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Side hustles get a lot of attention, mostly from folks looking to earn money quickly for little effort. Some bad news if you are reading this article: Most side hustles will not earn you quick money with little effort. (See Consideration #5.) But they have value. In particular, starting a side hustle can provide you another stream of income to provide you additional financial security as well as a greater potential for wealth building. Side hustles can also serve as a pathway to learn new career skills or allow you to dabble in creating a business to see if you could become a full-time entrepreneur. Regardless of your motivation, consider five factors when choosing what side hustle may be right for you:
1. Choose a side hustle with skills you have or want to have.
Side hustles are not supposed to be all-consuming. They are side hustles, meaning you have a whole other job demanding time and energy. If all your current skills and work are centered on your expertise in computer science, it may be a bad idea to choose a side hustle requiring a PhD in Psychology.
Choosing a side hustle related to your job, or with some overlapping skills, is a great idea to save time and compound your learning at both your job and side hustle. Scott Trench highly recommends a career-related side hustle to maximize income growth in his book Set for Life. In addition to easily growing your income, picking a side hustle related to your day job also provides instant credentials to show potential clients and gives you valuable experience for future career moves.
If you truly dislike your job and every skill related to it, then at least choose a side hustle with skills you would like to use in a full-time job in the future. The easiest path for a side hustle is to choose one that corresponds to your main job, but using a side hustle as a path to learn new skills for an eventual career change is also a good way to improve your happiness at work over time. Regardless of which of these paths you choose, pick your side hustle strategically based on the skills you have or the skills you want.
2. Choose a side hustle format that energizes you.
Since side hustles are usually your secondary stream of income, choosing a type of side hustle that gives you energy, rather than expediting burnout, is important to maintaining your side hustle in the long run. Respect your personality and preferred work environment when deciding what to do. For example, if you are an introverted creative who loves to spend hours on tough projects, working as part of the waitstaff at a busy restaurant is probably not your ideal side hustle. Conversely, if working with others energizes you, it may not be in your best interest to start a blog that will require hours writing.
Most of us do not fit neatly into obvious or extreme boxes when it comes to your ideal work environment, so consider what you enjoy most at your main job. What qualities about the tasks or projects make them enjoyable? Common qualities to consider are whether you prefer to work alone, with a small group, or with many other people; whether you enjoy complex problems that require creative thinking or prefer routine; whether you need a side hustle with a flexible or consistent schedule; and whether you prefer to work for yourself or someone else. This list is by no means comprehensive, but it will get you thinking about what is right for your current situation.
3. Set realistic goals and deadlines for your lifestyle.
The easiest way to feel negative about your side hustle quickly is to set unrealistic goals that demoralize you before you get a chance to see your true potential. It is easy to feel excited about your side hustle initially and assume you will retain a consistent level of focus for days, weeks, and months. In reality, your energy and level of focus will oscillate. Set timelines for yourself that respect this reality.
Particularly if you are completely self-employed, include cushions of time to catch up on your priorities for the moments when something took longer than expected or just did not go correctly. Even if you are working for someone else or doing gig-work like Uber or Instacart, understand that earnings goals may take a bit longer to reach than you initially expect.
Set easily achievable goals to start and revisit them often. You can always set a higher goal when it becomes clear it is too easy. The initial wins will keep you on track and help you establish more difficult goals or deadlines later.
4. Sort out the logistics of running a business or working another job.
Creating a business requires filing paperwork, setting up a basic financial system, designing processes regarding how you will conduct business and schedule priorities, and more. While not as difficult, starting another job may require more sophisticated scheduling than when you only had one job’s schedule to follow, reassessing your tax implications with multiple salaries, and establishing avenues of communication to balance your priorities. Planning for these logistics before starting a business or another job will save you stress in the future.
Particularly if you are starting your own business, seek help from a professional. Creating organized financial systems prior to starting a business will save you time and energy the next tax season. Developing processes, including automated systems, for how you conduct work saves time and prevents tech debt over time. Consider what tools can help your business and make a plan that works for you.
5. Start knowing the beginning will be difficult, but learn how to improve processes constantly.
Starting a new side hustle will require an adjustment period. Whether you are just adjusting your schedule by adding a job before or after your primary job or figuring out the first steps to take as a business owner, the beginning is the most difficult part of adopting a side hustle.
I previously mentioned that I can put my Etsy shop almost entirely on autopilot or ramp up work according to how much time I have available for it and whether I am prioritizing other parts of my life. However, at the start, it required a lot of work as I posted the initial products, developed the processes I needed to respond to customers and track finances, and figured out what materials I needed to conduct business smoothly. This took time! The first few months will require focus, time, and flexibility. But it does get easier.
One of the most rewarding aspects of starting a side hustle is a personal growth detail: You will improve at time optimization, a skill that carries over to many different parts of life that have nothing to do with generating income, such as reading to your children each night or fitting in all your workouts.
Most folks I know who have side hustles become time optimization geniuses, the folks balancing multiple priorities simultaneously without letting anyone down in an impossible way. Their secret is they learn how to adjust their schedules and processes early, accurately estimate what they are capable of in a certain period of time, and prioritize correctly and efficiently. Starting a side hustle as a second stream of income will teach you these skills and make creating your third stream of income even easier.
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