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3 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting a Side Hustle

by Bobby HoytLeave a Comment

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more information.

Hey everyone! Today I have an awesome guest post for you by Nicole from BudgetLikeALady.com! One of my goals this year is to cover more ways that you can make extra money, and what the process of running a side hustle is really like. Here are some actionable tips and great advice for anyone thinking about getting started. Enjoy! ~M$M

Need some extra cash? Start a side hustle. Side hustles are easy to find and start these days. After all, I started my first side hustle when I was in high school. I was a math tutor and got paid $8 per hour! That was big money for me since minimum wage was around $5 at the time.

Related: 10 Side Hustles You Can Actually Start in 2017

Since then, I have moved onto other side hustles and I have learned a few things along the way. Although many of us get into side hustles for the extra money, there are many things that people don’t tell you about starting a side hustle.

Time Commitment

Time commitment may seem like a no brainer until you actually start your side hustle. I used to dream about all the extra money I was going to have, just by working a couple of hours a day, at a side job.

What I didn’t know was working 2 hours really took 3 hours out of my day. I didn’t think about my travel time to and from the side hustle, or the time it took me to get ready.

If your side hustle requires commuting, changing clothes, or any preparation, remember – this time is unpaid and takes more hours out of your day. More hours means more time away from family and friends.

This means you may have to turn down the occasional night out, co-worker lunch or early bedtimes. It’s a sacrifice that may, or may not, be worth it.

Burning Out

You know the saying, “Burning the candle at both ends?” That is the feeling you get when you have a side hustle and a full time job. Side hustles require not only time, but also energy. There has been many times where I caught myself nodding off at my desk due to exhaustion.

One time, I almost fell out of my chair during a meeting! I was embarrassed. Imagine trying to play it cool after that!

Side hustles can be demanding and take away from your full time job. Being tired all the time will affect your job performance and your health. Lack of sleep can impair your judgement.

I recommend avoiding burn out to the best of your abilities.

Ways to avoid burn out:

  • Find a balance between your main job and your side job.
  • Get plenty of rest.
  • Start small. Dedicate a few hours per week to your side job and build from there.

Losing Focus

Side hustles can cause you to lose focus and neglect your full time job. This includes returning emails, taking phone calls and conducting research for your side job, while at your main job. I have been guilty of it so I know it is easier said than done.

You made a commitment to your main job. Doing side hustle tasks at your main job, without your employer’s knowledge, can be considered theft and grounds for dismissal.

They are paying you to do a job, not run a side hustle. All attention and energy needs to be with your main job during main job hours.

Related: The Free M$M Blogging Course!

My Side Hustles

I have done a lot of side hustles in my day, including my current side hustle: blogging. It is important to focus on what you are good at. If you are very knowledgeable and good at your side hustle, it will take little effort and you can save some energy.

The Free M$M Blogging Course

You'll learn how to start and run a successful and profitable blog!

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Some side hustles that have worked for me are:

  • Tutoring
  • Freelance Writing
  • Direct Sales
  • Selling on Amazon and Ebay
  • Consulting
  • Blogging

I love to side hustle, and I have learned to manage my time and energy effectively. Although finding a balance took some time, I am glad I stuck with it. There is so much more than money to consider before starting a side hustle.

It is best to know these things now before you quit your side hustle due to not having enough time. If you still want to start a side a hustle after reading this post, go for it! I recommend it and I wish you all the luck!

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Posted in: Side Hustles

About Millennial Money Man

Bobby Hoyt is a former band director who paid off $40,000 of student loan debt in 18 months on his teaching salary and then left his job to run Millennial Money Man full-time. He helps other Millennials earn more through side hustles, save more through budgeting tools and apps, and pay off debt. He is a personal finance expert who has been seen on Forbes, Reuters, MarketWatch, CNBC, International Business Times, Business Insider, US News, Yahoo Finance, and many other personal finance and entrepreneurship media outlets.

