A blog for the side hustlers

At tsoHost, we have many customers who use our services to run their side hustles. They’re cupcake makers, musicians, massage therapists and more.

We also have many customers who have turned their side hustles into their main occupations. They’re photographers, authors, web developers and the rest.

Reports suggest that 40 per cent of workers in the UK already have a side hustle and experts predict that this is set to rise to half the population by 2030.

But keeping a side hustle going isn’t easy. Late nights, red eyes, early mornings and weekend work are often part of the package for side hustlers.

It’s for this reason that we decided to write this blog. It’s for those days when you start to wonder if all your efforts are really worth it.

On these days, when you might think about throwing in the towel, read this list of side-hustle related truths.

Richard Branson was a side hustler

In a recent blog, Richard Branson wrote that all his businesses started when he was working on something else.

He said: “Virgin Records was originally a side project as part of Student Magazine. When we went into aviation, again, we started our operations as a side project while we were running Virgin Records. Passion is the key to juggling work and business. If do what you love and love what you do you’re more likely to be successful.”

Steve Jobs was a side hustler

Steve Jobs was an employee at Atari when he and his friend Steve Wozniak started the Apple brand in the garage of Jobs' home in Silicon Valley. In 2013, that garage and the attached home was designated as a Historic Site.

Jobs is famous for living by the following mantra: "Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow know what you truly want to become."

Side hustlers do it for the potential freedom

At least that’s what Ed Snelson said, after his side hustle personalised printing business became so successful he was able to leave his job at an aerospace company.

Now the CEO of a million-pound business, Snelson said: "It's not about the money, it's about the freedom,” when he explained his drive behind the business.

Side hustling sets a good example for your kids

If you have children, your side hustle efforts won’t go unnoticed. Your hard work and the enjoyment you get from it when it pays off might even inspire your young ones to go down the entrepreneurial route themselves.

In a recent article for Forbes magazine, entrepreneur Chris Cancialosi wrote about how his eight-year-old son had set up his own summer car washing businesses. In the piece Cancialosi listed all the benefits he saw his son receiving from this summer business.

These were:

• Financial literacy

• Learning the importance of paying attention to detail

• Actively engaging with other people

• Increased curiosity and creativity

• Exposure to failure and the opportunity to learn from mistakes

• Pride

• The development of leadership skills

You can make a difference when you side hustle

Many side hustles start because the side hustler is looking for a solution to a problem that either doesn’t exist or is not available to the mass market.

So, they end up producing a product or service that starts by benefiting their own lives and goes on to benefit the lives of others.

Take the story of Snotty Noses. Mum Laura Klein started this company, which sells products that help babies to clear their noses, after she spent hours upon hours trying to find a product that would help her own baby breathe more easily. Today, Klein has made more than a million from her company.

Side hustles can lead to experiences that you’ll remember forever

Even if your side hustle doesn’t make you into a millionaire, it can give you memories that you’d not have otherwise had. You’ll meet people, you’ll travel, you’ll do things that put you out of your comfort zone.

Case and point is Matt Hazard. Aka Hungry, Hazzard started a side hustle as a competitive eater after completing a Man Vs Food-style food challenge.

Today, he travels around the world in his spare time, earning money from his competitive eating. In some challenges, such as the New Orleans Fat Boys Pizza Eating Championship, the winner receives a prize of as much as $3,000.

He said: “It’s not something everyone can do and it’s kind of like a sense of amazement there, but it’s also just fun to travel.”

The right side hustle can change your life

Making a multimillion pound company from your side hustle doesn’t happen to everyone. It does happen though.

In early 2019, Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, posted on LinkedIn that, when she first started her side hustle underwear business, she worked full time selling fax machines and ran her company from her apartment.

She said: “I would stay up all night packing and shipping. I didn't quit my day job selling fax machines until I had already landed Neiman Marcus Group and Saks Fifth Avenue. I continued to use my apartment as the main distribution hub for Spanx for the first year, despite total confusion from my neighbourhood (semi-trucks were not a normal occurrence pre-Spanx). My apartment was my headquarters for two more years.”

Feeling more motivated?

We hope so. Of course, there are countless dos and don’ts associated with making a side hustle work. You can find lots more advice on Richard Branson’s blog etc.

While we’ll leave the side hustle advice to the entrepreneurs who’ve been there and done that what tsoHost ca provide is the technical side to your side hustle.

Need a website? WordPress Hosting? An online storefront? Check out our website for all of these and more.