Improvement is all about tracking your progress and making small changes to get better and better. You’re side hustle doesn’t need to be spectacularly successful right out of the gate — and here’s a secret. It probably won’t be. The surest path to success is through methodically refining your process until it shines.
Continually and methodically track progress
We already discussed how to gauge your baseline performance in chapter six, but we will briefly touch on the topic again here.
Gauging your baseline performance isn’t something that should happen only once — it is a continual process that should happen again and again throughout the life of your side hustle. Each time, you should take a look at the amount of business you have received, what marketing strategies you have attempted, and how successful those strategies were. Gathering this data will help you know what needs to be changed in the future — as well as what is working well for you.
Experiment and optimize
Don’t be afraid to experiment in between your check points. Try new marketing ideas you haven’t tried before, or tweak your methods a bit. Then, keep track of what changes. Do you get less business, or more business than you did before? Does this make your work easier or harder? More efficient or less efficient?
Understand what’s working and what’s not
Once you’ve reached your next check point, look back on the changes you have made and determine what is working and what isn’t. At this point, you should have a pretty good idea of what is or isn’t working, but if you aren’t sure how a certain action is affecting your performance, keep trying it for another month or so. The longer you collect data, the clearer that data will become.
When you are sure of how a strategy is effecting your bottom line, it is time to decide what to do next. Is it working? Great! Keep this strategy in your tool box and focus your time and energy on growing and perfecting it. Was it unsuccessful? Oh well! Go ahead and throw it out and move on to the next thing.
Evaluate your portfolio of opportunities
As time goes on, you will find yourself wanting to take on even more. This is great, and is a sign that you are doing well! Once you feel comfortable running your side hustle, don’t be afraid to continually evaluate your opportunities. Maybe you want to expand your current side hustle, or maybe you want to start a brand-new side hustle! We say go for it. Make sure you don’t over stretch, but don’t avoid stretching it you think taking on more is within your reach.
Your side hustle journey is sure to have a lot of ups and downs, but in the end you will find that starting up a side hustle is well worth the effort. From earning a bit of extra cash, to finding fulfillment in something you love, starting a side hustle will enrich your life in more ways than you’d ever dreamed.
What are you waiting for? Get after it!