We live in a time when there are no bounds to what we can achieve. There has never been a rapid increase in the number of young entrepreneurs who started their own businesses. Many people are willing to take significant calculated risks in the name of sculpting their own self-employed dream careers, from app developers to freelance writers, business consultants, creative producers, and startup founders.
According to the Business Formation Statistics report from the United States Census Bureau, more people started a new business in the third quarter of 2020 than at any other time since the agency began keeping records. A new business boom is sweeping the country.
You may be ready to start your own company from the ground up and look for a business idea that you can quickly implement. Alternatively, you could start a low-cost successful side business while working full-time. In any case, becoming an entrepreneur is a fantastic way to boost your income, secure your job, and experience the unique thrill of being your own boss.
What Is the Most Effective Way to Begin a Profitable Side Business?
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If you've ever thought about a side hustle to supplement your income or pursue a passion, make sure you're ready with the right tools and attitude. A profitable side business is started for various reasons, including extra cash, a challenge that they don't get from other jobs, or to test an idea that they want to turn into full-time work. Some entrepreneurs with experience in this field offer advice about how to start a side business, whether you're looking for extra cash or want to start a new career.
1. Make a Promise to Yourself
This is going to be difficult. Your relationships will be strained, and you'll be forced to make difficult decisions regularly. List down all your upcoming activities and commitments, along with the amount of time you plan to devote to each. Take note of the ones with whom you can afford to reduce your involvement and inform them that you will be taking a step back to focus on a new project that is very important to you. Then start crossing off the easy items first: TV time, video game time, and time spent on Facebook and Instagram. The more time you can free up, the sooner you'll begin to see results.
2. Make a List of Your Abilities and Passions
What skills does your new profitable side business concept necessitate?
You probably have at least some of the skills you'll need to make your business a success, but if you don't, you'll have to make a difficult choice. Should you take a break to learn a new skill or delegate to someone else who can help with the slack?
Try this exercise to uncover your strengths as an entrepreneur. It will help you uncover both your soft and hard skills, as well as your unfair business advantage. It's important to remember that it's fine if your ideas and skills don't align. If you look in the right places, you'll find a plethora of talented freelancers eager to collaborate with you.
3. Verify Your Side Business Concept
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When Fortune asked failed startup founders what went wrong, the most common response was a lack of market need for their product (almost half cited this as to why their company died). Validate your business idea early in the planning process. As Basecamp founder Jason Fried explains, "the only answers that matter is dollars spent." When they pay for something, people respond. That's the only response that matters." It's in our nature to believe that we're always correct and that our ideas are always brilliant. Unfortunately, many of our business concepts and product ideas are not well-considered, practical, or thoroughly researched. Slowing down and creating a fundamental proof of concept with ongoing feedback from your target audience will help you gradually build a solution to meet their needs. From there, you'll be able to proceed.
4. Give Yourself a Competitive Advantage
A competitive advantage is a distinct advantage that enables you to generate higher sales or margins and acquire and retain more customers than your competitors. It's what distinguishes your company from others. This can be found in your cost structure, product offering, distribution network, strategic relationships, customer service, and other business areas. Here's where you need to be completely honest with yourself. Your company must not only honestly fill a market need, but it must also do so in a way that is distinct from what is currently available.
5. Establish Specific, Measurable, and Realistic Objectives
You don't want to take your first steps without at least having a rough idea of where you're going. You'll waste a lot of time spinning your wheels if you don't set attainable goals and realistic deadlines for yourself. Setting daily, weekly, and monthly goals for yourself, in my experience, works best. This constant accountability aids in achieving both short and long-term goals. Your daily goals will most likely be small victories or to-do list items at first, but as you get closer to launching your side business, you'll gradually start hitting milestones.
6. Create a Roadmap for Getting to the Launch Date and Beyond
Setting goals is one thing; planning out exactly how you'll get from point A to point B, C, D, and beyond is quite another. This step requires you to be particularly proactive, and you should expect to adapt regularly as things change over time. Nobody can start your company for you, but you won't be able to do it alone either. Your business's level of success will be determined by your ability to solve problems and navigate around obstacles.
