Are you firmly on the side hustle bandwagon and keen to take it further? Whether you’re trying to quit your full-time job or simply scale up your side income, our resident finance blogger and side hustle queen, The Broke Generation, is sharing her top tips on growing your side hustle in 2021.
Dig Into Your Mission And Vision
Mission statements aren’t just for big businesses. Getting clear on your mission and vision—that is, what your business aims to do, who you want to serve, and where you see the business going in future—can help you uncover new ways to expand and grow.
Think about who your audience is, how you’re helping or serving them, and how you’re different from your competitors. This will help you realise your mission and vision of what the business could become in the future, and help you make aligned decisions along the way.
Forecasting
Another tool that’s not just for multimillion dollar companies—forecasting. Many side hustlers and small business owners neglect to forecast their revenue or sales, but doing so can help you scale. Look at your revenue history and see if you can notice trends or peak periods that you could extrapolate into future forecasting. If you have any regular clients or ongoing income streams, use these as a baseline to propel you forward.
Get Professional Advice
If you’re not already using an accountant for your side hustle finances, making the leap can be game changing. Not only will a good accountant support you with your tax liabilities, many can actually help you identify business opportunities based on your financials. They’ll also be able to help you with things like transitioning from sole trader to company, taking on a partner, or hiring your first employee.
If you’re looking for more holistic business support, a business coach or mentor could be the key to growing your side hustle. Think about areas you’re lacking in expertise and seek to find professionals that can help fill in those gaps for you.
Put Systems In Place
A lot of keen side hustlers get stuck in the bootstrapping mindset of the early days. You know the feeling, when even $10 a month on an invoicing program is a stretch too far! But investing in systems and processes that streamline your side hustle and free up your time are the things that can make the biggest difference to your growth efforts. Things like a receipt tracker for expenses, income tracking via software or a spreadsheet, a separate bank account, and templates for delivering your work to clients or customers.
Systemising your side hustle may also include outsourcing certain tasks to others. Maybe you could get help with your marketing, or hire a virtual assistant to take some of the admin weight off your shoulders. Don’t be afraid to take on support—you don’t have to do everything yourself!
Invest In Yourself
Just like avoiding paying for set up systems and processes, often we side hustlers avoid investing in our businesses at all. Particularly those with digital or online businesses that have low overheads, getting out of that scarcity spending mindset can be tricky. But, if you want to grow your side hustle in 2021, start thinking of ways you can invest in things that’ll ultimately improve your offering and make you more money long term.
That might be getting a professionally designed website with appointment booking functionality built in, or investing in custom packaging, or buying a large volume of inventory to lower your cost per unit. Investing in your side hustle can feel scary at the time, but it can accelerate your growth big time.
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Image Credit: Mike Von
Emma is a finance blogger at The Broke Generation and a reformed spendaholic. She shares hot tips on saving, property, tax, career and investing for millennials who want to break the spending cycle and get financially confident.