If you have been having a successful time in a side hustle, gig or ‘passion project’ then you may want to consider taking it a step further when it comes to the New Year. As developing your business could open up a whole new world of success. So, with that in mind, here are some of the key factors you can work on in order to develop your side hustle that one step further in 2020:
Why Develop Your Side Hustle?
So, your side hustle is going well. You’re making money, feeling positive and you are starting to wonder: could you be doing more? The answer is almost always: yes.
The fact is that whether you mean to or not, almost all successful side hustles eventually begin to morph into full-blown businesses. Intentionally taking that step from ‘side gig’ to ‘legitimate business’, however, can be a thorny path to cross.
Dedicate More Time
Okay, your side hustle is doing well based on the amount of time spent on it so far. But, how much time has that been realistically? Have you been working both weeknights and weekends to make this work?
By no means should you burn both ends of the candle in order to achieve a full business out of your side hustle, but allowing more hours to work does help. If you have been fairly stingy with the amount of time invested in the side hustle, consider upping that now. As it will be more time and investment at this stage which will now push your business forward.
Seek a Partner
If you want to take your side hustle all the way then it’s important to consider taking on a business partner. You may have avoided this route thanks to slight unease or unwillingness to share the profits, but think about it. With a partner, you could easily make up for a skills gap, gain useful contacts or simply double your work output as a side hustle/business. For example, if you’re an app development London professional, you may want to seek a partnership from an Alexa developer in the north. Not all partnerships end in horror stories, no matter what the internet might prefer to tell you.
So, start networking with like-minded individuals and try to suss out who might be worthwhile partnering with. Even short-term collaborations can be useful. With that in mind, don’t knock anything until you see what might be available to you!
Focus on Successes
By the time you have developed a side hustle to the point of potential expansion, you will have a good grasp of what works and what doesn’t. If you want to move forward, then it is vital that you concentrate doubly on the successes you have had. Whilst, potentially for good, leaving the failures behind.
Doing this, you will enable your side hustle to shed a certain weight. Thus potentially giving yourself enough buoyancy to shoot higher as a result.
Set-Up Specific Systems
Systems tend to make a business function more smoothly, allowing the day to day tasks to tick by peacefully. Implementing these early in your side project in order to support your business as it grows, then, could be simply good foresight. Good systems to have in place early includes: invoicing, accounting, document filing and even something as simple as having a separate business account for your side hustle.
Consider Hiring
Developing your business to the next level may require extra work, not all of which you can complete by yourself. This is the point where you may want to consider hiring additional talent to support your burgeoning business – such as freelancers.
Of course, hiring a full-time employer for your side hustle at the exact moment of expansion may seem like one step too early. So, instead hire on freelancers for a specific period of time every week or month. This way, you can get help on specific projects or clients in order to expand your side hustle into the next stage of business.
Final Thoughts
Turning a side hustle into a fully-fledged business isn’t necessarily as easy as saying: 1, 2, 3. But it can be much simpler than you may anticipate. Get a plan in place and you will be able to achieve a steady growth trajectory over a set period of time. Which, compared to other business models, may help you to develop a much stronger foundation of success.
