If you’ve been toying with the idea of getting a side hustle, you should know that the sooner you take one on, the sooner your financial picture might improve. The income you earn from a side hustle could help you pad your savings nicely. Seeing as how 63% of Americans don’t have enough money in the bank to cover an unplanned $500 expense, according to data from SecureSave, that’s important.
Similarly, if you’re carrying a leftover credit card balance from the holidays, a side hustle could be your ticket to paying it off quickly, thereby minimizing the amount of interest you rack up. A side gig could also get you closer to meeting a big financial goal, whether it’s buying a house, upgrading your car, or building a retirement nest egg.
Working a side hustle, however, isn’t always so easy. If you want to be successful at yours, then it pays to take one specific approach.
Do something you love
The term “side hustle” implies you’re doing work on top of a primary job. And chances are, your primary job takes up a fair amount of your time. As such, it can be tough to motivate yourself to put in extra working hours when you’re already plugging away at the job that provides your main paycheck.
That’s why it’s important to find a side gig you’ll actually enjoy doing. If you take on a side hustle you dread, you may not last very long at it. Or, you may not be very efficient at it, which could result in less pay for you.
Let’s say you take on a side hustle that has you editing medical content. You may find that content boring. And if you’re paid by the project, as opposed to an hourly rate, the fact that it takes you longer to complete it could put less money in your pocket.
Similarly, let’s say you sign up to deliver groceries for extra cash, but you’re someone who hates crowded stores and you’re not a particular fan of driving. You may be less likely to put in extra hours when you dread the work.
Can you make money doing something you already enjoy?
But what if you could take something you already enjoy doing and make money from it? That may be more possible than you’d think.
Let’s say you love baking. Why not sell homemade cakes or cupcakes for money as long as local laws don’t prohibit you from doing so out of your own kitchen?
Or, maybe you love crafting. You can create a website for yourself, try to build a social media following, and then sell your wares, which you’re apt to enjoy creating.
What’s more, if playing guitar is your passion, try to get paid for it. See if local cafes and coffee shops will let you moonlight. You might start out getting paid only in tips. But if your music drums up business, that could easily turn into a gig where you get some sort of base pay on top of the money grateful customers throw your way.
You don’t want to burn out
The danger of working a side hustle is getting burned out by constantly working. That could impact not just your ability to earn extra money, but also your performance at your main job.
It pays to pursue a side hustle that doesn’t actually feel like work. Do that, and you may find that you’re wildly successful at it — and that your financial situation improves nicely as a result.
