6 Reasons Why You Can’t Get Your Side Hustle Started and How to Fix It

So you want to start a side hustle but you just haven’t pulled the trigger yet.

What’s stopping you?

Well, it could be a lot of things time, to knowledge, and my goal in this article is to help you pinpoint it, and get things going.  I know for me it took months before I finally made that first step to starting my side business.

And then one day I just decided I’m going to do this no matter what the result is.

Many of which I’ll cover in this article, and if you’re facing these same challenges hopefully this article will help you make the much-needed changes to finally start that side business you’ve always wanted to.

#1 Not Enough Time

One of the biggest complaints I hear people say is that they don’t have enough time to start a side hustle.

The thing is I don’t believe time is the issue, in fact I wrote an entire article on this topic that you can read right here.

The long and short of it is that we all have the same amount of time in a day.

It’s what we choose to prioritize as those most important things during that day that determines if we have enough time for our side business.

For example,  I’m guessing your job and family are very important to you as they are to me.  However is watching 2 hours of TV or skimming through your Facebook feed really that important?

You see what I’m getting at, it’s not a time problem, it’s a prioritization problem.

So how do you fix this problem…

How to Fix It:  The simplest way to fix this problem is to stay away from what’s causing it.  So if the TV is your problem then don’t sit down in your recliner or shut your phone off and set it aside.

Also, you don’t want to make drastic changes to your schedule. Going from watching 2 hours of TV to 2 hours working on your side hustle is too much too quick.

Instead, just start with half an hour a day and when you get done reward yourself by watching some TV or scoping out the latest news on Facebook.

#2 No Money

The next problem that could be stopping you from moving forward with your side business is that you have no money.

Well let me ask you this:

When you got your paycheck last week what did you spend it all on?  I’m guessing you spent the majority of it on bills like your mortgage or rent, and groceries.

However I bet you have some left and more than likely you spending it on something.  The question is what?

Some things I’m sure were very well needed but others not so much.  What I’m getting at is that it’s more than likely not a money problem but a prioritization problem again.

In most cases starting a website cost less than two large hazelnut lattes and an egg McMuffin every month.  OK, bad analogy but you get the point.

For less than $10 a month, you can start your side business.  Now if your budget is stretched thin here are 5 tips you can use to do things on the cheap.

So how do you fix this problem…

How to Fix It:  First, look at your monthly budget.  How much are you spending on necessary items such as groceries and rent and how much are your earning per month?

Doing this will roughly show you how much extra you have left in a month.  Then set a small portion of that aside for your side business.

#3 Lack of Willpower

Want to know what one of my weakest areas is with my side hustle?

You guessed it, willpower.

Willpower is the energy we have during the day that helps us stay focused and on task.  Typically your willpower starts out very high in the early parts of the day but as the day goes on it can begin to drop off.

I know for me my willpower is at it’s absolute lowest at the end of the day.  This is why we end up sitting in front of the TV at night or eating chocolate donuts right before bed because our energy is mostly used up.

But more than that willpower also controls our decisions.  When it’s weak we tend to find ourselves falling short on things like diets, exercise, and other commitments and doing things wouldn’t normally do.

For example, the other night I was trying to work on a brand new course for my business but as usual my willpower got the best of me and before I knew it I got sucked into my phone watching videos on Facebook.

So how do you fix this problem…

How to Fix It:  First you want to review your typical day.  When is it you have the most energy and when is your willpower at its weakest point.  For most of you, I’m guessing it’s at the end of the day.

To fix this consider working on your side business earlier in the day.  This might mean working on things during your lunch hour or ever waking up early in the morning to get things done.

You may have to test out different ideas to find what works best for you but if you can find that perfect time it will get your side business started on the right foot.

#4 Don’t Know How to Get Started

Can I be straight forward with you:

If you were to start your side hustle today would you know exactly what you need to do to get up and running?

Starting a side business can be new territory for a lot of people and knowing how to get started can be a little overwhelming, to say the least.

When I started my first blog all the way back in 2008 I had no idea what to do.  I had never worked with WordPress much less set it up.

Thankfully I kept working at it and I had a brother who knew a little more about that stuff than I did.

However today things have gotten so much simpler.  Setting up a website is as simple as doing a search on YouTube.

The point I’m making is that all these issues around technology and the how-to part of running a side business is the easiest to overcome.

So how do you overcome this..

How to Fix It:  The easiest way to fix this problem is to just find someone who already does it.  This could be as simple as doing a search on YouTube or talking to a friend or family member to help you out.

No matter the problem there is someone who knows how to help you solve it.

#5 Dealing with Mental Barriers

Of all the different things that could be hanging you up such as time and money, there is one area where I find a lot of people getting suck and that is there is some sort of mental barrier holding you back.

One mental barrier I dealt with for a long time is what other people would think of me doing a business like this.

I thought people would tell me that I’m crazy or that I don’t know what I’m doing enough to make that work.

A few people have told me that but a majority of them didn’t seem to mind after they learned about my side business.  In the end, I learned that what those people think doesn’t matter.

What does matter is what I think and how I deal with it.  You could be dealing with a mental barrier like this or it could be something much worse.

Maybe you have a conflicting job in the same line of business, or your spouse isn’t on board with what you do, or worse you haven’t acknowledged any of these as a problem.

So how do you fix this…

How to Fix It:  The first step is to address the problem and recognize it.  Until you do this you’ll never move forward with things.

Once you’ve done this you need to address the issue and talk to someone.  I find talking to someone you can trust helps you break though those barriers faster and realize that you can move forward or maybe realize that it’s something you shouldn’t do.

The key is to identify it and get it out of your head and out in the open so you can get past it.

#6 You Don’t Know What Kind of Side Business You Want to Start

The final issue you could be dealing with is deciding what kind of side business you want to start.  This can be hard especially if it’s your it’s first one.

I know when I was looking at starting my first blog I battled for months over what I was going to write about.

Then one day it clicked for me.

I realized that if I didn’t decide to start I would never achieve anything.  That’s when I started my first blog around the topic of personal finance.

Now this site wasn’t my end all, be-all side hustle but I learned a lot from running it.  Best of all I could apply it to the next side business.

So how do you decide what you should start your side business around…

How to Fix It:  To start you need to have a clear understanding of what it is that you want to accomplish.  I see way too many people start a side business all for the wrong reasons.

For me it’s not to struggle with money and to be able to spend more time with my family.  On top of that, it’s also to help other people achieve a sense of freedom, and purpose in their life as well.

Once you have your why nailed down you need to put a list of possible ideas together that will help you get the ball rolling.

Then from there, you need to narrow things down to the ones that will help you best achieve your overall goal.

For example, I prefer a side hustle that is more of a passive income model versus an active model because I don’t have a lot of time to do things like freelancing.

So this is why I stick with things like blogging, affiliate marketing, and even creating my own courses because I can do them once and they will continue to work for me regardless if I’m there or not.

So What’s Holding You Back

It’s likely one of these reasons is holding you back in some way.  My goal with this article was to hopefully help you recognize the problem you’re facing and to get over it.

Whether it’s a mental barrier, money, time, or just because you can’t come up with a good idea for your side hustle you need to get this issue out of the way or you may never get started.

In the end, getting started is the hardest part but with a little persistence and hard work you can do it.

So what’s holding you back from starting your side business?  I would love to hear your thoughts, comments, and stories on this below and maybe we can work together on this to help you get your side hustle up and running soon.

Cheers!