How to start a side hustle
Find out how to start a side hustle with our guide
Setting up a side hustle
No matter what your day job is, it’s always nice to be able to make a little extra money on the side for holidays, presents, and the odd treat.
And if this is something that interests you, then starting a side hustle might be right up your alley, especially if you already have a hobby you’re looking to monetise or a sought-after side skill you want to make some extra cash from.
But what exactly is a side hustle, and how can it help boost your income?
What is a side hustle?
A side hustle is anything you do outside of your day job that brings in extra income. This could be something as niche as candle-making or as skilled as commissioned artwork, the choice is yours. But whatever it is, it should help to boost your finances on the side for when you want to spend or save a little extra cash.
Why start a side hustle?
Although the main benefit of starting a side hustle is the additional income you’ll make, there are many other reasons why you might want to consider dipping your toes into trying your own small business. Here are just some of the additional reasons to start a side hustle:
Flexibility and control
With your own side hustle, you’re in charge. This means you get to decide when and how you do it, as well as what you charge for your products. It’s up to you how you integrate it into your schedule.
Minimal costs
Besides materials and potential tax payments, anything you earn through your side hustle is yours to keep, meaning you can put more to one side to save money or use it as additional funds to cover bills and subscriptions.
Training a new skill
The flexibility of a side hustle also makes it a great opportunity to train in a new skill or hobby that interests you. Even if it doesn’t work out, you’ll have gained additional experience for future projects and jobs.
Business acumen
As a side hustle is still technically a business, setting one up is actually the perfect way to go about learning what’s required to run a company on a smaller scale thanks to its minimal risk and pressure. It’s certainly a good place to start if you’re thinking about starting your own business in the future.
Networking
You might not think it, but a side hustle can also be a great way to meet other like-minded small business owners who you can work and collaborate with to potentially pursue your side hustle full-time.
How to start a side hustle with no experience
As you can see, there are many benefits to setting up a business outside work. But how exactly do you start a side hustle? Well, while it could seem like an intimidating prospect, it’s much easier to do than you might think. Just follow our steps outline below and you’ll be set up in no time at all:
Pick something that interests you
First things first, you want to be sure that you pick a side hustle that actually interests you. So, it’s a good idea to make a list of options that you like the idea of and then pick the one that excites you the most.
Decide how much time you can commit
Whether it's selling clothes online or creating your own art, once you have your hustle in mind, the next step is to work out how much time you can commit to your new project. Too little and you likely won’t make enough money to justify the time commitment, but too much and you’ll risk burning out.
Make a business plan
You can use a business plan to outline what your hustle will do, your potential target market, how you plan to market yourself, your potential competition, and any expenses you might incur, making it far easier to see how feasible your side hustle might be.
Set an earnings goal
With your plan sorted, you next want to set a target or monetary goal for your hustle. After all, you don’t want to set limited expectations on your earning potential. Do some research to see how profitable your chosen hustle could be and use this to guide your earnings goal.
Research the legal side
While many side hustles may only provide a supplementary income, it’s still a good idea to look at the legalities of setting up a small business for tax purposes. For example, if you earn over a certain amount, you will need to register with HMRC to avoid breaking the law. So, be sure to do your research in this area before you start operating.
Get started
Finally, with all of the admin out of the way, you can actually start working on your side hustle. This means putting yourself out there on social media and spreading the word through word of mouth to find your first customers and then building a reputable brand from there. For example, if you want to run a side hustle that involves sending items to customers, then it’s a great idea to set up a profile on sites like Etsy and eBay. This gives you an accessible platform to sell through (and lets you take advantage of great delivery deals by using our Evri eBay integration service!)
How to maintain a side hustle
Naturally, once your side hustle is off the ground, you will have to put some effort into maintaining it – both to make it financially feasible and to prevent yourself from trying to do too much in one go.
Below are our top tips for maintaining your side hustle with minimal stress:
- Be realistic in your expectations – trying to do more than you can handle will make keeping up your side hustle that much harder.
- Be consistent – it will be far easier to maintain your side hustle if you contribute a similar number of hours each week rather than large chunks of time every so often.
- Set good prices – many people who are just starting often set their prices too low. Naturally, if you’re a beginner to your craft, you can’t charge as much as experienced sellers, but you still want to make your prices competitive and representative of the quality of what you’re selling.
- Don’t neglect your day job – as thrilling as it can be to see your side hustle take off, you shouldn’t neglect your day job as a result. Unless your new business is making more than your current job or could be done full-time, you should look to keep your side hustle to non-work hours.
- Maintain good records – while it might not seem necessary, good record keeping of sales and expenses will make it far easier to make any tax payments and track profitability should you want to make your side business your main job.
- Avoid getting into debt – as handy as a loan can be to get a new project off the ground, unless your side hustle actually needs a big cash injection, this sort of borrowing is ill-advised. The resulting debt will simply mean you earn less from your hustle or none at all if it turns out not to be a feasible business.
How can Evri help with your side hustle?
As we’ve already mentioned, if you plan to sell items online as part of your side hustle, then we’re here to lend a hand. In fact, you can make use of all of these great benefits if you send through us:
- Great value prices starting from as little as £2.62
- Standard and Next Day delivery options
- Flexible sending options from our ParcelShops, Lockers, and Couriers
- International sending options for parcels going overseas
- End-to-end tracking via our website and App
- Free parcel cover up to a value of £20 on everything except Postable parcels
- Multiple parcel sending with our Bulk Integration tool
Start sending through Evri with your side hustle today!