14 CLEAR SIGNS YOU’RE READY
TO TAKE YOUR SIDE HUSTLE FULL TIME

This article was originally published by Forbes Coaches Council and includes advice from Katrina Brittingham who will be hosting an eCoaching session on September 24.

For entrepreneurial individuals, the side hustle is becoming an increasingly popular way to pursue a passion while bringing in extra income. If you have a thriving side business, you may dream of making that venture your full-time career—but you might not know if it’s a viable option.

So, how can you tell if your side hustle is ready to become your main hustle? Fourteen members of Forbes Coaches Council shared their advice on when to take your side business full time. Read on for their answers—and if you feel you’re ready, it just might be time to make that leap!

1. The Risks Of Self-Employment Won’t Financially Devastate You 

Even if your side hustle now outpaces your income at your regular job, you need to consider the downside of self-employment. What if the income fluctuates? What if you cannot get or afford health insurance? What can you handle if it fails? Do you have a way to go back to your “regular” job if it does not make it? Who else is at risk if your enterprise does not work? Answer risk questions soberly. – John M. O’Connor, Career Pro Inc.

2. You’re Spending More Time And Money On Your Side Hustle 

Working a side hustle is a balancing act. Typically the scales fall in favor of income generation. When the scales tip toward the side hustle with respect to your name or brand recognition, time spent on projects and investment in tools and training, it’s time to consider moving over to the “heavier” side. When this happens, it’s a sure sign your passion, energy and potential success has shifted. – Joynicole Martinez, The Alchemist Agency

3. Your Revenue Growth Is Greater Than The Cost Of Doing Business 

Viable side hustles often enrich lives beyond monetary gains. Fulfillment, creativity, independence, flexibility and contribution are a few of the enrichments gained through side hustles. These reasons and more are why individuals choose to engage. Converting a side hustle to the main squeeze requires effective business models where revenue growth is greater than the cost of doing business. – Lillian Gregory, The Institute for Human and Leadership Excellence

4. You’re Willing To Spend Time On The Administrative Tasks 

There is a romantic view that one will never work if they love what they do. But running a business is not only fun. There are marketing, sales and administrative tasks involved in it. Can you spend time on these tasks? Will you be confident enough negotiating prices? How will you feel while pressing others to pay you on time? Before switching your jobs, investigate this darker side deeper. – Inga Bielińska, Inga Bielinska Coaching Consulting Mentoring

5. You’re Bringing In Enough Money To Cover Your Expenses And Then Some 

You know it is time to quit your day job for your part-time side business when you are bringing in enough money to pay your personal and business expenses with money left over to enjoy your life. This means you should be making the same amount or more in the part-time job as you do in your current full-time job. Also, consider if the side hustle is really a hobby or something you can do every day. – Katrina Brittingham, VentureReady LLC

6. Your Side Hustle Aligns With Your True Mission 

Do you just want a way to make money or do you want to enjoy a passionate, purposeful life? Identify your life purpose, because sooner or later, this calling will pester you until you answer, “I’m ready.” Once you’re aware of your personal mission, countless opportunities appear. If your true purpose is tied to your side hustle, it will be much easier to sustain momentum when times are tough. – Doris Helge, Women’s Leadership Success Strategies

7. You Care More About Your Side Hustle Than Your Day Job 

Interestingly enough many individuals use financial aspects to determine the viability of switching to full-time entrepreneurship. Though valid, it is a short-sighted strategy. The determining factor should be passion: Do you care more for the side hustle than your day job? When passion is used, the income will come. Passionate entrepreneurs tend to reach their financial goals faster and easier. – Kamyar Shah, World Consulting Group

8. There’s A Sufficient Market For Your Side Hustle 

You might be doing fine with a side hustle, serving “low-hanging-fruit” customers. The main question you need to answer is, “Is there a large enough market to replace my full-time work?” You should evaluate the market and make sure that it will fully support you without the extra income. The side job might look good, but, in reality, does not have enough customers to support full-time employment. – John Knotts, Crosscutter Enterprises

9. The Financial Model Works On Paper 

One of the biggest mistakes solopreneurs make is that they jump into a new venture without doing a basic financial model. Until you can sketch out 12 months of P&Ls that lead to positive cash flow, don’t quit your day job. If you can’t make it work “on paper,” you won’t be able to make it work in real life. – Josef Shapiro, Clear and Open

10. People Are Willing To Pay For Your Expertise 

The easiest way to test if your side hustle has wings is to ask yourself this question: Do you have knowledge or expertise that people are willing to pay for and can you improve someone’s position by sharing it? If the answer is yes, there are ways to monetize your expertise. Do this correctly and your side hustle can very much become your main hustle. – Karen Kissane, Karen Kissane Coaching. The Smart Woman’s Business Hub.

