2020 – The Year of the Side-hustle… 2021 – The Year of the Start-up
2020 will forever be remembered as the year we stayed at home. Amongst all the lockdowns, travel restrictions, furloughs and then more lockdowns, a huge number of people across the UK found themselves with an abundance of free time.
Some of us used this time to get into shape, or as an opportunity to remove ourselves from the usual stresses of a busy lifestyle and rebalance our mind, while others learnt a new skill or hobby.
People may also have dabbled with a sidehustle to keep them busy throughout the year, while earning a little money to boot.
A shoutout, by the way, to those truly key workers across the UK for whom the above did not apply and for whom 2020 was instead busier and more stressful than ever – NHS workers, frontline service workers, schoolteachers of key workers’ children.
Not to mention countless others I can’t list due to word-count restrictions! To you, we thank you for your continued heroic work, and as a nation we hold the utmost respect for what you do.
Now 2021 has come around and, so far, things are still looking bleak on the lockdown front, for the next few months at least. So you may still be working on your side-hustle.
You may even have surprised yourself at just how well business seems to be doing because, after all, you only started this as something to do in your spare time, right?
So how do you know when it might be time to think about taking your side-hustle to the next level and making it a legitimate business venture?
There are a few important points to consider when thinking about taking the leap from being employed to being self-employed and running your own business.
The critical question is firstly whether you will be able to make enough money from this business to live on.
You need to know your finances inside-out. Both your personal finances and your prospective business finances.
Forget how many pounds in sales your sidehustle has made so far – that won’t pay your bills.
How much profit is left from that amount once you’ve covered all of your business costs?
You will never truly appreciate the old adage ‘turnover is vanity, profit is sanity’ until you explore running your own business.
Time spent analysing your business’ profitability up to this point is time well spent, and furthermore you should spend time forecasting how you expect your business to perform in the next 6, 12, 18 months and beyond if you want the confidence that you can succeed with this business as your primary income.
Once you are confident about the finances. you can consider the other draws of running your own business.
Being your own boss can offer so much more freedom.
The freedom to choose how and when you work. The freedom to express yourself and try new ideas within your business.
Done right, running your business won’t feel like ‘work’ at all.
You start to enjoy your working day, and this drives you to make the business become more successful and to reach your goals.
You stop clock-watching and your business becomes part of your livelihood and a part of your future.
The short-term worries about moving away from a secure monthly or weekly salary and being able to pay your bills are real, but don’t need to be a paralysing factor.
Countless business dreams never get off the ground because of this fear.
But there is no need to jump head-first into running your own business by quitting your job tomorrow.
You could approach your employer about flexible working hours so that you have time in the mornings/evenings/weekends to spend on your business.
Rather than quit your job entirely you could ask about reducing your hours, or job-sharing, until you are ready to make the full-time leap into your own business.
You don’t need to take all of the risk at once – draw up a plan and devise a roadmap for transitioning to where you want to end up.
Starting a business is a daunting prospect for anybody.
Talking it over with a professional, who you can trust to give you full and honest advice, could give you the push and the confidence you need to make it happen.
Page Kirk want to sit alongside you as your trusted advisor as you embark on this business journey, so get in touch for a free consultation to see how we can help. Call 0115 955 5500 or e-mail: