Side hustlers put a significant amount of extra money into their wallets in 2024. On average, they earned $891 per month, according to June 2024 Bankruptcy Survey of 2,332 US adults. Some brought in as much as $1,000 to $2,000 a month.
If you are one of the many people who want to add another one revenue stream in 2025there are a few steps you can take first to set yourself up for success, says Angelique Rewers, CEO of a small business consulting firm BoldHaus.
Here’s what she recommends.
Organize tools for your crowd
First, “check if are organized“, says Rewers.
“You should have a separate bank account,” she says. “You should have a dedicated credit card. You should make sure that your tax accountant knows what you’re doing.” You can create Excel spreadsheets to keep track of your clients — whatever it takes to keep your outside money-making activities in order.
If your gig takes off and you haven’t built relevant, dedicated tools for it, “you’ll lose control of the side hustle,” she says.
Check if you’re tracking your time
Second, be aware of the commitment you are making. “Make sure you’re not just tracking your expenses, but also tracking your time,” says Rewers.
It’s easy to underestimate the number of hours you spend on your hustle and overtime without getting paid for it. Maybe you told the client a project would take five hours and then they would be billed for those five hours even though it actually took 10, for example.
But “a side hustle like that can go from something that’s really great to do to a lot of annoyance and not worth your time,” says Rewers. So be realistic about how long it takes and charge accordingly.
‘Pick up the phone, send SMS to people’
Finally, make sure the people in your life know about your new gig.
For those in your personal life, like your family and friends, “pick up the phone, text people, send them voice reminders, let them know what you’re doing,” says Rewers. They could help you find clients or even hire you themselves.
Additionally, create posts or profiles on applications and platforms like “Nextdoor, Facebook groups, Upwork, FiverrReddit,” she says, to tap into your external network and people you don’t know. She adds that, “unless it’s going to compete with your full-time job, you can definitely talk about it on LinkedIn, too.”
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