View all of Bobby’s Posts

Comments

  1. Hey Nicole! Great post!

    Currently, I don’t have any real side hustle going on, but I would consider my blog as one even though I don’t make any profit off of it…yet. But I know what you mean when it comes to “burning out”. I am a part-time mom and a part-time secretary.

    My time and effort put into my blog begins at 6AM-9AM (my daughter wakes up around 9…in fact, she’s totally waking up right now as I type this, HAHA). I get off work at 6PM, spend time with my family, and put my daughter down to sleep before hitting the blog again at around 8:45PM-12AM.

    So finding a balance and getting rest is sooooo important! Thanks for the tips!

    Bobby, ultimately I would love to flip houses as my side hustle (but I need money for that, lol).

    My husband and I purchased a major fixxer upper in 2013 and cash flowed all of the renovations (which we did ourselves, except for the carpeting. So proud).

    The equity in our house went up quite a it, which is nice when/if we decide to sell.

    So once we are debt free of everything, we will save up and consider putting a down payment on another home to flip 🙂

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    • Have you checked out biggerpockets.com? I LOVE that website for RE info. Whenever I make it big with this site I’m going to do some commercial real estate investing. 🙂

      Your blog IS a side hustle! There was a time where this site didn’t make any $$$. You’ll get there.

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  2. I have a freelance writing side hustle right now in addition to blogging. It sucks to admit, but it does interfere with my day job. Mostly in that I’d MUCH rather be doing my side hustle, but my day job pays the bills. I’m trying to be better about focusing my time so I can get more done.

    But yes, the time commitment is always more than you think it’ll be!

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    • I’d love to talk to you more about your writing hustle! Maybe we should do a guest post on it?

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  3. Very relatable post! I’ve had so many side-gigs throughout college and now during my career. I ran an Etsy and sold handmade jewelry & apparel and then transitioned from that to doing freelance digital marketing & graphic/web design. Now I’m trying to move back into crafting with a new hobby, candle making! Art has always been a huge passion of mine and I love being able to express myself through crafts & designs and thankfully because of my marketing background I’m able to strategical position my creations and make a pretty penny!

    Freelance marketing & web design gigs definitely brings home more money, but can take up 10+ hours a week, in addition to my full-time marketing job. Art & crafting takes up probably 5-10 hours per week but it’s way more fun and I can do it with friends & family so I’m not losing out on my social life.

    Finding a balance is super hard sometimes, especially when a client wants to meet or have a phone call when I’d much rather have a nap, haha. I’ve definitely lost a lot of sleep and I have too almost fallen asleep during meetings or phone calls at work! It’s super embarrassing and awkward… but the side hustle life definitely pays off when I get that extra cash and can pay down my student loans faster!

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    • Haha yes when I was first trying to grow M$M I wasn’t sleeping much either! I would sit at the kitchen table and write/learn how to run a website for hours after work. It takes a lot of work, but if you can commit to it the results can be pretty freaking awesome.

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  4. Great article! And I’m understanding the time commitment thoroughly. I’m working a tandem side hustle with a blog and an Etsy shop, using the first to promote the second. There’s no travel time, but taking the time to make inventory is tough since my schedule changes regularly at work and I have to wait till next week to start the blog and Etsy shop because I don’t get paid till Friday and I need my paycheck to pay for the blog and Etsy shop.

    I’m one of those lucky people that have low monthly expenses and my product has a low start up cost, so turning a profit, if all goes well, should take about 3 months. And even just a $100 profit will enough of a game changer for me to make it worth my while. I do hope I can turn my side hustles into my full time gigs and to start a physical business with a building and sign and the whole nine yards

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  5. One of the great things with all these sharing economy/gig economy apps out there is that you can incorporate a lot of these side hustles into your daily life already, which sort of makes it so it doesn’t feel like you’re working as much.

    For me, I Airbnb a guest room in my house. It’s pretty minimal time for me to set up the room between guests, and all the other cleaning I do in my house doesn’t really feel like work because I need to keep my house clean anyway.

