How to Turn Your Side Hustle into a Full-Time Career

Have you started a side hustle?

You’re not alone. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, more than 900,000 Australian workers have their own passion project in addition to their current job.

You might be working on your side hustle outside of your day job hours. While it might generate a steady income, you’re ready to make it a full-time job. But how do you do that?

No matter where you are on your journey, make sure you use these tips and strategies to scale your business and ditch your day job.

What is a Side Hustle?

A side hustle can make some extra money outside of your full-time job. It can be anything from running an online store to freelance work. It’s becoming increasingly popular as people look for creative ways to increase their income.

Side hustles can provide flexibility and freedom. You can pick and choose when you work and how much you want to do. Many allow you to build skills in areas that will benefit your career long term. They also offer the potential to scale quickly into larger businesses or sources of income if the opportunity presents itself.

What to Do Before You Leave Your Full-Time Job

You shouldn’t hand in your resignation at the first sign of success. There are some steps you should take to ensure your side gig can support you for a long time.

Create a Long-Term Plan

When you’re ready to run a full-time business, you want to plan for the future instead of working day to day. Consider the number of hours and days you will need to dedicate to your side hustle. You should also consider how much you need to earn to support yourself and what that equates to in sales.

For example, you might want to sell products nationally. But eventually, you may choose to expand globally. Identify what you need to do before you hit this milestone as well as what suppliers can support you.

Identify New Skills You Need

Running a small business is hard work. It’s not just about coming up with hustle ideas and posting products. You also need to know about marketing and how social media channels work. There’s also the legal and finance stuff.

You can try taking on all these new skills yourself by doing online courses. But some of these are a full-time job on their own. If you want to scale, you’ll need to hire staff with these abilities or partner with suppliers that are experts in their field.

Have Plenty of Savings

Not every month is going to have Black Friday and Cyber Monday running. You need to plan for the quiet months as well. In the beginning, ensure you have enough savings to fund your new business.

If you’re a seasonal side hustle, you must be comfortable with irregular income. You may not get a week-to-week payslip. Perhaps three months of the year will fund the other nine.

How to Scale Your Own Business

There are multiple ways to take your side business into a full-time gig. But there are lessons you can learn from others that can help ensure you are successful. Here are just a few of them.

• Know when to delegate: If you want to turn your side hustle into a career, you’ll need to know what you can look after and who can help you with other tasks. It will help you focus on more critical parts of your business.
• Understand your customer: While acquiring customers is vital, so is keeping them. Learn what’s important to them and their expectations when shopping with small businesses.
• Partner with the right suppliers: Outsourcing tasks will help you focus and execute business ideas. For example, you didn’t scale a side hustle to worry about shipping. Utilise a multicarrier shipping solution that can save you time, money and provide memorable customer experiences.

Get the Support You Need to Leave Your Day Job

It is possible to turn your side gig into a full-time job. If you make a plan, learn extra skills and have enough savings, you’ll be ready to take your business to the next phase. It can be challenging to do it all on your own. Partnering with the right suppliers can help you focus on the crucial aspects of your business.

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