7. Hire Someone to Help You With Your Weaknesses
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It's all about concentration. Look for opportunities to outsource as much of your company's creation as possible. Obviously, you don't want someone else to set your goals, map out your strategy, or tell you how to design your product or service. The real point is that you should only be doing what you're good at. While it would be ideal to code your own website to test out your online service idea, you'll need to devote a few months to learn the fundamentals if you don’t already know how to code.
8. Seek Objective Feedback Regularly
Your goal for a side business is to create a product or service that people value. As a result, you must seek unbiased, outside feedback to ensure that you're building something that will actually benefit your customers. Start doing this right away, and don't stop. You should individually target people you know will give you an honest opinion to find your early feedback group. From here, you can broaden your feedback options by incorporating Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, Reddit, HackerNews, ProductHunt, GrowthHackers, and other sites.
Start a Side Business Right Now
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So, where do you begin when it comes to starting a side hustle? There are tens of thousands of different business opportunities available. Some are relatively simple to enter. Others will take a long time and a lot of money to get off the ground. Fortunately, there are many small-business opportunities available to you right now.
∙ Work as an Uber or Lyft driver
Driving for Uber or Lyft is one of the most widely available ways to earn money. Uber and Lyft are at the forefront of the sharing economy, which has literally exploded. What's the best part? With the click of a button, you can turn on and off your availability on these networks, effectively allowing you to earn money at any time of day or night.
∙ Hand over to PostMates
Delivering for PostMates is another way to supplement your income. You can work whenever you want, just like with Uber and Lyft. While the pay isn't great, you do have the opportunity to earn tips. This is a great way to earn money if you live in a heavily trafficked area like Los Angeles or New York City, and you don't even need a car.
∙ Monetize Your Spare Room In Airbnb
People who want to rent out a spare room or even their entire home can use Airbnb as a great side business. Airbnb is a viable option if you need some quick cash. You'll be paid within 24 hours of a guest's arrival, which helps to avoid any problems or scams. Some people live solely off Airbnb, renting out rooms or entire houses.
∙ Social Media Management For Small Businesses
Many small businesses require a social media manager because they lack the time or expertise to post on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter. Take it upon yourself to contact local businesses and offer your services for a monthly fee. This is a simple way to earn money regardless of where you live.
∙ Sell Services on Fiverr
Fiverr was instrumental in the emergence of the Gig Economy. Although services start at $5, some Fiverr sellers earn six figures or more per year. You can sell almost anything on this platform, but to succeed and become a Super Seller, you must provide massive amounts of value, even at lower price points.
∙ Tutoring via Skype
You can tutor people via Skype from anywhere in the world as a side business. This is fantastic, especially if you're a digital nomad looking for a way to supplement your income beyond what the local job market can offer. If you're traveling through Asia or another low-cost-of-living country, tutor people from the United States or the United Kingdom.
Introducing Strikingly
Strikingly is a website builder that gives small business owners, professionals, skilled artists, and organizations the best features and capabilities for running their own successful side business websites. Some small businesses require a strong online presence but lack financial resources. After all, Strikingly allows you to make a website for free. You can create the perfect design for an online shop, café website, catering business, online laundry shop, or even a small grocery store that accepts cashless payments and delivery requests using our easy-to-edit templates. When you have what it takes, helping others is simple.
Strikingly assists aspiring small business owners in establishing a strong online presence for their companies while spending little to no money on website development. Our pricing options are customized to meet the needs and requirements of our users' online businesses. You should decide whether you need a basic plan or if you need to upgrade to a premium plan to feel safe as a business owner. Strikingly can provide you with peace of mind when running your own business.
Final Thoughts
There are an endless number of successful side business ideas on the Internet. On the other hand, the best business idea is the one that genuinely excites you. When you're passionate about something, it's easy to summon the perseverance you'll need to keep going when things get tough. Learn how to write a business plan and spend time structuring and organizing your company to improve your chances of success. Apply for a small-business grant if you require additional funds. You might also want to network with other business owners in your community or industry to start building a mentorship and friendship network.
