How to Start a Side Hustle

If you’re thinking of starting up your own side hustle, you’re not alone - for many people, setting up and maintaining a side hustle is an initial step into self-employment, making more money, and gaining valuable skills.

Side hustles often develop naturally if you’ve got a hobby you enjoy, and lots of people treat their part-time passions like a business from the get-go. However, if you’re only just considering starting your own small business, here’s what you need to think about.
 

What to think about before starting a small business

You’ll need to ask yourself the following questions before you set up your business - especially if you’re selling products you’re making yourself.

• Is there an appetite for what I want to sell?
• Is my business scalable - and do I want it to be scalable?
• Do I need a business loan?
• Will I need to employ extra people eventually?
• How many products can I produce per day, week and month?
• How much time do I have for running my business, including admin?
• Will I need specialist equipment, mail supplies or office space, and how much will this cost?
• Do I have space for storage? 
• Will I need any courses or extra training?
• Do I need a business licence, permit or certification?
   

Business skills needed for side hustles

Creating and maintaining a second job will require you to wear several business hats at once - you’ll need to be proficient at the skills below:

• Project management: Keeping an eye on deliverables, timescales and resolving blockers
• Accountancy and taxes: Your taxes, cash flow and sales will all need to be tracked
• Management and leadership: As your business grows, you may need to employ staff. Make sure you’ve had the right training so you can motivate and support them
• Presenting: You may need to pitch your business to potential investors, and clients, or give staff updates
• Marketing: You’ll need to be able to create an online presence to bring in new business and encourage customer retention
   

Setting up a side hustle

Small side hustles can be much easier to run and maintain than a small business - as a rule, side hustles tend to be ad-hoc, so you can choose how much time and energy you put into them. They’re the ideal choice if you want to supplement your income and upskill, but don’t want to set up a registered business.
 

What to think about if you’re setting up an online side hustle

• Do you need new equipment, such as a laptop, tablet or editing software?
• Do you have the space in your home to work effectively? Will your side hustle affect anyone else you live with?
• Is your home internet provider reliable?
• Will you still have the time and energy to do your day job well?
• How will you find work? Are ex-colleagues and friends recommending you, or will you use jobs sites such as Linkedin or Indeed to find opportunities?
   

What to think about if you’re selling products part-time

• Have you worked out how much your initial costs (e.g. ingredients, buying clothes, shoes or materials)  will cost? 
• Does your pricing ensure you make a profit?
• If you’re selling clothes or shoes, where are you going to get new stock from?
• Do you know which websites you’ll use to sell your items?
• Have you got a social media presence?
• How will people find out about you? Do you want to just sell to friends and family, or do you want to sell to everyone?
   

The first steps to setting up your small business

• Market and competitor research: Start by researching your competitors. What are they selling, and how much are they charging? Where do they advertise? What’s their website like? Build a list of businesses and get a clear look at how they market themselves and their products
• Research your audience: Ask family, friends and colleagues what they think of your products. What could be improved, and what do they like? How much would they pay for your product?
• Register your business name: Coming up with a great name shows your brand’s personality and helps you stand out. It should be unique and appeal to your customers
• Think about your returns policy and business terms and conditions - especially if you’re selling bespoke items. For example, if someone orders a one-off product, you’ll need to clearly state your returns policy on your website and make it clear that items are non-refundable unless there’s a quality issue
• Register your website: If you find a suitable domain which is currently for sale, buy it as soon as you can. Alternatively, if your business name hasn’t been used yet, make sure you register your domain name ASAP
• Protect your IP: Research how to protect your intellectual property, and if you’ll need any patents or trademarks
• Choose your legal structure: If you’re working alone, you’re likely to be a sole trader. It’s a simple structure, but there’s no legal difference between you and your business. If you’re working with friends, a partner or family members, it’s likely you’ll be defined as a partnership
• Buy business insurance: Whether you’re running an online shop or delivering a service, you can protect yourself and your income by choosing a business insurance product that protects you, and any employees you have
   

How to put together a home business plan

You’ll need to create a plan that shows your ideas, target customers, competitors and financial projections so you can track how you’re doing.

Include everything from your home business set-up and insurance details, to marketing plans,forecasting, goals and potential obstacles.

Your business plan should also include your budget, and a budget tracker. Your starting costs may be small, or may be impacted by the cost of new equipment or office space - but either way, it’s vital you stay on top of your outgoings.

Refer to your business plan as often as you need, but make sure you check how you’re tracking every quarter. Business plans should ideally be updated and reviewed once a year, especially for smaller companies and start-ups.
 

Running a small business or side hustle from home

If you’re running your business from home, you’ll need to think about how it’ll impact your home life, and the people who live with you.

• Do you have the space for a workshop or a home office?
• Where will you store supplies, equipment and parcels ready for sending?
• Do you need planning permission if your side hustle may cause noise or disruption for neighbours?
• Will your side hustle change the terms of your mortgage and home insurance?
• Will you need a PO Box to set up a professional business address?
• Will your neighbours need to know in advance what you’re doing, and how your side hustle will impact them?
• Does your home need health and safety checks? This may not be an issue if you’re just using your laptop, but is important if you’re selling food or need customers to visit you at home
   

Getting funding for a small business

If you’ll need extra money to get your business started, think about how you’re going to fund your side hustle. 

• Business loans: Speak to your bank, or research the best-value business loans 
• Government schemes: The government-backed Start Up Loan offers you from £500 to £25,000 to grow your business
• Savings: You may be able to use some of your savings to get started
• Crowdfunding: Decide on a target figure and ask people for small individual amounts of money via an online platform
   

Marketing your side hustle

Having an attractive, customer-focused website and social media presence is essential for growing and maintaining interest in your brand.

• Competitor research: Analyse competitors’ websites and social media profiles. What are they doing right, and what could be improved upon for your brand?
• Build your social profiles: Social media’s a great way to showcase your brand’s tone of voice, products, and personality. Make sure your social media’s look and feel matches your website
• Create a website: Your website should be easy to use, and for people to buy from and contact you. Optimise your site using SEO so prospective clients can find you
• Send emails and newsletters: Make sure you stay in touch with customers by sending out newsletters to market new products and announce sales
• Go to network events: Industry events are a great way to meet other small business owners and get ideas on how to improve your business
   

Top tips for starting a new business

Holly Tucker MBE, long-term partner of Royal Mail and founder of notonthehighstreet and Holly & Co, has five time-saving tips for sellers and side-hustlers:

1. Grab a notebook and scribble down everything that springs to mind for your creative rituals, your ordering system, customer service and marketing. Then identify the low-hanging fruit (the things you can change now) and the slow burners (the things you need to work on to change them)
2. Each day, pick the three key tasks you need to prioritise. These are the jobs that will move the dial so tackle them first. I like to dedicate the hour before anyone wakes up in my house to this special and highly important list
3. New technology is launching all the time, allowing you to automate your least favourite tasks and time-consuming processes – there’s a real beauty in streamlining your business
4. Outsourcing can save you time and allow you to focus on driving your business forward in the areas you are most confident in. There’s no shame in reaching outside the business and asking for advice and help from others
5. Instead of trekking to a drop off point with arms full of parcels, have you considered having your parcels collected from your doorstep? Look for couriers who collect from home and wave goodbye to the effort and aggro of having to go out. Simply coordinate a collection time from your doorstep instead