5 Tips to Turn Your Side Hustle into a Full-Time Business

Do you daydream about turning your side hustle into something that allows you to quit your day job, become your own boss and make more money than you did before? Now is the time to stop dreaming about it and go for it.

Taking the leap is stressful, overwhelming and scary, but also incredibly rewarding (but you already know that). You know that you want to take the leap, but maybe you don’t feel ready. I’ve been there myself, and I work with a lot of women who have been there as well.

I started my coaching business a few years ago, in a world where everyone and their dog was a coach. The coaching industry is an oversaturated market if you don’t know what you’re doing. When I started, I had no idea what I was doing. Quitting my day job to pursue my business full-time was a distant dream. I had an “I will build it and they will come” mentality, that I quickly realized wasn’t going to work for me. I had an inconsistent trickle of clients here and there which, for a side hustle was fine. It meant extra money and a chance to do what I loved. However, an inconsistent trickle could not pay my bills.

Flash forward a few years and not only have I left my day job, but now I help other women leave their day jobs as well. I coach service-based female entrepreneurs on how to consistently fill their businesses with high-end clients. I want to pass on some of the essential strategies that I used and that I use with my clients, to help you move one step closer to leaving your job and pursuing your own business as well.

1. Recognize that fear, risk, discomfort, uncertainty, and potential failure are all part of the package. If you don’t embrace those things as tightly as you’re willing to embrace success, then you won’t succeed. When you grow, your business grows with you. Often the more something pushes your comfort zone, the more it is the very thing that will grow your business.
2. You’re never going to feel ready. The timing will never be right. Still, I want you to quickly think of a person you admire in business. They have most likely accomplished the very thing you are seeking to achieve. Write down that person’s name, along with three to five characteristic traits that you think have helped them succeed.

Now I want you to re-read those three to five character traits you wrote down. The idea is: you can’t see those traits in someone else unless you yourself possess them. You have the very traits you deemed necessary to be successful. You will never feel fully ready, however, you need to recognize that you already have the qualities needed to succeed. You have what it takes to create the business you’ve always wanted. All you have to do is get out there, do the work, get the help, and push yourself. I believe in you!

1. Focus on income generating tasks. You need to figure out how to consistently make a certain amount of money if you want to maintain your sanity and your lifestyle. Recognize that all tasks do not have equal value. What makes you money and what doesn’t?
2. Stay consistent. Results will always vary, but what can’t vary is your commitment to doing the hard stuff. Building and running a business isn’t easy but it is fulfilling. Focus on your process and not the outcome. If you keep doing the right tasks consistently, you will make money and your business will grow.
3. Invest in a business coach. For me, this was the best decision I made. I knew how to operate a side hustle but I didn’t know how to ramp that up so that it would be my only source of income. Most people are great at creating their product or offering their service, but they have no idea how to build a business. A coach assists you with that and all the other strategies listed above. My recommendation is to reach out to a few different coaches since everyone’s different and you want to make sure you pick the right person for you and your business.

Do you seriously want to pursue your business full time? The first step is to answer that question then, using the above strategies, do the work. It is possible for you to make the transition, now go do it.

Written by: Lana Dingwall, Head Coach, Arrow – Always Moving Forward