Side hustlers with full time jobs know the struggle: the early mornings, late nights, and fervent email checks at work. Side hustling with a full time job can definitely be challenging. If your business is in growth mode, it can be hard to say no to more work, especially if you want to turn your side hustle into your full time job.
All side hustlers in growth mode eventually run in a problem: how to continue growing and nurturing your side business while still focusing on your full time work. If you’re a side hustler currently experiencing growing pains, check out these tips on how to find time for your side business.
Only Do What You Love
You may have started your side business by being a jack of all trades. This may have worked out great in the beginning, as you likely learned new skills, worked with a variety of people, and side hustled your way into more income. Unfortunately, being available for everything can siphon precious time from doing what you love.
If you love website design, but you work as a designer, freelance writer, and website manager and find yourself running out of time for your passion, you may want to step back from one or more other jobs. Think about why you started side hustling, and what you want your business to look like as it grows. Few people are successful being good at everything, so find your niche and devote your time to it.
By dropping the side hustle jobs you don’t love as much, you’ll be able to spend your time doing what you love and improving your skills. As you continue to improve your skills and showcase your talents, you’ll also be able to steadily raise your rates.
If You Don’t Love it, Delegate it
If you can’t break away from doing everything, or if additional services are integral to your side business, consider delegating those tasks to someone else. We’ve covered how to find the right virtual assistant, which should help you determine which tasks you can outsource.
As a side hustler in growth mode, you have to evaluate your current rates and the time spent doing things you don’t love. If you can outsource the tasks you don’t like and devote your time improving your business and raising your rates, it may make sense to outsource.
A side hustler with a full time job has to carefully assess the time spent on certain side hustles relative to their per hour worth. After a while, certain tasks are just diminishing returns, and your time could be spent generating new revenue.
Automate Everything
If you’re like many side hustlers, you have to be on social media. Whether or not you’re on all channels (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Periscope, Google+, etc.), you likely use some type of platform to get your services out there and connect with your community.
Social media scheduling can take a long time and, if you don’t enjoy it, can be tedious. Save yourself time and continue making connections with potential customers by automating your posts ahead of time. You can use any of the following scheduling tools:
- Buffer – one of the most comprehensive schedulers out there. Connects to Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
- Hootsuite – scheduler for Twitter and Instagram. Can also help you follow your @ mentions and group chats.
- Tailwind – one of the best schedulers for Pinterest. Provides weekly updates on the growth of your Pinterest account.
When I say automate everything, I mean everything. In addition to automating certain social media tasks, think about automating things in your life. As the only person in our house who thinks about household essentials (cleaning supplies, toothpaste), I automate all of those non-perishables with Amazon Subscribe and Save. No more running out to Target for things we’ve forgotten. With Subscribe and Save, we order enough to get us through the whole month, if not longer.
If you’re brave, and it’s offered in your area, you could also automate grocery delivery. If you’re not picky about produce like I am, this could save you a lot of time. Sure, it might seem lazy to some people, but if you don’t like shopping anyway and could put your time to better use, it makes sense.
Create a Routine
If you don’t already have a daily routine down, it’s time to get one. When you’re in growth mode, you may have to devote more time to your side hustle than before. This is why it’s important to create morning and nighttime routines, to streamline your regular life, full-time job tasks and give you extra time to work on your side hustle.
For example, I have my morning and night routines down to military precision. I might do almost the same thing every single day, but by doing that, I have an extra 2 hours a day to work on my side hustle.
It’s important to try to stick to this schedule for 5-6 days of the week, too. While all side hustlers should take a break from their business (at least for their families’ sakes!), it’s important to remain in a groove so you’re consistently accomplishing goals for your business.
Take Advantage of Time Pockets
Time pockets are those times throughout the day when you don’t have a lot going on and can spend a little time on your business. This could be while you’re waiting for someone to call you back, respond to an email, or get a meeting started. During this time, you could respond to a client email, send out some Tweets, or read a blog post in your niche.
I’m not saying you spend 20% of your time at your full-time job working on your side hustle. That’s not fair to your employer or your coworkers. However, we all know there is down time throughout the day. There’s no reason not to take advantage of this time by checking in on your business, as long as you’re mentally back to work when it’s time.
Work Ahead
When you find yourself looking at a vast expanse of free time, like a weekend where you only have two client projects due, don’t squander it. Work ahead on weekends when you have extra time, schedule out your social media posts weeks in advance, or catch up on reaching out to potential clients.
By working ahead when you can, you’ll find yourself much less stressed on weeks when you have something to do every single day. On days when you have extra time, spend some time working on your business, improving your site or teaching yourself something new. Invest some time in your side business to reap rewards throughout the year.
Track All Your Accounts With Personal Capital
Personal Capital lets you see all of your accounts in one convenient place. Sign up now for free.All side hustlers eventually have to contend with time and competing priorities. If you’re currently trying to grow your side business but also give 100% at your full-time job, it can be difficult to identify extra time. This doesn’t mean it’s impossible! By following the 6 tips outlined above, you can continue to grow your side hustle while working a full-time job.
What tips do you have for side hustlers trying to grow their businesses and work full-time jobs? How do you balance a full-time job with a side business?
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