7 Steps to Starting Your First Side Hustle In 31 Days or Less

If you’re like me you don’t want to waste time and you just want to get up and running fast when it comes to starting a side hustle.

I’ve talked about this in previous articles where the first thing you need to do is find something that works and just do more of that.  I’ve also talked about the things you shouldn’t do first with your side hustle however what I have not shown yet is a step-by-step plan to get up and running fast.

So in this article, I’m going to share the first 7 steps you need to take to get up and running fast with your side hustle and make your first sale in the next 31 days or less.

So let’s not waste any more time and get to it.

Step #1: Why Do You Want To Start A Side Hustle?

The first step is that you need to think about why you want to start a side hustle.  If your answer is to make more money it’s not good enough.  Your why needs to be much more concrete than that if you want to stick to this for the long term.

In my case, I do my side hustle for several different reasons.  Here are a few that I have…

• Financial Dread.  I hate worrying about money, in fact, it keeps me up late at night sometimes and I know if I could pay off my credit card debt and save up a nice emergency fund it would take a lot of the stress off.
• Allows Me To Spend More Time With My Family.  Second earning this extra income would eventually allow me to spend more time with my family.
• Invest Back In My Business.  Having the extra money would allow me to invest back in my business from joining courses to learn new things to going to conferences to build new business relationships.
• Allows Me To Quit My Job.  Finally, it would allow me to quit my full-time job and focus on a business that I enjoy and allow me to work freely.

As you can see I have a big why in my business and it’s not just about the money but rather what that extra income could do for me and my family.  So take the next 15 minutes and write down your why.

So what is your why?  Share your why in the comments below.

Step #2: What Problem Do You Want to Solve?

Now that you know your why the next question you need to ask is what problem are you going to help people solve.  When it comes down to it a side hustle is basically helping someone solve a problem.

Whether it’s editing people’s blog posts or washing windows for local businesses you are helping people solve problems.

The easiest way to answer this question is what is a problem you helped someone solve at one point or another and maybe you could turn that into a product or service to help other people.

If this has been a problem for you it’s likely that it’s been a problem for others and you could be that person that solves it.

Step #3: Is Anyone Making Money With This Idea?

Next, you need to find out if anyone is making money with your side hustle idea.  In some cases, it’s obvious that people are making money with an idea because you may know people already doing it.  This is good because it lets us know that you can make money at it also.

However, if this answer isn’t so obvious here is a simple way to find out.  For example, if you want to write an ebook go to Amazon Kindle and type in your topic idea.  If you find a lot of books selling on this topic it may be a good indicator that you could make money with it.

If you want to create an online course go to Udemy.com and do a search for your course topic idea.  If you see several courses selling what you want to create your good.  The reason you want to do this is because the last thing you want to find out is that you put a whole bunch of time into something only to find out that you can’t make money at it.

Step #4: Find an Existing Platform

The next step in this process is to find a platform on which you can offer your service or product.  The reason you want to start with an existing platform is because it solves a few of the problems when you’re first starting out.

• Solves the traffic problem and allows you to create your first product or service without having to set up your own platform and build traffic to it.  I’ve started a lot of websites in my time and it’s tough to build traffic in the beginning.  When you go to an existing platform you bypass the traffic issue.
• Allows you to see what works and what doesn’t work.  Going to an existing platform also allows you to find out a lot faster what will work and more importantly what won’t work.
• Speeds up the process.  Third, when you use an existing platform it allows you to speed things up.  In the beginning, it can take a lot of time to set up a website and configure it to look the way you want.  The problem is that none of this makes you money in the beginning and it’s why you should avoid going this route.
• Allows you to drive traffic back to your site.  Finally, once you do build a website and set up a mailing list you’ll be able to drive a portion of that traffic back to your site to help you build up your own platform.

If you are having trouble deciding on what platform you should go with here is a great resource I put together that covers 17 different platforms that can help you get your side hustle started.

Step #5: What Makes You Different?

Next, you need to consider what will make you different from your competitors.  The last thing you want to do is run your business just like everyone else.  For example, there are about ten other courses all on the same exact topic in Udemy just like mine.

However, my course is more focused on beginners who want to 10x their productivity, which is an angle on the same topic that nobody else is covering.  So take a moment to look at your competitors and see what they are doing and then see what angle nobody else is covering.

Step #6: Create Your First Basic Product or Service

Ok, we’ve covered a bunch of different things you need to think about as you’re getting your side hustle going and in step 6 it’s finally time to create your first product or service.

I know it took a little work to get to this point but if you set up the foundation of your business correctly offering a service or selling your product will go much smoother.

So as you’re looking to create a product or service consider starting with a smaller product or service at first.  A lot of people at this point want to create a huge product and my suggestion is to start small and learn the ropes first.

As an example, if your goal was to help people find their dream job you might create a small product that shows people how to write an awesome resume.  If that product goes over well you can ramp up to the flagship product that shows them everything.

On the service side of things you could offer to review people’s resumes and give them tips and advice and if people buy that service you could eventually ramp up to a $5000 one-on-one consulting package where you help someone find their dream job.

The options here are literally endless.

Side Note: Also you’ll want to put this first product on an existing platform but when you go to create your flagship product or service you’ll want to put that on your platform where you’ll have more control over things.

Step #7: Make Your First Sale

The final step now that you’ve finished your product is to make your first sale.  This is where we find out if your product will sell or not.  Whether you’re selling an ebook, a course, or even a service you’re goal is to get a minimum of 10 people to buy from you.

Also, take some time to promote your product to people.  When it comes to selling a product or service trust is a big factor in the beginning but as long as you’re solving a problem that people will pay for you’ll likely make at the very least a little money.

The key to making long-lasting income is to figure out what works and do more of that.  For example, if you find that several people have bought your service by finding you on Facebook you’ll want to figure out why those people bought and what you can do to increase it.

Wrapping Up

I know this 7 seven-step process is just an overview of how to start your first side hustle but it gives you a place to start and that is the most important thing here.  Start by taking action today and in the next 31 days or less you could be earning your first income with your side hustle.

Finally, I want to hear from you.  Are you starting a brand new side hustle?  I would like to hear about the results you have gotten from my 7-step process in the comments below.