Welcome to 2022! A New Year often means new resolutions, new goals and new habits to pick up. For many young professionals, we’ll set some personal finance related goals. It may be to budget, get rid of credit card debt, or make more money. An easy way to improve our financial standing is to earn more money and although we’re all hopefully getting semi-regularly raises (you should be asking for them!), side hustles are a great way to supplement your income.

You may decide to start a side hustle for the extra income or the chance to start doing something you enjoy. Alternatively, you may simply be starting something you hope will become a full-time gig down the road. Whatever your motivations, you are definitely not alone.  New research from Simply Business reveals that more than one-third of the people in the UK run their side hustles. However, you may be overwhelmed by your options when planning to launch your side hustle. Here are four tips to help you zoom in on the right side hustle for you.

1. Explore motivation and income potential

Everyone is undoubtedly motivated by the potential for earning more cash from a side hustle, albeit to varying degrees. Consequently, it makes sense to think about the amount of cash you need or intend to earn and why before deciding on a side hustle. For this, consider your motivation for pursuing a side hustle in the first place. Perhaps you want to gather a lot of money to pay off your debt or save for an awesome yearly holiday. You may also be interested in replacing your day job earnings with a work-from-home job’s revenue. 

If you are among the 37% of UK adults that say their salary alone doesn’t allow them to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle, a side hustle may be worth taking to supplement your income. It is typically easier to identify which side hustles to pursue after deciding on your motivations. For instance, if you want to earn additional cash to hang out with your friends more, side hustles like online surveys are best for you. Also, if you intend to make about $250 monthly to pay one of your bills, side hustles like dog walking or working-part time at a local retail centre might be best for you.  However, if you intend to make $500 or more monthly, it would be best to consider side hustles with higher earning potential like freelance writing, private tutoring, photography, and graphic design.

2. Generate a list of your interests and skills

Identifying your skills and interests is one of the best ways to decide which side hustle is best for you, so keep this in mind. It is essential to remember that operating a side hustle is significant work, considering the other responsibilities you may have in your life, like your family and a full-time job. As such, it is vital to select a side hustle you are extremely good at and enjoy doing. This way, your additional work will feel more like a hobby and less like a chore.  For instance, you can explore freelance writing if you are a skilled writer or become a social media manager if you love social media platforms.  Similarly, if you are interested in investing, you can explore online trading of forex, stock, or cryptocurrency. You can easily do this side hustle on your phone for extra convenience, so keep this in mind.

3. Seek out a problem to solve

You can also find new side hustle ideas by identifying problems, products, services, and processes you regard as subpar and due for improvement. Finding a side hustle this way is always beneficial since you aren’t limited to what you are good at today or present market trends.  For instance, suppose you are a skilled entrepreneur who constantly advises friends, family, and acquaintances on business building.  In that case, you can easily be disheartened if you see them struggle endlessly with little to show for. As such, you can address this issue by creating a course or writing extensive guides that can help several others like them. This way, you can solve a pressing problem and assist many people while earning money.

4. Be honest about availability

There are numerous good ideas any savvy entrepreneur can consider to start a profitable side hustle. However, many side hustles demand your time and involvement since they aren’t passive sources of income. Therefore, it is essential to consider how much energy and time you can dedicate to a specific side hustle before starting it. You can begin by being realistic about your present schedule and how things can change when you launch another business.  Therefore, consider how many days you have off from your primary job and whether you will have any free time at specific periods in the day to pursue your side hustle. This way, you can identify a realistic number of hours you could set aside for this business each week. In addition, factor in your energy levels since there is only so much you can do during the day. Therefore, you can find out when you have the most vitality during the day and use this period to pursue your side hustle if possible.

Happy hustling!

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