    I also already own a dog, so naturally, it made sense to try out dog sitting using DogVacay and Rover. I already have to take care of my own dog, so it doesn’t add a ton of additional work if I also take care of another dog at the same time. Helps me to make extra money without feeling like I’m working a “second job” per se.

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    • That’s a great point – there’s a new one I saw coming out that lets you do “odd jobs” for people. Pretty cool.

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  6. I have done all of those and a few more, great article. The thing about doing so many side hustles is you get to see what works and what doesn’t. If something takes too much time for too little money it isn’t worth doing. Great article

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  7. I am thinking about flipping boats as a side hustle. Any thoughts?
    I am looking at a boat now to get started, but I am just not sure. Maybe I need a little push to get started.

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  8. There’s definitely truth in this post. My current side hustle is my blog. I can most relate to the time commitment. I didn’t realize how much goes into blogging although I called myself doing research. So far I’m loving it though.

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  9. 1) I am currently trying to launch a blog but yes its a challenge balancing that and my job. In the morning I can think of 10 things to take my side hustle forward but in the evening, I barely have enough energy left to finish everything.

    2) One of the things I struggle with is the tech side of things and keeping to a consistent publishing schedule. If you would, please take a look at my [under construction] website and you’ll know what I mean! I wonder if I should just get someone to do it for me.

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    • Hey I checked it out! If you think it would help you get started much faster, maybe have someone design it for you?

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      • I think that might be best. Is that what you did too when you started out?

      • I did my own designs until just recently, but if you think you’re going to be doing this a long time I don’t think it’s a bad idea.

  10. Burning the candle at both ends can definitely wear on you. I work full time and run a blog on the side. I completely agree that it’s important to focus on your day job while at work. That’s your primary money maker and you don’t want your performance to slip. I set aside specific time in the morning before work and/or at night to work on my blog. That way I’m able to 100% focus on each one when the time comes.

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  11. whenever i have started a new journey i try and keep a long term view of it. I remember starting Triathlon back in 2010 and i asked a more experienced athlete how long it took for him to become a good cyclist without hesitation he said 5 years. With my blog, i’m in no real rush. just focused on staying steady and consistent. Focused on enjoying the process and the results will come.

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  12. Yes! I was so scared to say no to one client but finally decided I had to do it yesterday as the time/ effort to get there wasn’t worth the end result. I think finding that balance and knowing your worth are definitely key for a good side hustle.
    As soon as I said no to one, another one that was much more convenient and had much greater earning potential popped into my life. The world works in interesting ways.
    Unfortunately my current side hustle really is swapping time for money so I need to work on building up something that I can step away from at some point.

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  13. For the past four years, I have had two extra side hustles in addition to a full time corporate job. Luckily I am able to work from home for my full time job, however returning emails and phone calls in a timely fashion has been the BIGGEST struggle. Failing to return calls and emails can make you look totally incompetent (even though, its the opposite because you run three jobs), but it also causes a lot of stress. I’ve tried different methods to manage, I think hiring out some of the everyday tasks helps. Waking up earlier helps and being super organized. I’m a firm believer that you can set up your life and you career in any way you want, you just have to believe its possible. One benefit of a side hustle is that it can give you another outlet to be creative or use a different talent and get paid. But eventually you have to realize there is a certain point where you peak and you realize that you do not have enough time to trade for money anymore. Getting to this point makes me think that passive income is the ultimate goal!

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  14. Great post! I’m in the early stages of blogging (it’s all a mess still) , in addition to recently starting the Amazon FBA side hustle, all while being a SAHM of five (ages 4-16) while my husband is out of town Monday through Thursday. I’m trying to remember if teaching was easier, but that was 10 years ago!

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  15. GREAT article! I’ve been thinking about being a part time waitress or hostess in the evening I work a typical 9-5 now but it’s a desk job so when I’m off I generally have energy to do more. Now I am just weighing out where I get the most benefit for the least time at this rate. Any advice on how to choose your side hustle??

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  16. I enjoy my blog right now but I’m always in the middle of a new hustle. I find it organizes my time well to have a main job and then side job. Keeps me out of trouble!

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