Why Most People Fail at Side Hustles (and How Not To)
Everyone loves the idea of a side hustle, make extra cash, gain freedom, maybe quit the 9–5 someday. But most people crash and burn. Here's why...
Before I started making money from Side Hustles, I did think, “I’ll be making thousands every month,” and yes, that is possible, but it will take time, effort and investment before being able to think about quitting my 9-5 job.
I started this Newsletter as a way to share my thoughts and ideas, to help other people like me make an extra income, alongside that dull 9-5. To help others have a cushion of financial stability and freedom.
So here are all my thoughts on why most people fail in the first couple of weeks and months, and how to not be those people.
Reality Check
Side Hustles are NOT a ‘get rich quick’ scheme. Supposedly, less than 5% of people who start side hustles get to “tens of thousands per month” (i.e. £20,000+). Meaning, 95% of people either aren’t trying or give up too soon.
This doesn’t mean it is impossible to start making some serious money each month using different side hustles, but it’s not an instant cash maker. From experience, it takes months and months, sometimes even years, before making your first £1,000 a month.
Example: let’s say you started making TikTok videos, and you made a new account a couple of days ago, and you posted your first video today. In the first couple of minutes, your video gets 50 views, and when you keep refreshing the video every minute, you now have 100 views. A few hours pass, and you go back and check on the video; now you have 300 views. Give it another 24 hours, and your video has 500 views, and you instantly feel like that was a big waste of time, your effort didn’t pay off, and you may delete the video and try re-uploading it again later that day.
You’re already getting into a bad cycle of wanting instant rewards with very little effort. I’ve been there; it’s a normal feeling when you see other people getting hundreds of thousands of views every day, making more and more money, and you start thinking, “Why is this not happening for me and my videos?”.
Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you should look at it differently…
I started to think, “Okay, so this video didn’t get many views, why?”. Then I gave it a second thought, went and watched my video and said to myself, would I have watched this video or scrolled off it if I were a viewer? Were the first couple of seconds engaging enough for my brain not to get bored? Would a different intro have been better? Maybe I should have put my text here instead of there, etc.
When you start to understand why and how you can change your content and make improvements on each one, you will begin to understand that it’s not just luck that makes money, but actually putting in the work, understanding how people’s brains think and consume the content. That’s when you can start to get views and make serious money.
So now let’s move on to why people fail and, most importantly, how not to…
There are several main reasons why 95% of people fail to make passive income through a side hustle, either with a full-time job or no job. Yes, trying to run a side hustle with a job on the side is much trickier, but it isn’t an excuse. If anything, having a full time or part time job to provide a stable income to potentially invest some of that money into your side hustle is a lucky thing. Some people don't have any money in the first place.
So here are some reasons why people fail before making any money, and some of my own advice on how to not give up…
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(It’s less than a Starbucks coffee a month).