Given the dire economic conditions and high cost of living, it’s said that many people can’t live on one stream of income alone nowadays. This explains why the culture of side hustles has seen a surge in popularity today among the members of the general public.
There are several side hustles you can choose from, including:
- Rentals;
- Vlogging and blogging;
- Content writing;
- Being a virtual assistant;
- Transcription; and
- E-commerce.
You can check out more specific side hustling opportunities on sites like Crowdworknews.com.
Most of the side hustles listed above have cropped up due to trends. As a result, most people tend to jump into doing popular gigs without giving it much thought.
The risk of doing this is that the same way a side hustle can earn you extra money, it can easily rip you off all your investment if you make the wrong choice. There’s a procedure to choosing a side hustle, and the more the side hustle fits into your lifestyle, the more likely you’re to succeed at it.
This content feature will take you through a step-to-step guide to choosing a side hustle that can fit your lifestyle.
A Guide To Choosing A Good Side Hustle
You may be wondering, what’s the correlation between your side hustle and your lifestyle? Well, for starters, a side hustle shouldn’t feel like too much work. You already have your main work perhaps stressing you. You should enjoy doing your side hustle and be able to achieve your intended goal with the least amount of effort.
Therefore, you need something that seamlessly integrates with your lifestyle to achieve this. That way, it’s easier for you to commit to the side hustle without interrupting the natural flow of your work.
Here’re some steps you can follow to identify that kind of a side hustle
Step 1: Identify Why You Need A Side Hustle
Although the main goal of starting a side hustle is to generate extra income, some other factors may inform your decision to start one. Some of the factors include:
- Pursuing a passion such as wiring;
- Creating a social life through vlogging;
- Practicing your hobby (like betting on sports) and talent;
- Learn a new skill such as transcription; and
- Transitioning from a day job.
The first step of deciding what side hustle will suit your profile is defining the goal of starting the side hustle, including the above factors. Ask yourself repeatedly, ‘why do I need this side hustle?’ If your reasons are solid after a lot of soul searching, you may move to the next step.
Step 2: Identify The Things That You Love Doing
As mentioned before, a side hustle should be what you enjoy doing with the least amount of work. It should be what you love doing. For example, if you can’t stand the social media culture, you want to avoid any side hustle that may need you to use social media platforms.
When it comes to side hustles, it’s always a suicide mission when you think you can bring discipline into it for it to work. Case in point, you can’t learn to stay on social media to facilitate a side hustle. Even if you can, it’ll be too stressful, and sooner or later, you’ll want out.
Additionally, you may find out that you love doing a number of things. If this is the case, list down the activities, at least those that can be turned into a side hustle like baking. As you progress with the guide, you’ll eliminate those that fit and remain with the perfect side hustle for you.
Step 3: Ask Yourself How Much Time Will You Need
Although side hustles are meant to be passive, you’ll still need to devote a significant amount of time for your gig to take off and remain successful. Thus, against each potential side hustle you have listed, find out how much time it’ll need.
The next step is to look at your daily routine and identify how much free time you have and how much you’re willing to allocate to the side hustle. If you can’t meet the time demands of a given potential side hustle, it may be your cue to drop it.
Step 4: Determine The Prospect Of Growth
Did you know that some of the world’s biggest companies today started as side hustles?
Therefore, even if the side hustle is starting small, it should have the prospect for growth, even if not to the level of becoming a full-time job. Remember to weigh in the advantages and drawbacks of getting a side hustle.
Whether you want the gig to grow into a full-time job depends on your goal. For instance, if you’re looking to transition from office work to your side gig, go for a gig that has the potential to grow into your full-time job.
Step 5: Determine How Much Money You’ll Need
Even though it’s a side hustle, you’ll still need some capital to start. Experts recommend that you avoid side hustles with a huge starting cost. This helps reduce the cost of loss should the side gig flop. Plus, since you don’t want anything too stressful, the last thing you want is to worry about the profitability of a huge sum of money that you poured into a gig.
Step 6: Determine The Profitability Of the Gig
It’d be best if you remembered that you’re in the business of making money. Hence, before starting a side hustle, you have to calculate its potential profitability.
Ask yourself:
- How long will the business take to start generating profits?
- What are the profit margins?
- What is the turnaround time of the profits? Does it take a month or weeks to generate the profit?
For example, if you decided to write a recipe book as a side hustle, you may find that it generates impressive profits. But if you take more than six months to write the said book, then it’s safer if you pick a side hustle that generates lower profits but at a faster rate.
However, as discussed before, note that not all side hustles sole reason is to make money. Some are meant to fulfill your passion as well. An alternative way to determine the side hustle’s profitability is to check if it meets its purpose.
You want to go with the gig that meets your financial or other types of goals.
Bottom Line
Choosing a side hustle is more than following a trend. It works best when you choose a side gig that aligns with your lifestyle. Consider using this guide to help you choose a side hustle that fits your lifestyle profile. All the best!
