Let's scale your business

Welcome to Career Insider. Last week, we discussed ideas for your new side hustle that’ll hopefully turn into your full-time job. Today, let’s take that one step further and make sure you don’t go toooo crazy with it.

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SIDE HUSTLES
Your side hustle stack: Part 2

You’re super motivated to get your side hustle started, but you’d be wise not to jump in too quickly. The best businesses start slow.

We’re talking about the 5-step process to build your side hustle stack. Last week we covered the first part. Now, let’s dive into the second.

As a reminder, here’s what we’re doing:

• Identify your skills and interests

• → How to scale your business gradually

• Use the power of automation and outsourcing

• Organization and how to manage your time effectively

• How to avoid burnout by coupling persistence with patience

Today, let’s talk about how to scale your business.

How to Scale Your Business Gradually

The beauty of a side hustle stack is that it doesn't require a massive time commitment upfront. Choose one or two low-effort ideas to start with and dedicate a few hours each week.

Don't quit your day job just yet!

First, validate your idea and target market. This often starts small - think pop-up shops before retail empires, or minimum viable products (MVPs) in the tech world. Test your offering, gather feedback, and refine. This minimizes risk and allows for agile adjustments based on real-world data. Remember, even Amazon started by selling books online.

To validate your idea, offer your services for free to a few people. Maybe to friends, family or a neighbor. Do you enjoy the work? Is it providing value for the customer?

Once you have a validated idea, focus on organic growth and building a strong brand reputation. Word-of-mouth referrals, content marketing, and leveraging social media can be incredibly powerful, especially for bootstrapped businesses. Think about how Spanx founder Sara Blakely famously grew her company through word-of-mouth and strategic media appearances.

You may not get interviewed on TV just yet, but getting your first few paying customers is critical. Remember those people you offered free services to during the validation step? Ask them to recommend you to a few people. Boom, you’re bound to get one or two paying customers.

As revenue and demand increase, systematize your operations to create repeatable processes. This could involve automating tasks, outsourcing non-core functions (like answering emails, etc), or developing standard operating procedures.

For instance, a virtual assistant can handle email management, appointment scheduling, travel arrangements, basic customer service inquiries, and more. Or, hire a social media manager to create engaging content, schedule posts, and interact with your audience.

This frees you up to focus on strategic growth and prevents the business from becoming overly reliant on you, the founder. Remember, scalability is key to sustainable growth.

In next week’s email, we’ll move onto step 3: How to automate your hustle.

NEWS
Want a raise? The job market is…complicated

This week's employment news is like that awkward office party where Elaine Benes from Seinfeld is dancing – confusing, a little cringey, and you're not sure whether to laugh or cry.

First, the good news (sort of): the US economy did add jobs in July. A whopping 114,000 of them! Sounds great, right? Well, hold your celebratory champagne. Experts were expecting closer to 175,000 new gigs. It's like showing up to a potluck with a sad bag of chips when everyone else brought gourmet casseroles.

And to make matters even more awkward, the unemployment rate decided to play party pooper and increased to 4.3%, its highest point since late 2021. Imagine showing up to that same potluck, but instead of more guests, half the people left because the chips were so disappointing.

So, what does this mean for your grand career plans?

Well, it's not time to panic-apply for that alpaca farm internship just yet. Some industries, like healthcare and construction, are still hiring like crazy. And wage growth, while slowing down a bit, is still happening. Think of it like this: you might not get that massive promotion tomorrow, but you could probably swing a slightly nicer office chair.

But here's the real takeaway: The job market is in a weird, transitional phase. It's like that awkward stage between being a recent grad and a seasoned professional – full of potential, but also prone to the occasional faceplant.

So, what's a career-driven go-getter to do?

• Sharpen those skills: The competition might be heating up, so make sure you're bringing your A-game.

• Network like your career depends on it: Because, well, it kind of does. We talk a lot about networking on Career Insider.

• Don't be afraid to negotiate: Even small wins add up.

And hey, if all else fails, there's always alpaca farming. Just saying.

JOBS
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