Starting a side hustle doesn't have to be hard, these 6 simple steps will help you launch your own side hustle in no time.
1. Idea
It all starts with an idea for a product or service. Without this, it will be difficult to start a side hustle. Not sure what you should be doing? These tips and questions should guide you in finding your next hustle. If you already have an idea, waste no time and make sure you go to the next step.
In order to start your hustle sooner than later, it's advised to start something you're already knowledgable of. Use skills you've acquired over the years, instead of doing something you still need to learn all the ins and outs of. Don't get me wrong, of course it's good to learn new things. But when it comes to starting a side hustle fast, you should use your limited time wisely.
At fitst it might not be as obvious, but literally look around you. Look at your current work, hobbies or things you've done in the past. What are you good at? What do you enjoy doing? What are the not so obvious tasks you enjoy doing that are / aren't directly related to your work? What do you love doing in your free time and is something you could earn money with? What did you enjoy doing as a child, is this something you still like doing?
Finding a suitable ideas can take a few days and that is okay. Once you start seeing potential ideas around you, it will be hard to choose one.
2. Rank you idea(s)
Now that you have an idea, preferable several ideas, it's best to check which idea has the most potential. It should be:
Feasible: You can get stared and earn money in a short amount of time;
Profitable: You’re​ ​not​ ​looking​ ​for​ ​an​ ​idea​ ​that​ ​merely​ ​sounds​ ​interesting,​ ​you’re looking​ ​for​ ​a​ ​profitable​ ​one;
Persuasive: It’s​ ​not​ ​enough​ ​to​ ​have​ ​a​ ​good​ ​idea -your​ ​idea​ ​has​ ​to​ ​arrive​ ​at​ ​the right​ ​time. ​It should​ ​be​ ​so​ ​persuasive​ ​that​ ​it’s​ ​hard​ ​for​ ​customers​ ​to​ ​say​ ​no​ ​to.
Make sure you choose the idea that scores highest on these three areas. If your current idea(s) scores low on all areas and can't be carried out in a few weeks, you should consider another idea.
3. The right audience
Create a persona for your hustle, this is your ideal customer who needs what you're offering.
Lot's of hustlers (but also entrepreneurs and small business owners) want to serve everyone and don't want to leave anyone out. This is where most people go wrong. Trying to focus on everyone, will get you no one. Thus, start with one. Be as specific as possible, as this will help you find your ideal customer faster. It helps you understand their pain points, what frustrates them most and what the possible solution for this problem is (your offer of course!).
Whenever you find that one person you're looking to serve, it makes it easier to find more people such as your ideal persona.
4. Pricing a product or service
Technically you don't have a side hustle if you don't earn money with it. If that's the case, it's just a hobby. So, pricing your offer is one of the most important steps.
Your offer can be categorised as a product or a service. These two can best be distinguished by it's tangibility. A product is (usually) a tangible item that is put on the market for consumption. A service is an intangible item which arises from the output of one or more individuals. However, there are some instances where products aren't tangible, can you guess what type of product isn't tangible?
One way to price your product is the cost-plus method. The selling price of a product is determined by adding a markup (percentage or fixed price) to the product's unit cost. Another way is value-based pricing. The price is set according to the estimated or perceived value of a product, rather than the cost of the product. Pricing a service is a bit different. You can use the value-based method or decide on a hourly rate. As this is your side hustle, meaning you'll be doing this next to your day job and in your free time, you should never charge less than your hourly rate at your day job.
While pricing your offer, it's essential to take different factors into consideration: shipping costs when selling a product; the projected volume of products being sold (high volume vs low volume); minimum acceptable profit; if it's a fixed, negotiable or variable price; what your clients are willing to pay.
5. Benefits & Features
In order for your ideal customer to buy whatever you're offering, it needs to be clear what the benefits are. A benefit is the end state of what your customer will experience after using your product or service. It tells you how it will improve someone's life and what end result can be achieved by the user. Always back your benefits up with features. Features are characteristics that your product or service has or does. This is a statement about your offer and gives you specific dimensions and specifications.
Put differently, people don't buy a drill because they want a drill. They buy a drill because they want a hole. The drill helps you get that hole faster.
Always think about what people really want or need and why they want or need it. With that in mind it's much easier to figure out what you're offering to them. Benefits and features are both important in your marketing. Use this information in your sales copy when launching your hustle.
6. Launch your side hustle
It's time to launch and I know what you're thinking: "I'm far from being ready". Guess what, you will never be fully ready. Once your hustle is launched, you can always tweak and improve this as you get insights from customers and prospects. If you keep procrastinating, weeks will turn into months and then years - refraining you from ever starting. In this case done is better than perfect. This allows people to get to know you and your brand while you get to know your clients and prospects. These insights limit guessing work, giving you the possibility to improve your offer.
When launching your offer, you have to choose one platform to launch it on. It's very tempting to create your own website and publish it on every last social media page. Ideally you shouldn't launch your offer on more than 2 platforms (at first). Also, make sure these platforms are where your ideal customers can be found, otherwise it doesn't make much sense to launch it there.
Determine if you have all the information your prospects would need to make a purchase. Your offer should consist of a:
Promise: The benefit people will receive from your product or service;
Pitch: Everything someone needs to know with a specific call to action;
Price: What price are you asking for your product or service and what does it include;
Benefits: The end state your customer will experience after using your product or service;
Features: The characteristics of what your product / service has or does
Merge all this information in your sales copy and launch in full effect!
Hopefully this post made you think about starting your own hustle on the side. Don't think about if for to long though, it's important to start doing! There are many benefits of having a side hustle, head over to this post to find out what those not so obvious reasons are.
In case you want to start your own hustle, but need some extra guidance, the next Side Hustle Business Course will kick-off on February 21st and will run until March 21st, 2021. In this online course you will turn any idea of yours into your next side hustle. And even if you don't have an idea yet, you sure will have several potential ideas after the first week. Head over here to read all about the upcoming course.
If you have any recommendations or questions, please feel free to email me at renate@twenty6consultancy.com
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