Building a Sustainable Side Hustle, With Liz Ogabi
💸 Elizabeth Ogabi is a founder, entrepreneur, podcaster and author of ‘Side Hustle in Progress: A Practical Guide to Kickstarting Your Business’. She has worked across various industries and two continents over the span of her career.
💪 As a prominent voice for the advancement of women’s careers, Elizabeth is passionate about empowering women to create sustainable side hustles alongside their full-time jobs to help them build their dream lives.
💥 Today on The Wallet:
1️⃣ Elizabeth shares her experience of running a side hustle alongside a full-time job, how to define your goals for your side gig, and her advice for earning money on the side without burning out.
2️⃣ We are frequently bombarded with messages of success and the glamorisation of overworking, so today we look at how to sustainably build a business that works for you, and how we can move away from a toxic hustle culture.
3️⃣ As a self-professed ‘serial saver’, Elizabeth discusses how she started to shift her mindset around money to enjoy spending, as well as her investing journey.
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You can listen (38 min) and subscribe here:
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1. side hustles don’t need to be toxic
“Anything that you work hard for will come with a bit of stress, but you can build a side hustle without it being toxic.”
Side-hustles are ventures or ideas that you have that you one day could foresee being your full-time gig, or simply keep as something that brings you extra money on the side.
First thing’s first: Elizabeth’s book, ‘Side Hustle in Progress: A Practical Guide to Kickstarting Your Business’, aims to help women overcome imposter syndrome and stop seeing their business as something small. If you choose to be the CEO of your side-hustle and eventually make it your main job, nothing should stop you!
Determine what success means to you. Generally, ‘successful’ side-hustles are those that are in demand, and ones that you can run sustainably alongside your full-time job.
In the beginning, it’s hard to know how much you take on — so don’t be afraid to scale back if your side-gig begins to overwhelm you. It’s also important to have a vision of where you want it to go.
Having side-hustles is becoming increasingly more common, but ultimately it’s up to you to weigh up whether it’s appropriate to tell your employer about it, so be observant. It largely depends on the relationship you have with them, and how you think they might feel about side projects in general.
Use certain days or times in your week to work on your side project. Figure out as you go along what feels right to you, and don’t overexert yourself. In a culture where everything has to be fast-growth, it’s important to remember that you can grow something slowly.
2. be obsessed with your customers more than your competitors
Try to look inwards and ignore outside noise.
Remember that someone can have the same product as you, but you can still be very different. Someone doing something similar to you doesn’t always have to be a negative or a threat.
Competition isn’t bad, because it can lead you to be more innovative and dig deeper. Obsessing over competition usually results in your losing focus of what you are building.
Being intentional about focussing on your vision can make it easier for you to overlook the external pressures and competition that you might deem to be threatening.
3. it all comes back to the vision you have for your life
Whether you’re driven by flexibility, being able to work remotely while travelling, or because you want to change the world — your vision for your side hustle comes back to figuring out what kind of life you want to lead.
If you’re looking to take the leap into doing your side-hustle full time, you should do some financial planning.
It’s advisable to have money to support you in the early stages of transitioning from your full-time job into doing your side-hustle full time.
You also need to understand if committing more time to your side-hustle will actually generate more income for you.
RESOURCES:
You can follow and connect with Elizabeth at:
Book: Side Hustle in Progress: A Practical Guide to Kickstarting Your Business
Instagram: @elizabethogabi, @forworkingladies and @leicour
Twitter @ElizabethOgabi_
Podcast: How I Made It Happen
We shared some resources in this episode, all the links are below: