I run into many people who tell me that they would like to get ahead financially or stop the stress of living paycheck-to-paycheck but their biggest barrier to accomplishing that goal is that they don’t make enough money.  I believe that if you want to get ahead, you definitely have to identify places where you can cut, but you can only cut so much.  You can’t cut your way to financial freedom.  Eventually you will have to make more money.  This is where the side hustle comes in.

When I was in the process of repaying my credit card debt, I decided that I wanted to increase my income so I didn’t have to cut as much and could still have a life.  I also didn’t want a part time job because I already worked 55-60 hours a week, and adding a part time job would have been too stressful because of the time commitment.  Therefore I looked at what I could do to bring in more money, but I needed something that was flexible enough to work around my schedule.  That’s the benefit of the side hustle.  It’s something that you do that generates income and you control the schedule.  Eventually, depending on your goals, your side hustle can even grow to become your main hustle!  Amazing right?

There are a couple of different ways to start a side hustle.

Starting Your Own Side Hustle

If you want to start your own business, then you need to ask yourself a few questions.

• What do you love doing that you would do without being paid?
• What do people ask you to help them with?
• What talents do you have that you can monetize?  Do these talents align with what people ask you to help you with or can you create a market/demand for that talent?

These are important questions to answer because they help you to identify if you have any marketable skills.  I say marketable, because you want to leverage the skills that will get you paid.  You also need to pick the skills that you love doing, because starting a business isn’t easy and many days you will need pure passion and love for what you do to keep you going.  One you understand your skills, then create your target market, products, a plan to monetize these products, and then take action.

Network Marketing

Network marketing catches a bad rep, because sometimes when people think of Network Marketing they get a sleazy used car salesman image in their heads.  However, the network marketing industry has been around for a very long time and the industry is very reputable. Network marketing is a business in a box and is very popular for people who want a part-time flexible business.  Another additional benefit is that there is a low start up cost to join, especially when compared to the cost to start up a traditional business. Some of the best-known network marketing companies include, Avon and Mary Kay, but there are many other reputable companies out there as well.  The key is to determine which company is best for you.  My suggestion is to make sure that you are passionate about the product, evaluate whether the company is in a growth stage, look at the compensation plan, look to see what industry awards they have received, and also look at reputable publications like the Direct Selling News and Success Magazine to see how well the company is really doing.

Now this last part is important. Be sure to have a plan for what you are going to do with this money.  When I started my side hustle, I said that I wanted to use the money to pay off debt.  However, the money flowed into my personal bank account, and initially I found myself using that money to fund additional spending instead of allocating it to my financial priorities.  This meant that I found myself in the same position pre-side hustle.  Once I realized that, I started to remove the money when it hit my bank account and I immediately funneled it towards my credit card payments.  However, I wanted to avoid the temptation to spend so I eventually got a separate bank account and once I did that I was better able to make sure that the money was going where I wanted it to go.

I hope that this information will jumpstart your journey towards creating your side hustle and generating that extra money to allocate to your goals!  Let me know what you decide to create!

Aisha Taylor is a #1 Amazon Best Selling Author of the book “5+5 FNPhenomenal Ways to Save $100 This Week Without Killing Your Lifestyle”, the Founder of FNPhenomenal (Frugal –n- Phenomenal), and creator of The Live Phenomenal Program. The Live Phenomenal Program is a program designed to give you the tools that you need to totally transform your finances, and stop living from paycheck-to-paycheck. It’s time for you to be Financially Phenomenal! Book your complimentary 20-minute financial clarity session with Aisha here.