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You have an idea. You think it is a great idea. But before you pour your heart, soul, energy, time, and money into an idea you want to know if it’s going to work. It is hard to put in an effort if you are going to get nothing in return.

Or, maybe you have started a side hustle and have not made a single sale yet. You are feeling discouraged and want to quit but you are not sure if it is too soon to give up.

The future is unpredictable. Someone can start a business and start making money on day 1 while others might take months, or even years, to make money. There are questions you need to be asking to see if it is all worth it. Can you make REAL money with your side hustle?

Is it your passion?

If you want to live on the money you make from your side hustle, then you must truly believe in it with every fiber in your body! Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. It is hard work. There will be early mornings and late nights. Yes, your time is flexible, but I am no stranger to working during my vacations.

If you love what you do, it will make the hard times a lot easier to deal with. If you don’t, then you are just creating another job that you don’t like and eventually will try to escape from.

Are you asking potential customers the right questions?

Often, when we are starting out, we ask our friends and family, “would you buy this product/service?” That is how we ASSUME there is a need or demand for our product or service.

Guess what? THEY ARE OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY! They love us! Of course, they will say that they will buy it. But will they?

Ask them to buy it now. Pre-sale your product or service. If you get enough pre-sales, make the product! If not, think of something else to sell. (side note for those excellent grammar people: I have no idea if I used sale and sell properly.)

I have created a worksheet called Find Your Perfect Side Hustle to help you uncover your profitable side hustle.

Running a business is about making money. If you are not making money, you have a hobby, not a business. So, it is time to find out if people are going to pay for your product or service right now.

What makes you different?

Thanks to the internet, almost anything can be found for free. It is important for you to set yourself apart from the group. Do you have a formal education background, or have you been doing this for 20 years? Do you have proven success stories? Why should someone buy from your versus following a free YouTube channel?

Finding your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) is key to being able to charge top dollar for your product or service. Be different!

How many do you need to sell to feel successful?

This is something I used to overlook too often. I would have an idea for a product or service then after I did the math, I found out that I would never make enough money from it. Doing the math will help you figure out if you are wasting your time.

For example: If you want to sell an E-book for $9, you would need to sell…

100 E-books to get $900

1,000 E-books to get $9,000

10,000 E-books to get $90,000

And so on…

What time, effort, and money do you need to sell 10,000 E-books. There is a lot of marketing involved in selling that many E-books, can you do it? If not, think of another product at a higher price point that people will be willing to pay for.

Are you willing to be patient?

Like I mentioned before, some people start making money right away while it takes others longer. How long are you willing to wait without getting anything in return? With any business, there will be busy seasons and slow seasons. If you don’t have the patience now, then there is a good chance you will not have the patience for a slow season.

This question is for you to truly be honest with yourself. Decide on a time frame that you will stick with your business no matter what: 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, etc. When you are done committing to your business and you don’t see the results you want, you feel better knowing that you gave it shot when you walk away. But don’t give up before your time commitment is done.

In summary, running a side hustle is not easy. You have to have a passion for what you do so you can get through the tough times. Success depends on you and the numbers. What are you willing to do and not do? Just because you love the product doesn’t mean people are willing to pay for it. If people don’t buy it, what is your backup plan?

It is best to think these things through now, so you can set yourself up to make REAL money with your side hustle.