If you are reading this, you probably already know that you are on the verge of a new career as a side hustle, and you are starting to realize that it can be a big risk. You don’t want to get taken advantage of or find yourself short on cash once you’re in the new business. You are probably thinking about getting a loan from a bank, applying for a small business loan with your credit card, or using a credit card from your side hustle account. But even before you call anyone to get funding, you need to know that your business is legal and you have a legal right to do so.
• Establish a Legal Business
Choosing a company structure is one of the most common first steps in establishing a business. While everyone knows that a corporation is the most common form of business entity, many people choose to open a sole proprietorship to avoid the hassle of an income tax return. This often means that the business owner has to pay income tax as well as file a business tax return. However, it is possible to establish a business with both a sole proprietorship and a corporation, which is known as a hybrid entity.
• Research Your possible Market
Entrepreneurship is the best route to financial freedom, and by starting your own business it’s 100% legal to make money online without a broker. However, for many people starting out in business, it can be difficult to navigate the labyrinth of the start-up world. If your main goal is to make money, what exactly should you be doing and how should you be doing it?
• Take Steps to Scale
While most people think of side hustles as a way to earn extra cash while you’re in school or working a full-time job, there is another upside to them: they’re an excellent way to build your personal brand and establish your professional network. Many side hustles can be used to help you expand your network and get in front of investors, entrepreneurs and others who can help your business, while others offer great opportunities to make cold hard cash.
• Make a Business Plan
The process of writing a business plan can seem intimidating and overwhelming, but the truth is it doesn’t need to be. Writing a business plan doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does need to be comprehensive. No matter what your age or experience level, you can start your own business. All you need is a plan, money, friends and a passion for your idea. The best part is that there are no set rules for starting a business, so there is no limit to what you can do. (For instance, you can establish a business that can help other businesses thrive.)
That said, while passion, friends, and money might help you to start a business, there are a number of things that you might need to consider if you want your business to be successful. For instance, whenever you are planning to set up a new business, you must keep in mind that you would need to create a website that can help your potential customers understand your business better. For that, you may need to take the help of firms similar to WebEnertia, which is known to have a good reputation among their clients for website development and design. Remember, if you do not have a website, you may lose customers. Additionally, it is also important to know that if your website is not visible to your potential customers, then it would be as good as not having one. That is why it is prudent for you to consider taking the help of an SEO agency similar to Victorious that can help you to optimize your visibility online. They can help more people see your website. Note that the more your online traffic increases, the better your chances to provide your product or service to a greater number of people.
• Think About Insurance
To survive, it is important that every business thinks about insurance. And this may also be the case if you have a side hustle; it may just depend on whether you will be employing anyone or if you are going to be working in an environment that may cause an injury. You might think it is just an additional cost that may weigh heavy on your wallet, but when something happens (just in case), it is you who would sigh a breath of relief with the claim amount. Take, for instance, you want to start a delivery service of larger goods (we all know how profitable these businesses are and how less capital they require) where you would be employing multiple vehicles, that is a case where you would not want your fleets to run even a single mile without a commercial van insurance. Of course, the decision of buying insurance or not depends on the type of business you would take up, but in most cases, it is generally required.
The allotment of contingencies could take you a long way. It could better prepare you for any unfortunate event or issue in the future. That being said, you should also focus on your personal image as well as your brand’s. When your side hustle business takes off, you become a larger entity. This could leave you vulnerable to more intense attacks that can even tarnish your reputation. Much like insurance, keeping in place measures for personal reputation protection could fortify your defences, and better equip you to face circumstances that could be cancerous to your brand image and you.
While you set up countermeasures, defences or leverage, you should also be adept with all business policies that can affect your business. This is because breaching the terms of any policies, terms or guidelines, whether intentional or not, could spell trouble. Depending on your circumstances, it may be a good idea to look through this business owners policy, with places like Thimble to learn more about this and whether or not you will need it in your business. Even if you don’t need it currently, it could be something that you need in the future, so it will be worth your while.
• Look for Financing
All of us have an entrepreneurial side. We have hobbies or passions that we like to pursue on our free time. Most of us think of our side hustle as just that, a hobby or passion that we pursue on our free time. But, for many of us, our side hustle is our personal business and it is not the kind of business that needs to be in the red. In fact, the opposite is generally true.
The rules you have to follow when seeking financing are way too complex to go over in just a few paragraphs. So, we’ll do it step by step.
Who has the ability to obtain financing: First thing you should do is determine if you can legally get financing? If you are not sure, you should ask your lawyer. If you are a business owner but don’t own the business or have a title for it, you are not eligible for financing. Who can make a loan: If you don’t own the business, then you must go through a bank to obtain financing for the business? Banks are non-profit organizations and their main purpose is to increase the lending of money to businesses.
Side hustling, estimated at $48.3 billion in 2015 by Forbes, is the term for small businesses or entrepreneurial ventures outside the traditional 9-to-5. The number of Americans who are self-employed has grown by 2.2 million over the past five years. And over the past decade, the number of people who work for themselves has grown by 24%. The rise in side hustling is a direct result of the economy. With unemployment rates well below pre-recession levels, the self-employed are once again leaving their day jobs (or never having one in the first place).
