The Pitfalls (and Potentials) of Side Hustles

Side hustles start out fun. They often sneak into your life without you even noticing.

After your 8-hour workday or after your children fall into a deep slumber at night, you keep on working. But it’s not just working — it’s working on things that you’re passionate about.

You’re helping your small business friend create a website, so she can stop using her Facebook page in place of one. You’re geeking out over the billboard designs your graphic design friend helped you create for that coffee shop you visit a few times a week (okay, every day). You sneak out your phone to read and answer emails over lunch breaks and bathroom breaks throughout the day.

You’re doing things you love and helping people while you’re at it.

We’re all about that at iMarketer.

But there comes a point when side hustles lose their fun.

Maybe your client base grows. Maybe your to-do list continues to grow while your time to get things to-done remains oh-so limited. Maybe you just want to hang out with your husband or your friends or a glass of wine some nights after a long day, but your side hustle calls, barks, demands your attention.

When side hustles remain side hustles for too long, they often turn into burdens.

You wind up working way more than you should, without ever finding time to enjoy the rewards you reap from all that work. You end up forgetting what you loved about your side hustle in the first place. And you constantly have to remind yourself that you asked for this.

Acknowledge what could be with your side hustle.

When you’re doing your side hustle work, are you saying, “This is what I really want to do?”

Are your friends and community members telling you, “You’re really great at this. You should do this full-time”?

Maybe it’s time to heed both your own callings and your community’s.

We’ll admit firsthand — because all us iMarketer bosses have been there: It’s hard to take the next step from side hustle to full hustle.

But if your side hustle is what you really want to do, and if it’s already taking up a lot of your time, isn’t that a sure sign you have potential to do great things there?

We say yes. And we also say, check out the Blueprint to learn how to make it happen.

In the meantime, comment below if you have a side hustle. We want to know what you’re loving about the extra “work” you’re doing and what makes you pinch your lips together now and again.