3 Tips To Turn Your Side Job Into Your Full-Time Business

Many households today have to have multiple income streams in order to pay the bills. This might mean that both spouses work, that one person works multiple jobs, or that you have a “side job” that you do to make a little extra money. This could be anything from cleaning houses to teaching guitar lessons. For many people, these side jobs are things that they enjoy far more than their regular 9-to-5, but they view it as something that “just doesn’t pay the bills.”

But that doesn’t have to be the case. Your so-called side job can be turned into a fully-fledged business if you follow the right steps and leverage the right resources.

Start Networking

If you’re already pursuing your side job to make extra income, then established that there is a need for your service, and you’ve already found a few customers or multiple projects. Congratulations! This means you’ve already broken through the first barrier of turning this into a full-time business. Now, it’s time to start leveraging your existing network.

Reach out to all of your current contacts and customers and ask them for any referrals. If you teach guitar lessons, this would include not only your current students, but the clerk at the music store you frequent, the guitar repair shop you use, and the music club that you attend on weekends. Remember, take yourself seriously, and network like this is already your full-time job, and be ready to talk about your business at a moment’s notice.

People are bound to ask,  “So, what do you do?” Prepare yourself with an elevator speech that anyone can understand. It can be a few simple sentences. It should be less than a minute about who you are and what you do. If they’re interested, they will ask questions to learn more.

Balance Your Time

As you work on growing your side business, it’s likely not feasible for you to quit your day job and dive into this full-time just yet. So it’s important that you get creative with balancing your time. Maybe you need to wake up an hour earlier to get things done. Or perhaps you can involve your friends or your children in folding mailers to send to prospective clients. As your business grows, you may be able to cut back on your hours at work so that you have more time to focus on business matters.

Use your best judgment to balance your time appropriately, and gradually dedicate more time to your business as you get new customers. Eventually, you’ll be able to make the judgment call regarding whether or not you can dedicate yourself to your new business on a full-time basis.

Never Stop Learning

You might be an expert at what you do for your side business, but odds are you are not an expert at business fundamentals. Don’t assume that the former kind of expertise is going to balance out the lack of the latter. You should always be searching for more knowledge on how to grow and improve your side business. Check out free tools and resources you can use to grow your knowledge base and your business.

You can also look to the successes of those who have come before you. Look to successful entrepreneurs who have grown their own businesses from scratch. For example, you could watch YouTube videos from Tai Lopez, who is a self-made multi-millionaire. Or listen to the podcasts of someone who works in an industry relevant to your business. Whichever route you take, make sure that you’re learning something new about running your business every day.

With these tips and some consistent hard work, you could feasibly turn your side job into a successful business and achieve financial security through self-employment.

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