The idea of being able to do what you love full-time while also making money sounds incredible, right? For many, you’d give me a resounding “YES!” Personally, that was always a huge goal of mine. From a young age, I knew that I wanted to eventually be my own boss, doing what I loved, and on my own terms. How I was going to get there, I wasn’t sure, but the goals and vision was always prevalent.
Yes, there are a lot of benefits for holding a 9-5 gig that pays the bills, but my blog post today is really geared towards the following people:
- Individuals who want to start a side hustle that they can scale to a full-time job.
- Individuals who just started and aren’t sure if they’re on the right track.
For those who do venture down the entrepreneurship route and experience success early on or as they continue on their path, it’s important to know that you can’t count on yesterday’s wins to get you through the coming days.
Personally, I don’t think there’s a clear path to running a profitable business. There are methodologies and practices you can put into place, but to say that there is one clear path that will work for everyone just isn’t true. What I believe works really well is the following:
- Having a clear vision for what you want out of life and aligning your personal and professional goals around that.
- Having a market that’s readily in demand for what you have to offer.
- Discipline for your craft. As the saying goes, “Practice makes perfect.”
- Being able to embrace failure as part of success and to keep learning.
Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone. Some of the downfalls are that it is very taxing on your time, energy, and efforts. However, the rewards highly outweigh anything that any full-time gig can provide. Here are some stats to be aware of:
- 62% of US billionaires are self-made.
- In 2016, there were 25 million Americans who were starting or already running their own business.
- #1 reason why businesses fail is there’s no market need.
- 60% of people who start small businesses are between the ages of 40 and 60.
- There are 582 million entrepreneurs in the world.
- 22.5% of small businesses fail within the first year.
- Studies show middle-aged men start the most successful businesses.
With all of this mind, today’s blog post will be focused on the key benefits of doing what you love full-time, so let’s dive in…
You’re motivated AF
One of the key differentiating factors between doing something you love full-time vs. working for someone else is that you’re truly driven and motivated to build out your business. As I wrote in a previous post:
Being engaged in your craft so that you are consistently motivated, driven, committed, and productive will help you thrive as an entrepreneur. Sure, there will be days when you want to lay back and focus more on self-care without having to solely think about work. But know that when you’re doing what you love for work, it stays top-of-mind regardless of what you’re doing and becomes an integral part of your life.
Other key reasons to do work that you love:
- You won’t just be working for vacations or weekends.
- You will have a greater purpose than just making money.
- The money will absolutely follow.
- You won’t feel like you’re just stuck doing chores you hate.
- You won’t half-ass your work.
- You will want to add real value to your target customers.
Build out multiple revenue streams
I love not being limited to just having one way to generate revenue. As you start to really cultivate ways that you can monetize, you’ll then figure out a growth strategy that’s going to elevate your business.
Diversifying is one of the most well-known ways to make your business successful, but there are tricks involved. Imagine that your favorite fast food restaurant decided to open a pediatric clinic, too.
Sure, those are two diverse income streams, but suddenly you no longer feel like you understand their brand. Worse yet, it could look like the brand is now trying to profit off of the childhood obesity that it has contributed to.
The key is to diversify in very calculated ways. First, your new revenue stream needs to either reach a market you haven’t reached in the past or break into an industry that has strong potential.
Second, your diversification needs to make sense with your brand. Either your new revenue stream must be consistent with the brand you’ve already developed or you need to create a whole new brand within your company. Consider Athleta and Banana Republic for instance: one sells athletic wear, the other sells sophisticated casual wear, and they both brand themselves independently, yet they’re owned by the same company.
Balance Working Hard With Mindful Resting
Being self-employed does have its perks; yet, on the other hand, you also have to make sure you are hustling every single day to bring in money. Truth is, it isn’t for everyone either and that’s okay.
But for those who are ready to take that jump into entrepreneurship, know that there will be times where the weekdays and weekends will begin to blend in together. In order to keep up, consider the following:
- Make time to disconnect every single day. This could be 1-2 hours for a workout, for lunch with a friend, or even for reading.
- Go to bed at a reasonable time. Be aware of what can wait until tomorrow vs. what has to be done today. Having a restful night of sleep will help you feel more refreshed the next day.
- Prioritize. Running your own business can feel like you have way too many things to do, and not enough time or manpower. However, this is where the power of prioritization comes in. Focus on the important items that will help move the needle for you first – everything else should come in secondary.
- Outsource. You can’t be the expert in everything when it comes to running a business so outsource what you can (e.g. bookkeeping, taxes, copywriting, etc.) Fiverr can be a great place to find qualified freelancers to help free up some of your time.
Wrapping it up
One of the biggest things that has contributed to my progress with my entrepreneurial journey is the fact that I’m 100% accountable for what I take on. In other words, I don’t depend on others to dictate my path. I am constantly paving the way for myself because the vision and goals I put in place for myself are there to fuel my passion for what I do.
Setting goals in all that you do will help you:
- Have a clear vision of what the destination looks like
- Break up the path to achieving your goals into smaller steps
- Hold yourself accountable
- Design a roadmap that will help guide you
- Stay focused on making progress
In addition to this, being self-aware has been something that I take very seriously because it enables me to put my ego aside, be reflective, and really figure out what I’m actually good at. When it comes to entrepreneurship, I know that I have to keep learning and growing. I can’t foresee myself getting to a point where I will be 100% satisfied or complacent. If I do, that just means I’m not really pushing myself and tapping into my fullest potential.
