6 Stepping Stones for a Successful Side Hustle

A side hustle is a small business you run on the side, or a part time entrepreneur gig. Everyone should have a side hustle that follows a passion. < if you love beauty, then a beYOUtiful business is perfect for you! > To make that side hustle really work for you, you have to get into the hustle mindset and set up a smart operation.

Play

Your side hustle should include your personal passions. Be sure you enjoy what you are doing. Make the side hustle a game. Create challenges for yourself, and compete with yourself to reach those challenges. Make this a gaming mindset - Today, I will network with 5 new people. Or, This week, I will make $500 in sales. Participate in incentive challenges. Have fun! This idea of gamification of the side hustle makes this work feel more like play and passion and less like, well, work. Goals become much more fun and achievable when goal setting, goal working and goal tracking is set up like a game. Customer loyalty cards (spend $100, receive $10 in product) carry this idea to your customer base. Runners always try to beat their last run time or distance. Imagine your side hustle as a series of marathons where you earn a “medal” for completing a specific marathon “goal”. If you enjoy playing games on your smartphone, consider the Proof! app which turns your side hustle into an app game. Find fun ways to self motivate and hold yourself accountable in order to reach your daily/weekly/monthly/yearly goals!

Flexibility

Sharp business people need to be able to adapt quickly. Be prepared for obstacles and have a plan ahead of time on how to navigate those obstacles. Work on building a toolkit that you can pull from when the moment arises that you need it. For example, if you are selling a product, make a list of objections ahead of time and then write your counter argument to each objection. In this way, you are prepared to respond immediately to the objection. Know your policies (or the policies of your mother company, if you have chosen a direct sales side hustle). Know your products and be ready to explain the benefits of your key product lines. Provide choices to customers. When you tell a customer that there is only one option, they will choose the “No” option. If you offer three different “Yes” options, they will likely choose one of those. Actively listen when customers speak, and seek solutions for their concerns. Present them with options they can use to solve a problem they are having; don’t lead with your needs, follow what they say with solutions for them. Be willing to try multiple paths. It is a good possibility that you will find success on one solid path at some point, and you can devote most of your efforts to that one path. Be flexible and open to the possibility that are multiple paths to a goal.

Resourcefulness

Be resourceful with spending. The less money you spend in your side hustle, the more profit you will see. True, you have to spend money to make money, but before spending look for alternatives, shop for discounts, ask around for help. Being resourceful and seeking low cost or no cost resources keeps your expenses low, and your profit high. Be resourceful when dealing with challenges. Finding creative ways to problem solve will prevent you from wasting time and money. If you encounter a problem, make a list of possible solutions. Which one is the least painful to implement? Be resourceful with situations. Instead of striking up a conversation with one person at the store, find a way to have contact with everyone you walk past, even if it means just making eye contact and smiling. Resourcefulness is optimizing every decision you make. As a part time venture, your side hustle means you probably have limited time, so use that time very thoughtfully.

Perseverance

A hustle means daily work. Every single day. For years. As many hours every day as you are able to commit. A few social media posts a week or a handful of knocks on doors a week will not make your business successful. In order to find success with your side hustle, you need to put your offer in front of as many people as possible. Put in the hard work, and do it daily. Take advantage of and leverage “down time”. Many will argue that it is perseverance that makes success happen. It is that “go getter”, “don’t quit” attitude. Go into your side hustle with a positive attitude. Think you will succeed and you will. There are always two outcomes to difficult situations: 1. you persevere and make it happen, or 2. you give up. Every time you persevere and work through a problem, you become stronger, more confident, more empowered. You learn from mistakes, you apply that learning to future situations and you improve. Perseverance requires daily discipline and developing habits. Use powerful side hustle habits like not sleeping in or staying up late, avoid distractions, take care of your body, mind and spirit, dedicating a specific chunk of time every day to your tasks. Always be working your side hustle.

