It seems that everyone has a side business these days. A new Bankrate survey confirms that 45 percent of Americans today are earning extra money on top of their regular incomes through a side hustle.
According to a national survey by Upwork and the Freelancer’s Union, 57 million Americans participate in the gig economy. The survey showed that 28 percent of freelancers this year made the move to full-time entrepreneurship.
It seems that everyone has a side business these days. A new Bankrate survey confirms that 45 percent of Americans today are earning extra money on top of their regular incomes through a side hustle. According to a national survey by Upwork and the Freelancer’s Union, 57 million Americans participate in the gig economy. The survey showed that 28 percent of freelancers this year made the move to full-time entrepreneurship.
Here are some of the considerations if you seek to join the growing ranks of Americans that turned their side hustle into a real business.
Tips To Turn a Side Hustle into Full-Time Work
Side hustles require little in the way of small business funding, instead requiring only time and talent to make extra cash. The Internet has fueled many of these undertakings. Today, you can earn extra money with Uber using your phone app and a vehicle, or you can use the Airbnb platform to rent out extra space to travelers. There are platforms like Upwork which link employers with freelance workers that provide diverse skills from accounting and finance to programming, writing, and more. If your side hustle has a crafty tint, you can sell it on Etsy. Perhaps food delivery with some lucrative tips for Doordash or Postmates is more up your alley.
At some point, though, you may feel more passionate about the side hustle and decide to elevate it to the number one revenue generator in your life. What do you need to consider before taking the plunge?
- Leap deliberately by first creating a strategic plan for growth. Create a monthly budget. Figure out how much you need to bring in to hit your goals. Entrepreneur suggests you have six months saved before making the plunge into full-time entrepreneurship. Then create strategic benchmarks that you must attain to make the effort sustainable.
- Understand the implications of going full-time with your business, both from a tax and a personal perspective. Will you stay a solo entrepreneur or establish an LLC? How will you bring on new clients? What marketing will you need? What sacrifices will your family have to make in the first year? Will the new business venture be able to replace the benefits that came from your primary income stream?
- Establish the tools and processes you need to scale your side hustle. What tools will you need to streamline your efficiencies? Are there free online tools you can use for bookkeeping or will you need to hire a CPA? Think about the basic infrastructures of your new business and consider the multiple cloud offerings available, from Google Drive to Dropbox for file storage. Will you need small business funding or any source of additional capital to scale? In the first year, what resources will you need? Consider all these areas before eliminating your day job safety net.
Do You Need Small Business Funding?
The studies show that businesses that are started while the entrepreneur still has a full-time job as a safety net have a better chance of succeeding. Approaching a start-up business first as a side gig would likely eliminate your need for small business funding, at least at first. It also lessens the risk that you will go financially belly up as you try a new business venture.
When you make the transition from part-time to full-time entrepreneur, there will come a point when the scalability of your business depends on small business funding. That is how Bentrends can help. Benetrends helps small businesses secure loans by matching them with the right lenders and helping them navigate the tricky application process. We offer our small clients some of the same services your larger competitors leverage, giving entrepreneurs the support they need to achieve a competitive advantage. To learn more, download your free copy of Innovative Funding Strategies For Entrepreneurs.