Wondering how to start your first side hustle online? In this article, I will show you the 9 steps to do so.
My First Side Hustle
This is not the first time I am doing side hustles, but this is the first time I am doing side hustles ONLINE. I spent a lot of my time during university giving tuition. It was good money then. I remembered making enough to feed myself, pay my University fees, and enjoy luxuries such as laptops and vacations (around Asia).
Also, I am an academic person, and enjoy teaching students, and helping them achieve good grades. The good grades wasn't the key, it was the confidence they had in themselves after achieving good grades. This confidence actually made them feel that they are capable of doing other things well. Such self- esteem is the more important thing. However, looking back, it's sad too, that many built their self- esteem on grades.
I also enjoyed making teaching resources like summary notes and so on. I guess I was a geek when I was a student, and prided myself in taking and making great notes (my teacher even asked me for all my notes upon my graduation to pass to her daughter!).
Hence, honestly, I enjoyed the teaching side of my tutoring side hustle a lot.
However, there were things that I did not enjoy about this side hustle.
One of it was traveling. I had to travel to and fro the student's home. This took up at least an hour's time. And I took buses then, which sometimes took forever to appear. I really dislike the waiting part of traveling.
I also dislike last-minute cancellations/ postponement. When you are a private tutor, the norm was you don't charge if there are no lessons. So I didn't. So if the student decided not to have lessons that day for whatever reason, I get no compensation. This is a pain, as it disrupts my plan. You see, I have already made plans for that day to go to the student's home. And then they decide to postpone it to another day (which I had already made plans for). Worse, some students cancel last minute when I am already traveling to their place, wasting my traveling time. And worst of the worst, they are not home or forgot the lessons when I reached their place!
Then, there are those who don't pay on time. It took me years to figure out that once they don't pay on time, they will habitually drag payment. Eventually, after years I made the rule of giving everyone 2 chances. If they didn't pay on time twice, they are out.
Finally, there are the hagglers, who are more interested in haggling than lessons. I had a classic example. There was this student who keeps saying that she was very poor, and dropped the fees to $80 per month (for four 2 hours lessons, or 8 hours). Then, she asked for all the notes and worksheets and called me almost every day to ask me how to do her homework. On days of lessons, she will cancel lessons. To be honest, she's not interested in learning, but just trying to get her school homework done. Also, as she is paying for the lessons, she wants to squeeze every drop out from the tutor, without actually wanting to improve in the subject. When I asked her to memorize or revise stuff, or even do some homework, they will never be done. Anyways, one day she told me she is postponing lessons so that she could watch her idol's concert. Apparently, she had bought the most expensive tickets for the concert - it was perhaps at least 4 times the price of my monthly lesson for a 2 hour concert?! It was a tell- tale sign to me to drop her. Anyway, it was pointless to teach her too. Feeding her with resources and my time won't help in her grasping the concepts, since the attitude to learn was totally absent.
These lessons from my past hustle were important. They taught me what I dislike, and what to look out for in my new hustle.
The 9 Steps to start your first online side hustle
With my experience from my previous hustle in mind, I set out to find a new hustle. I summarize them in the steps below, so that you can also start your own online hustle with this framework.
Step 1: Understand Why you want to start an online side hustle
Understanding why you are doing something is so important. It gives one the drive to move forward. The stronger the reason why you want a side hustle, the more likely you will push through. Also, when the going gets tough, it's the why that will see you through.
For me, the primary reason for wanting a side hustle is to make more money, and for income security. I have 3 kids, and I want to provide them the best I can. Some opportunities in life can be bought (e.g. learning ballet, studying abroad, etc), and I don't want to deprive them of these opportunities when they come. Also, as I grow older, jobs get less secure, and I want a side hustle to provide me with an alternative source of income.
There are secondary reasons as well. I am hoping to use some of the skills that I have never used before, develop new skills and try to turn my passion into pay checks.
And of course, like many, I hope one day the hustle will pay me enough and I can stop working!
Step 2: List out the things you dread
While it's the why that will drive you forward, it's those dreaded stuff that will pull you backwards.
Looking back at my old hustle, I reminded myself of the things I dread.
Hence, my side hustle must not be filled with those dreadful tasks. I made a point to remind myself that my side hustle must have these features:
- limited to no traveling
- fixed price - no haggling, AND
- automated payments or least upfront payments.
Setting these rules are important.
Starting anything is difficult. If you want to avoid procrastination, and increase motivation levels, avoid things that you dread!
I list avoiding things you dread as the first step because what we hate usually pull us back more than what we like. In other words, what we dislike make us procrastinate more on our goals than the motivation we get from what we love.
Step 3: Decide how much money to invest
The two biggest resources to start an online business is time and money.
I list money first, as how much time you spend is inversely related to the amount of money you are willing to invest.
For example, if you have a lot of capital, you can use that for web design, customer service, administrative tasks, accounting, marketing and so on. And the time needed is lesser, since the hired help frees your time up. Your main task is then to figure out the tasks, managing the hired help and think of ways to grow your business.
However, if you are unwilling to invest money, then every single task related to your business is your work!
For me, as this is my first side hustle endeavor online, and come on, I'm not so rich, I'm not willing to invest too much money into it. At most $500 until I start making sustainable income.
Step 4: Decide how much time to invest on the side hustle
Next, after you decide how much money you are willing to spend, then think about how much time you are willing to invest. If you don't have a lot of time to spare, and cannot afford too much capital, then avoid time intensive side hustles.
Time intensive side hustles could be those that you should avoid. Example of these could be selling artwork that needs a lot of time to build like, or work that needs a lot of time to be done e.g. architect.
Of course, what may be time intensive for others may be just a quick job for you, because you are skilled. If that's the case, MAKE USE of this advantage you have above others!
Step 5: How fast do you want to start earning money from your first online side hustle?
Money doesn't drop down from the sky miraculously.
Usually, at the start, even if you have capital, you still need to put in time to understand the hustling, strategize your growth, brief the people you hire and so on.
The faster you want to earn money from side hustle, the more time and/or capital you need to pump in.
If someone promise that you can earn money fast without much capital or effort, it's a scam. Run!
Step 6: List the skills that you have and enjoy doing
Next, you should list down all the skills you have, whether formal or informal. If there is something that you are very exceptional in, and you feel that not many people can do it as fast and/ or as well as you, then you have a great advantage. Make use of it!
Step 7: List how you will monetize the skills that you enjoy using online
Having skills is not enough. You need to monetize them in order to make money. There are many ways of making money online. And like being offline, they all involve selling - either products or services. Selling of products could include dropshippping, online shop, printables, courses, Apps, etc. while services could include. coaching, consultancy, virtual assistant, designing, online tutoring, and so on.
Of course, there are also other ways to earn money, such as from advertising revenue.
Whether it's through Google adsense, sponsorship or son on, you need a big mass to start earning. And, building a mass takes time. So start off with selling products or services first. When you have a large enough audience, then think about advertising as a means of revenue.
Step 8: Come up with a way to start
Once you have come up with ways to monetize the skills that you love, start coming up with products or services for that skills. If you have more than one skill, then choose one that you like most and contains the least of what you dread (see step 2).
Once you have selected that one skill, keep notes on the other skills (which you can work on if skill # 1 becomes so successful and you have automated its process, or just in case skill #1 doesn't turn out the way you want it to be).
Then, plan the steps you will take to monetize this skills based on the amount of resources you have (time and money).
Step 9: Just Start Your Online Side Hustle!
You don't need to wait for a good day, or when you feel like the stars have aligned. Start creating the products and services and market them to sell!