Focus

We all know that small distractions lead to lost productivity. Don’t waste time on time wasters. Checking Facebook, sleeping late, watching tv shows, gossiping - are all serious time sucks. Don’t get pulled into the black hole of non-productive distractions. Managing time well is a critical piece to success. Effective time management incorporates scheduling, organization, list making, prioritizing, and leveraging “found time”. Maintain a calendar for all of your activities. Block out chunks of time for non-side hustle related activities and commit specific times to your side hustle. Then plan that time carefully. Organize sales materials, customer contacts, products, financials - all of it! Great organization saves time and contributes to more sales and better customer service. List making gives you huge advantages. Make lists of sales ideas, people to contact, content to create, skills to learn, training videos to watch, etc. Prioritize your actions to make the most efficient use of your time. What actions will give you the highest return for the least amount of work? That’s a good starting point. Using your lists, separate the wheat from the chafe. Pursue the actions that will give you the most benefit, and avoid doing meaningless, “busy work” tasks. Huge hint here: The more face time with people, the better! Connecting with your network should always be a top priority. Finally, take advantage of random found moments. Use those small bursts of found time to complete some of the smaller, lower priority tasks.

Relationships

Building relationships is the number one secret formula for success in business. Find people to network with, not sell to. Find women who need beauty solutions. Find customers wanting innovative products. People want to feel like people, not potential customers. Long term success depends on being friendly, likeable, trustworthy and helpful - consistently and reliably. Developing a social network that brings a financial return to your side hustle takes time and tact. You can’t push people to buy, they spend money on products they want when they are ready. Creating and nourishing those relationships takes patience and deliberate effort. It is critical that you genuinely care about your network, that you offer real value with your product/service, and that you persuade rather than push people into transactions. Only an authentic network will lead you to a sustainable side hustle.

Direct Selling Business Skills

Communication

Networking marketing, or direct selling, is completely dependent on communication. Interpersonal communication is how we network, how we create and build crucial relationships, and how we sell. Developing strong communication skills is the very first business skill a new direct sales representative should focus on. Communication skills encompass interpersonal (in person) and written communication, including online.

Time management

How you work your business is completely up to you; that could be some time, part time, full time or over time. However much time you devote to your beauty business, you will need to develop time management skills in order to maximize your efforts in the most efficient way possible. The best time management is like an epic to do list. It is critical to have a plan and a schedule and to manage the calendar carefully.

Organization

As a direct selling representative, tight organization skills will lead to more success. Customers, the order process, products, finances, events… all of the pieces of direct selling has to be effectively organized. My Avon organization includes a combination of physical organization systems, binders, and online files.

Innovation and Problem solving

Direct sellers will encounter problems. A customer’s favorite product will be discontinued; perhaps they will react to something new, or maybe a product was broken during shipment. Being innovative and working to solve problems in the most creative way will contribute to success. Problem solving is best approached with problem processing: what is the problem, what are the possible outcomes, what are some options for solutions, putting the solution into action and then following up to ensure the problem was, in fact, solved.

Customer engagement

Direct sellers have to develop impeccable customer service skills because we are directly serving our customers. We create those connections, guide customers through product choices and then support them after the sale. Customer engagement uses a complex set of skills that combine to ensure that the customer is satisfied. These offshoot skills include verbal communication, listening skills, situational analysis, the ability to control emotions and be professional, knowledge of policies and procedures, an understanding of psychology, and always being willing to improve the relationship.

Technology literacy

Technology is one my personal expertise areas. However, I know that technology is not the easiest thing for everyone. With everything moving to an online world, it is critical that to stay current direct selling representatives have to be able to navigate social media, the cloud and other technology pieces. I use a variety of technology tools to create content for social media, to manage and organize my business, and to work towards greater success as an Avon representative. Fortunately, most of the tools I use are free, but not all are easy to use.

Soft skills

Soft skills are the most challenging business skills to acquire, but if you know how to approach the challenge of developing soft skills, they will develop and strengthen over time. Soft skills have to do with how someone handles a relationship emotionally. It is the ethics, etiquette, social skill, leadership, flexibility, empathy, individual motivation, self confidence and work ethic that you bring to your business. This is the idea of being a “people person” and also of being a “positive person”. Thankfully, soft skills don’t have to just exist or come naturally, they can be learned. I feel the best ways to develop these introspective skills is through activities like journaling, habitual daily practice and time. By the way, your soft skills are also very much brand YOU because soft skills are often tied to your personality, your attitudes and how you portray yourself to others.