Beyond knowing how much you need to be financially free and how to maximize your existing income streams, it is critically important for Henrys to diversify their income streams and build new sources of wealth.
The world develops and evolves rapidly nowadays and with the advent of AI, job security is increasingly illusory. Building multiple sources of income will ensure that you can maintain your quality of life regardless of any uncertainties in your day job.
The above is not rocket science – the rocket science bit comes in how to start building a side hustle when you are already working 100 hour weeks and losing out on sleep. In this article, I will share with you the playbook I used to build a side hustle while working a full time high powered professional job and suggest a few side hustle models which you can adopt.
Of course, if you would like to have a more detailed discussion – feel free to ping me on my socials or book a slot on my calendly!
Side Hustle Playbook
- Unlock your unfair advantage: There are many businesses which you can start (eg a sandwich shop), but what is your unfair advantage? Reflecting on your secret talents will increase your chances of success by capitalizing on your unfair advantage. Some of life’s unfair advantages include:
- Money: Do you have more money than others and are able to start a side hustle which is more capital intensive?
- Intelligence and Insight: Are you more intelligent than others and can capitalize on opportunities which others are unable to spot?
- Location and Luck: Are you in the right industry at the right time allowing you to move faster than others (eg. Nvidia software engineer in the AI boom)
- Education & Expertise: Have your education unlocked networking opportunities for you to gain access to certain deals or knowledge before the wider public?
- Status: Are you born into the right family with the right connections which makes it easier for you to start certain business as opposed to the wider public?
- Market Research: So you have found your unfair advantage and you have a good idea as to what side hustle you would like to start. It is time to do some market research. What are some of the market gaps you are plugging, what is the consumer pain point which you are addressing and are people willing to pay for your services?
- Developing a business plan: The best ideas are useless without a business plan. In your business plan you should define your ideal customer, how are you going to target them and distribute your product to them, the cost of acquisition and the MVP which you will develop. This will allow you to budget some capital for your side hustle and give yourself a timeline to create test and reiterate your side hustle.
- Time Management: The problem with Henrys is that our full time day job is busy enough, and therefore outsourcing discrete parts of our side hustle is very important for it to be sustainable in the long run. Once you have a running MVP, you should identify the discrete tasks which you have to do and start hiring freelancers to take them off your plate. In the initial stages, everything should be on a variable cost basis so that you have minimal overheads.
- Marketing and Scaling: Once you have a side hustle which is bringing in some cash, you should start turning on the marketing and scaling tap to amplify your income stream. It is also a good way to test if you have product market fit if you are minting cash with minimal advertising dollars.
So we now have a rough playbook as to how you can launch your side hustle, but I appreciate that even after reading the above, you might be lost as to what exactly you can do. The deep reflection on your unfair advantage might have led you to the conclusion that you have no unfair advantage. Fret not – here are some ideas to help you kickstart your side hustle even if you feel you have no unfair advantage!
Side Hustle Ideas
- Consulting Services: Are you able to reposition the knowledge you gained in your day job into a consulting freelance service for smaller businesses which might not be able to engage your company? Make sure that you do not fall foul of any non-compete restrictions your day job might provide. Alternatively you can also provide consulting services on matters completely unrelated to your day job! You would be amazed at what hidden knowledge you have picked up as a highly skilled professional.
- Freelance writing or content creation: The creator economy is in full force right now, be it long form videos (Youtube), short form videos (Tiktok), images (Instagram) or writing (substack/medium); there are many different ways for you to start a side hustle as long as you are able to create content which captivates the attention of your audience. Writing about a niche topic which you are passionate about tends to come across as more genuine and attract you a stronger follower group.
- Affiliate marketing: If you already have a loyal following, you could monetize them by doing affiliate marketing. Essentially become a brand spokeperson for certain products and channeling your followers to engage with the brand or consume their products, in return you get paid for every successful sale!
- E-Commerce: Alternatively if you do not want to channel your following to existing brands, you can also start your own brand and work with manufacturers and suppliers to create a product which you can then market. Direct-to-consumer websites or Amazon marketplaces are great ways to start, once you are able to market the product well, the side hustle will start paying for itself.
Conclusion
So, where does this leave us? It is highly critical for us to diversify our streams of income and have multiple sources of wealth. The question is how, by providing a side hustle playbook and some side hustle ideas, hopefully this can propel and ignite your thought process and move you one step closer towards financial independence!
If you would like to exchange ideas to start building your side hustle, reach out to me via my socials or calendly!