Girl Boss Tips

Side Hustle Tips: How to Manage your Business and your 9 to 5

 

We are at a time now where there is so much emphasis on being your own boss.  There is often a light being shun on corporate women who are stagnant or not a goal getter if you have no desire to leave corporate.  I believe wherever you find your passion, that is where you should strive to make an impact.  That may mean being in a 9-5 your entire life. I have been in corporate since I decided to get a serious job, and have been working my way up ever since.  My blog is the wild card that came out of nowhere and started to flourish.

To be honest, it was never my plan to be running a full-time side hustle  and work full-time in corporate.

The problem with thinking that the only way to be successful is by running your own business, is you have people walking away from their steady income before it is time.  I am all for following your dreams, starting a blog was a dream of mine.  However, you can still follow your dreams and have a plan in place.

I enjoy being in corporate, and believe God will tell me when it is time to go.  There are some things I have been doing to set myself up for success if and when that time may come. I wanted to share a few tips if you may be approaching the same crossroads.

I’m not going to lie one of the things I love about working in corporate is rocking my workwear!  I am excited to partner with Ann Taylor to show I can incorporate my leopard clothing into the work place.  Being in the office sometimes gets a bad wrap.  You can still be stylish!

Check out all my favorite Ann Taylor workwear below. All are currently 50% off!

 

3 things to do before you walk away from your full-time job

1. Learn your business industry financial trends – this is important. Regardless of the industry you should start to learn when and what are busy seasons and slow seasons.  How does that effect your side hustle income. I have researched this through the internet and many fellow bloggers that I trust. Additionally, learn about all the overheads your business will incur so you understand your true net profit.
2. Match or exceed your income for 3 months consecutively – Before walking away from my full-time income, I knew that I wanted to be matching if not making more than what I make in my corporate job.  This past year I now consistently make more from my side hustle than I do at my corporate job.  This was key for me, because I didn’t want to walk away and have a pay cut.  Please note: You may be fine with walking away and having a pay cut.  Definitely do a pros/cons to ensure that is the right decision.  Additionally, if you have decided to leave your job to run your business and it is not matching what you make, it should at least be consistent income. The last thing you want is to leave your consistent pay and not know when you will get paid again. 
3. Build a rainy day fund – you want to have 6 months in savings, that is separate from your normal savings. This is a hefty goal, but let’s say my side hustle fails, we don’t want to feel like we are strapped and start struggling.  Whatever your goal is, I would highly suggest having some savings.

I often get asked how I manage a full-time blog and a full-time job. Let me raise my hand and say.  It ain’t easy! Let me not even start on the topic of also raising my 3 boys, because then I will really start sounding crazy! I am doing it by the grace of God, and I am grateful every day that I have been given the opportunities I have been given.  I also, remember when I was bringing in $1k every 2 weeks and struggling to make ends meet.   My struggle has impacted how I hustle. I am extremely driven.  And I am not saying that as a badge of honor, because sometimes it can be a fault and I run myself down.

Managing both your side hustle and full time job is definitely work.

I want to Share some Side Hustle Tips that Help me Manage having a Full-Time Business and Working Full-Time.

8 SIDE HUSTLE TIPS TO HELP YOU MANAGE IT ALL

Have a Village

You cannot do this alone.  That is what I had to quickly realize.  Well, you can but you will not be sane.  Find people in your life to help you with your load.  If you are a mom doing this, make sure you have extra hands to help with kids when you have a deadline.

Outsource

I run my business, but I have learned that CEOs are doing all the operations to keep the business running. Especially being out of commission from 7am-4pm I had to start outsourcing.  Make a list of all the task and responsibilities is takes to run your business. Flag whatever tasks that you may be able to outsource by hiring someone.  Here are a few tasks I hired out to help me with:  my Blog SEO (helps you with search engine ranking), website maintenance, creating my graphics (collages).  I am also in the process of working to establish what it would look like for me to hire an assistant.  I have needed one for a while now, but haven’t slowed down to really analyze what that will look like. Ask yourself what are some areas that you can outsource, or even eliminate.

Schedule Business Time

You need to schedule time on your calendar when you will run your business if you are working full time.  Especially if you have a demanding day time job like mine.  I build time in our family’s schedule when I will be actively working on my business.  Lately it has been when the kids are at practice.  My husband takes all the kids to practice so I can work on my blog completely uninterrupted.  We also started doing this so we could have quality time once the kids go to bed.  Once the kids go to bed I may work only another hour.  Your business will not flourish unless you pour in time.  To do that you need dedicated time to work.  Scheduling time work for your side hustle also helps you with not work around the clock.

What I have learned about being an entrepreneur is that it’s easy to work 24/7.  I’ve had to ask myself if it was quality time when it is 15 minutes here and there.  You have to give your business structure, and that starts with your schedule.

Set Goals

Establish goals for your side hustle so then you frame the work you do around reaching your goals. Example…I have a goal to grow my blog audience.  To help with that I have firmed up my blog posting schedule, I have also done some updates on my site to make it function better, and in the process of completely redoing my entire site/branding.  When you set goals it helps you work with purpose, and ensure that you are being productive in the brief time that you have to work on your business.

Create a Task List at your Day Job

I work at my corporate job in the day and blog in the evenings.  However, if I am not efficient with my corporate day job, I am staying later which means getting home later.  Every morning when I get to work I write out all my tasks for the day and I prioritize them based on importance.  Just like you manage your time with your side hustle, you have to manage your time with your corporate job.

Have a Support Group

It’s always great when you can find people that are in a similar situation as you.  I have been grateful to chat with fellow bloggers that have a full time job (or recently did) that understand the juggling that needs to take place.  Doing both can make you feel like a crazy person sometimes, so it is important to have people that are going through it or have been through it who can provide tips and support.

Walk in your Purpose

None of this would be possible if I despised what I was doing in my 9-5 and wasn’t passionate about my blog. Running both is a sacrifice and you have to LOVE both to want to make these sacrifices.

Self Care Matters

Managing both mentally and physically will start to take a toll on you.  That is why I always carve out time to unplug and have self care.  Go get your nails done, or get that facial.  Working on my blog in the evenings can force me to fill like I have to neglect self-care:  I would say to myself I don’t have time to get my hair done or heck even take a nap.  What I realized that without self-care, I would be burnt out and will be no good to my 9-5 or side hustle. Don’t get so busy grinding that you neglect yourself.

You have to give yourself some grace.  Know that some days you won’t get it right, or you won’t be able to get everything done. That is ok, and doesn’t make you any less than a boss babe.

I hope you find these side hustle tips helpful if you are also in this season!