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Last Updated on April 1, 2023 by Work In My Pajamas
In today’s digital world, many people have started to earn extra income by creating side hustles. Once they’ve realized that it’s possible to make an entire living on these gigs, they start to expand. But how exactly do you turn a side hustle into a full business?
There a few different ways to shift your extra income source into being your main source of income and we’ve outlined them for you. Check out these tips below on how to take your side hustle business to the next level.
In This Post:
1. Expand Your Goals
When you’re running a side hustle business, it’s more than likely just to make a few extra bucks on the side. Maybe you need to use it to boost your savings account or simply to make ends meet. So typically the goals that you’ve set for your business (if any) might not very ambitious.
But if you want to upgrade your side hustle, you’ll need to think much bigger and have your business goals reflect this. Start fleshing out budgets and making monthly financial goals that surpass where you are now. Once you’ve put a structure to your expenses and profits, it’ll be much easier to grow those numbers.
2. Shift Mindset
While you’re upgrading your finances, you should be doing the same thing to your mindset. Small businesses begin to thrive when owners start thinking like big corporations. And you need to apply this type of thinking across the board to really bring in change.
Shifting your mindset really means that some of the habits and behaviors you have now within running your side hustle business will have to change. You might need to enter a new level of commitment in order to come across as a legit business owner. Study the psychology of CEOS to enhance your professionalism and confidence.
3. Invest in Useful Tools
All businesses need tools to help them run. Whether it be email marketing services, customer relationship management (CRM) software or interactive calendars, you need to use reliable resources to grow.
It’s not necessary to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars when you’re first transitioning your side hustle to a business. However, you should allot some funds from the budget to be put towards useful tools that are relevant to your business.
Always be cautious of spending money on products or services that are not essential to the basic functioning of your legit hustle. You can slowly add more tools as your sales profits and overall budget increase.
4. Solidify Branding
This might be one of the most exciting parts about taking your side hustle business to the next level. Your branding will be the identity of your company- so basically this is what comes to mind when customers think of you.
It includes details such as brand colors, logo, company message and voice tone. The important thing to remember is that your branding needs to be cohesive and consistent. Otherwise, you may confuse your audience.
Pulling an entire brand identity together can be challenging in the beginning. It may be best to hire marketing experts to assist with creating a cohesive look and feel for your business.
5. Setup Systems for Automation
The difference between running your business and your business running you is how well you can automate it. This means that when you’re not actively working on your business or present, it can still function and generate income for you. You can achieve this by setting up systems that operate around the clock.
Again, thanks to technological advancements, most of the daily tasks that you have to complete can be done by a digital resource. You want to aim for someone else being able to seamlessly run your company while you’re on vacation.
6. Analyze, Run Tests, Make Adjustments
As your side hustle business grows, you’ll begin to see different customer types. This will affect each part of your business differently, including cash flow. This is why it’s important to be analytical when it comes to consumer behaviors.
If you understand how your audience thinks and acts, it’ll be easier to market to them appropriately. You’ll probably need to run tests in various forms, such as A/B splitting, surveys or interviews. The more data you collect, the closer you get to accurate targeting for your ideal customer.
7. Build a Team
Eventually, you won’t be able to do everything on your own- even with the systems. And when it gets to this point do not try to push through, as this can lead to burnout and your business failing. The best next step to take is to outsource tasks by building a solid team.
Start by delegating tasks that you aren’t really good at. Then, once your team is large enough, you’ll be able to do only the tasks that you enjoy. Be patient with finding the right people for your team because this can help to propel your business forward exponentially.
8. Remain Authentic
Once you really see your business growing legs of its own and taking off, you’ll be faced with situations that you’ve never dealt with before. You might even be pressured to do or changes things that aren’t in alignment with who you are.
In business, it’s important that you stay true to who you are. The people who originally supported you will appreciate your integrity and it will feel better along the way. Know the difference between cleaning up poor habits and altering your natural personality.
Ready to Take Your Side Hustle Business to the Next Level?
Choosing to transition to a full-fledged business is both bold and scary. You might be tempted to run back to your side hustle business status a few times. But it will pay off, in the long run, to keep moving forward.
Take some of these tips above to start making your side hustle legit. If you’re looking for more tips and guidance on running a business or side hustle, check out our blog.
