💡 Business Tip - Always Have a Side Hustle (Issue #59)
Every employee should be prepared with this
There are three things to remember if you’re an employee:
1. Always have a side hustle.
2. Always have a side hustle.
3. Always have a side hustle.
You can easily dial it down when you're busy with your day job. As a solopreneur, you decide how much time you want to invest in your side hustle business. You can slow things down, pause taking on new clients, or even take a break when necessary.
However, when you need to, you can quickly dial your side hustle business up to 100% to survive (e.g., you get laid off). When I left my last corporate job, I took a month-long vacation to enjoy the summer with my family. But then, I boosted my consulting to 100% and pursued new clients.
Initially, I looked around for my next 9-5 job, too. But the consulting was going so well — and I was enjoying the freedom so much — that I stopped interviewing. I no longer wanted a job working for someone else.
That was about 14 years ago. I became a solopreneur and never went back.
It's way faster and easier to put more energy into an existing solopreneur business than to spin one up from scratch. Building a reliable income stream usually takes some time. You can’t typically flip a switch and have new clients in a day. But you can turn up the heat on your existing business and marketing efforts to increase your deal flow.
Of course, check your local laws and employment agreements. You don’t want to do something that might risk your job (e.g., consulting with a competitor). But, in California, for example, almost every tech employee has something they’re building or doing outside of work hours.
Be careful, though:
Always work on your side hustle during your own personal time.
Never work on your business in your employer’s office.
Never use your employer’s laptop, phone, or network.
Never use intellectual property from your employer.
Want more advice like this? Join the Invincible Solopreneurs community if you'd enjoy the support and camaraderie of other lifestyle business owners! Upgrade to the paid newsletter subscription (or pay the lifetime membership amount once), and I’ll invite you to our private Discord.
I’m Larry Cornett, a business coach who can work with you 1-on-1 to design, launch, and optimize your business. You might also be interested in my “Employee to Solopreneur” workshop. I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and Great Dane while running my businesses 100% remotely.
