Five Great Reasons to Start a Side Hustle
If you're here because you're sitting on the fence, you've got a dream about a possible side hustle or you've had a hobby for years that you think you could turn into a side hustle, then read on to find out why you should do so, today.
Have you spent a lot of time dreaming about how you could start a side hustle? Thinking about how life would be different if you could just make some money from your hobby. Or that you could spend more time doing what lights you up as your day job has just become a grind?
I’m going to give you some good reasons to take that leap and start a side hustle.
More Money
The first obvious benefit is extra income and who wouldn't like a little bit of extra money? Have you’ve got a hobby that you could turn into a side hustle? Maybe you make gifts for friends and family. So you're already doing some of the work. What if you could sell those on Etsy and make some money? It may not be a lot of money at first, but everyone starts small and you can build from there. So whether it's just some extra money to spend on yourself or save for a nice holiday, certainly one of the benefits of a side hustle is financial.
Learning New Skills
An unexpected benefit in my opinion is learning new skills. We live in a world where information is at our fingertips. Building a side hustle gives you the opportunity and I do say opportunity, rather than challenge, to learn something new. In life we often stay in our comfort zones. We have a job and if you stay in that job for a long period of time, you don't necessarily develop yourself. You have the skills that you need to do that job and just remain static, whereas when you start a side hustle, even if it's developing a hobby that you already have, you still need to learn how to advertise your products. For example you might want to design a website or promote yourself on social media. You’ll need to learn how. It's a great way to take yourself out of your comfort zone. You may not want to do at first, but once you get started, you'll love the person you have become and you’ll show yourself that you can develop, make changes and learn new skills.
Meeting Like-Minded People
One of my very favourite things about starting a side hustle is meeting like-minded people. I have spent time with so many lovely people, whether that's on Instagram, just chatting on virtual networking groups or at face-to-face events. In real life, when you have an interest, it’s not always shared by other people. As you begin to build your hustle and promote yourself online, you will start to find your tribe. And even if you never meet those people in real life, it can be very enjoyable, inspirational and educational chatting with them. I've met an accountability partner who lives on the other side of the world and someone who runs a beauty side hustle who I've done joint lives with. It's amazing how many lovely people you can meet and form what I would still call friendships with, even though you’re not meeting in real life. And maybe in the future, who knows, you might get to meet them. How amazing would that be!
Increase Your Confidence
Building new skills and making new friendships will boost your confidence. If you've always been a stay-at-home mum, had a part-time job or done the same job for twenty years, it can be a bit scary to do something new. Rather than moving to a new job, dipping your toe into a side hustle can be a great way to do something different without making a big change which you might later regret. And when you succeed in your side hustle it will boost your confidence further and spur you on to make more changes, perhaps in other areas of your life.
Be a Back Up Plan
Once you’ve built a successful side hustle you could potentially turn it into a full-time job. If your day job doesn't reflect your interests or light you up anymore and you find that you absolutely adore your side hustle there are loads of possibilities for turning it into a full-time job. If by chance you happen to lose your main job or for some reason things change so you are very unhappy in your role, you have a backup that you could expand into a full-time job.
Five great reasons to take that leap today and start a side hustle. If the only thing holding you back now is the time to build your side hustle then grab my free resource ‘Easy Ways to Make Time for a Side Hustle’.