Now is the time for everyone to develop that ‘side-hustle’: a home-based business
While I spend much of my time helping entrepreneurs who aspire to become ‘Unicorns’ with billion-dollar valuations, there is just as much fun in helping those taking their very first steps in business.
I frequently drop into Zoom workshops arranged by my friend Andrew Bishop, who heads up the Firestarter Foundation. He and I have been friends for over 20 years since he was in the rock and roll equipment business, ensuring that bands and venues had the best sound equipment from his then company, Carlsbro.
Today, he runs The Firestarter Foundation which supports those who are often just starting their entrepreneurial journey. Some already have premises, others are working from home but dream of having their own office, shop or restaurant one day.
His current students and nearly 1,000 alumni all have a skill and a passion for solving customer problems but are unsure of how to take those important next steps. While they might dream of living in a larger property one day, their immediate concern is supporting themselves and their families.
I explain that they should consider themselves ‘Local Heroes’. They provide useful and profitable services to people in their neighbourhood. Example businesses might include gardening, fitness and dietary advice, painting and decorating, dog walking, arts and crafts, web and graphic design, or every type of education, from children to large organisations.
Many of them have come from a previous full-time role, a secure environment where their salary was paid every month. I commend them on their courage and try and give practical steps, in particular for generating those vital first sales.
But we live in interesting times. The advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) predicts the demise of those repetitive jobs that one day will be done better by versatile robots and really clever software.
I reassure them that it will be a very long time before we can buy an autonomous robot to plant daffodils or look after children. All the business ideas mentioned above require a human touch, which I think will never be completely replaced by a machine.
In my view, everyone should now be actively thinking about a ‘side-hustle’, initially a home-based business which is also their passion, rather than just their profession.
I recently taught entrepreneurship to business studies undergraduates at a major London university. I asked them for their name, country of origin and favourite non-academic interest or activity. Popular answers included visiting Premier League football matches, arranging sports training, cooking, sightseeing, reading, going to movies and, in one case, gardening.
I suggested they should start a society for people with their common interest. They might even secure some funding from the Student Union itself. Then, they should arrange an activity; to visit a live match, arrange a volleyball training session, run a cookery course, visit some attractions, start a book club, or take a trip to the latest Hollywood blockbuster or art movie.
They should always charge the other students, to cover the cost of organising the activity, ideally covering the cost of their own participation. They should run the events at a profit.
If they delivered successfully, and they were getting enquiries from people they did not know, then they were already successful entrepreneurs. These useful business skills would enable them to put together a ‘side hustle’ at any time in the future, even if they did choose to work for an investment bank upon graduation.
My message to everyone is that, even if you have a secure job today, you should actively consider a ‘side-hustle’, to both stimulate your creative side and to also do some good in your local area.
My advice for the people on Andrew’s Firestarter Zoom call was that they should first research the areas near them where the property prices were highest. Then, they should visit those areas to get a feeling for the services which might be of interest to the local ‘money rich, time poor’ people. If they personally love gardening and notice that they could use some help with their unruly vegetation, they can offer them that service.
You will soon learn to spot unpleasant bullies. They immediately start to negotiate on the price (“You had better not be too expensive!”) and spend a long time telling you how important they are. Nice people are always reasonable and will always become the best customers. In my sales training, I stress that you should try to only sell to people you like.
Eventually, you will need to come up with your day rate. You need to remember that nobody is really looking for the cheapest gardener or child-minder in the area. Your rate should be towards the top end of the scale, based on your research into other local suppliers.
Finally, you need to get an agreed date in the diary, and you should always ask for a non-refundable deposit to deter timewasters. Your diary is just as important as theirs. Last-minute cancellations, while occasionally unavoidable, can radically reduce your profit margins.
If you do a good job, you will find you will be recommended to others in the area by word of mouth, so will never have to spend very much on marketing. All you need is a very basic web site with some nice ‘before and after’ pictures of gardens that you have improved, plus your contact details.
I suggested to the horticulturally inclined student on my course that they could provide gardening services immediately in a nice part of London. She declined, as she considered that she would not enjoy gardening if she was being paid.
But I was delighted to observe on LinkedIn that, armed with a First-Class Honours Degree in Business with Marketing from one of the highest-rated Universities in the world, she now works in digital marketing, not for an investment bank but for a garden centre.
This is an example of the famous quote attributed to Mark Twain and many others: “If you love what you do, you’ll never do a day’s work in your life”.
So, if you secretly dislike your job and suspect you’ll soon be replaced by a robot, why not look today into starting a profitable and enjoyable ‘side-hustle’? I hope to see you on one of Andrew’s Zoom calls one day!
Andrew Bishop and The Firestarter Foundation: https://firestarterfoundation.com
First published on Startup Mafia.