What Should You Consider Before Making Your Side Hustle Full Time?

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Taking your side hustle full time is something that we’ve all thought about, especially when you’re trying your hardest to get away from the constant dread of 9 ‘til 5 life. Surely, you can find another way to earn an income than sitting at the same desk, doing the same boring stuff into infinity?

The truth is that your side hustle could take off, and it could mean that you can hand your notice over to your boss feeling smug as hell. However, you need to go through the process properly, instead of just jumping ship without really thinking about the success of your side hustle.

Here are some things to ask yourself if you want to make it a full time success.

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Should you quit your 9 ‘til 5?

Before you quit your job, you need to be 100% sure that things are going to work out, unless you’re willing to rely upon money that you have saved up for a while. Start up your side hustle on weekends, and see how much cash you get from doing this. This also allows you to see what your clients are interested in.

Then, you need to try to gauge how much interest people are going to have during the week. If you’re a wedding photographer, for example, then you may find that people are only interested on the weekends. Put out some ads, and see what responses you get back. If it’s overwhelming, take a week off work and see how it goes!

Do you actually enjoy doing it?

Making our passions into full-time employment is something that everybody thinks about. Surely, if you were doing what you loved every day, life would be much better? However, the reality of this can sometimes be different, and it can actually mean that you lose interest in your passions instead.

You really just need to spend a while using your side hustle as a money-maker before you can decide whether it’s the right thing to go full time. Make sure that you’ve done it during the weekend for a few months, and that you know that you really want to do it. It’s a big step, and shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Have you checked out the implications of being self-employed?

If you take your side hustle full time, you’ll be classed as self-employed. That means that you’re going to have to do your own taxes as a business, and although there are tools out there like the corporation tax calculator, it can be a little bit tricky if you’ve never done it before. It’s certainly worth looking up.

If you’re not sure about these things, then you can get help from an accountant, so don’t think that it’s going to write off your dreams of taking your side hustle full time. However, it’s a good idea to check out the process before you dive head-first into self-employment, or it could be a stressful experience.

Are you self-motivated?

When you work in an office full time, you probably find having your boss hanging over you pretty annoying. You always have to answer to somebody, and there is an individual there making sure that you do your work to a high standard, and deliver it on time. Love it or hate it, this is how management usually works.

However, as much as you probably do hate it, it’s a good driving force to ensure that you’re never behind with your work. When you work from home, you’re only going to have yourself for motivation, so you need to be pretty good at getting up, and getting stuff done. Nail this skill before you go for self-employment.

Can you deal well with isolation?

One thing that people generally don’t think about before they work from home is the isolation element. Whilst you may go to work and think, ‘God, I can’t wait to get away from all of these people’, these social interactions do actually help to keep you sane. Work from home, and all socialising is in your hands.

Some people deal well with this, and others find it unbearable to be at home all day alone. If this is you, you can head out to a coffee shop to work sometimes, or the library, but remember that it’s not like an office environment. If you make an effort to stay social, you should be fine, so do your best to hang out with others!

So…

If you want to make your side hustle your full time gig, then keep these things in mind. If you get it right, you’ll be enjoying the fruits of your labour (of love) for many years to come!