It shouldn’t be a huge shock, but almost all companies started are a byproduct of a side hustle. A side hustle is working after your primary job on something your interested in for additional money or fun.
I mentioned this in my first video, I started my IT services company while working two other full time jobs at the time. There are some key rules when it comes to a side hustle that I really believe in.
A side hustle is just that, something on the side, it must be done on your time not on the time of your current employer.
It’s really important to me to reiterate that your current employer pays you for your time and does not let your side hustle impact or interfere with your ability to perform your core job.
When it comes to the side hustle, the moment it does start to impact your ability to do your full time job is the moment you know its time to make the shift from full time job / side hustle to focusing on your side hustle full time.
When providing IT services, how did I make a side hustle work? First I was very clear with my clients that I was a freelance IT consultant. This meant that I was setting a clear expectation, that I was doing this on the side and that I had an existing full time job.
This meant my first IT services agreements meant outlining support after 6pm most evenings and or weekend only support. In the IT services industry these are normally unsupported windows of time, for many this was more than fine with them as they had more time to work on IT issues past their normal 9 to 5 as well.
What I learned was that its ok to do something you love outside of work. I learned that its important to set clear expectations and boundaries early even in the side hustle phase and its important to understand where that metric for success is that is an indicator that its time to phase out your full time job in favor of your side gig, whatever that happens to be.
For me the metric of success was getting more clients who wanted my services than I had time to support, after 10 people was added to my waitlist, I knew I had something that could sustain and required a more full time approach.
Remember having a side hustle is ok. Michael Jordan said it best. Some people want it to happen, some people wish it would happen, others make it happen.
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Summary
The article discusses the importance of having a side hustle and how to make it work, including setting clear expectations and boundaries, understanding metrics for success, and knowing when to phase out a full-time job in favor of a side gig.
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