There are some that say any side hustle is a good one. The very act of starting into a side hustle is your first step into entrepreneurship. While that may be true, your best side hustle is one that you enjoy and can turn into a full-time job. This is one of those activities that are easy to understand but can be very difficult to implement.
Know Thyself
The simple part of this activity is to take a close look at what you truly enjoy. This may be a challenge if you have always focused on paying bills over a fulfilling career. Nevertheless, this is a critical step, and there is no time like the present to know what makes you happy. Do not take this step lightly. Think about the thing or things you enjoy doing and the more, the better.
Niche Down
Once you have picked your favorite thing to do, it is time to niche down in that area. The more tightly you can define what you enjoy the better you can focus on that activity. For example, technology is a broad area to enjoy. However, it is too general. Drill down, and maybe coding is that next level down. That is still a bit broad. Let’s skip ahead and say you get down to coding GUI applications in Java. Now you are in the right neighborhood. This process may seem to have little value. However, it is vital for the next step.
Focus Like A Laser
When you research what works for entrepreneurs, it is hard to come up with any hard and fast rules. On the other hand, you can find a long list of things that do not promote success. Across a large number of sources, it is apparent that a common reason for failure is lack of focus. When an entrepreneur starts into a vision of what they want to accomplish there always side paths and add-ons that can become a part of the vision. There might even be other lines of business that are desirable to pursue. The thinking typically is that the more attempts we make, the higher the odds of something being successful. This approach does not prove successful in practice.
A business needs focus and attention. When you tackle multiple problems at a time, then you also have to split your effort across those problems. This approach can leave customers with a partial solution, or they may feel they are not relevant to you. Your odds of success will improve when you start by doing one thing and do it well. Not just well, push yourself to do it better than anyone else.
The Difficult Part
A side hustle gives us freedom. We get to be our own boss and set the vision for our company. The lowered risk a side hustle has can lure us into attempting more than one at a time. It is easy to talk ourselves into more features, more problems to solve, and away from the focus, we need. Do yourself a favor and look at your current side hustle closely. Is it what you enjoy and a focused effort? If not, then there is no time like the present for an adjustment.
