’ that we did with cosmetics entrepreneur Thandi Gama. Watch it for free and turn your side hustle into a money spinner!
Remember, our money experts at Velocity Club are standing by to talk to you about your finances and to help you put plans in place to reach your financial goals.
Answer a few easy questions and see what your next best financial move should be.
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