11. Going Full Time Would Add Value To Your Life 

It can be helpful to examine how much pleasure is derived from that side business. Doing what you love cannot be overrated. If that side business had full-time effort, how much more value could it add? That is a critical question to be answered. – Dr. Diane Hamilton, Tonerra

12. You’ve Created A New Market

If your side hustle was born of ingenuity and is a brand new response to a new, growing demand, consider the cost of waiting to launch your startup. If you’re willing to bet the farm to be first to market, create your business plan, secure financing for the first three years and make the leap. Being first to market will reward you for the struggle of bootstrapping and pitching to investors. – Christine Rose, Christine Rose Coaching & Consulting

13. You’re Running Toward Your Side Hustle, Rather Than Away From Your Main Job 

There are the obvious things to consider like the finances, the day-to-day activities, the risk and whether you’re passionate. One thing I think is critically important is whether you are drawn toward your new venture or whether you are running away from something. A vision or a dream creates resilience through the ups and downs. Also, know how it fits into your long-term vision for yourself. – Kimberly Roush, All-Star Executive Coaching

14. You Feel Ready To Take The Leap 

I’m not saying you should jump willy-nilly into something that’s not profitable or not driven by passion. However, too often people never make the leap to full time with their side hustle because you can never truly excel in any one direction when you’re straddling two paths. If you’ve done the work, built the brand and found the demand and profit to be there, then it’s likely time to go all in. – Laura DeCarlo, Career Directors International

Join us for eCoaching!

Do you have a business idea but don’t know how to get started? Or maybe you have a side hustle that you want to scale? Starting a business is no easy task. If you want to build a business that will thrive, it is important to start with a few essential fundamentals. By focusing on these fundamentals, you will have a clear understanding of your goals, be able to set your business up correctly (legally and financially) and will be able to prioritize actions that will allow you to scale.

In this webinar, entrepreneur Katrina Brittingham will show you the steps you need to take to launch a thriving business.

Key takeaways will include:
– The importance of a strategy or plan and how to develop one;
– How to identify your audience and develop a niche;
– Essential legal registrations;
– Managing business finances; and
– How to use your network to grow your business.

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She 1 K Launches in U.S. September 7, 2019
New York City

CHRISTINA TEO is a master builder. She builds companies, communities and networks. And lifts individuals to their higher potential. Founder of Startup Asia Women and Asia Corporate Women, Teo is a native of Singapore, educated in Asia and the United States.

Christina knows how to actualize a start up and motivate a group.  Saturday, September 7th, saw the 10th gathering of her latest achievement, she 1 K, and the first one in New York. Based in Singapore and founded only 10 months ago, she1K is the world’s first global corporate executive women’s network that empowers, funds and boards startups.

Among its glowing accomplishments, in even this short period of time, she1K launched and presented Women Changemakers. This full-day event themed, “Our Inner Voice,” is an honest accounting by senior corporate women executives “who have heeded their inner voices to become who they are today.”

When I emerged from the elevator on the top floor of SPACES at Hudson Yards into the she1K event, what first struck me was the vibrancy of the gathered group and the powerful presence of Teo herself, a petite powerhouse dressed in bright yellow pants and a high-style asymmetrical, diaphanous blouse.

Teo soon took over the room and launched a 5 minute meet-and-greet so all the attendees could feel a sense of camaraderie. “Meet everyone you can with the same first initial as yours in 5 minutes,” she instructed. To create a safe space, Teo advised to please kindly respect the privacy of the panelists presenting that day. That the stories we would hear were of the people behind the LinkedIn profiles, not just of powerful corporate executives (which they were). So no names are offered here connected with details they revealed.

One by one, these luminary leaders confided the challenges they faced and offered the lessons learned. In panels entitled “Mothers of Success” and “Balls of Fire” we heard stunningly honest raw realities that had confronted each one.  There was account after account of often- fearsome circumstances that would cower most people, not only women.  Confronting moments of truth or clarity or both, each woman unleashed her individual capacities to act independently and to make her own free choices. Included were recurring themes of “playing big”, “pulling strength from experience”, “sharing challenges with networks of support” and methods for facing self-doubt on a daily basis. For these women the key to success seemed unanimously less attachment to the “myth of balance” and more toward a “North Star”.

All in – the day’s takeaway was to ask for help of family, friends, community and colleagues.  To define for ourselves what works for us each. To listen to our inner voices and be true to ourselves.  Fact is, we are “out of balance” most of our adult lives. The antidote: claim what you do well and “make that a process”. Focus on priorities and bring creativity into your work. Above all, to conquer self-doubt on a daily basis, don’t take yourself too seriously!

While the really impressive fact about Women Changemakers is that they exist to introduce angel funding to women startups, the influence of this network stems from the universality of how women succeed in life not only careers.