Side Hustle in Progress
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Side Hustle in Progress

A Practical Guide to Kickstarting Your Business

Elizabeth Ogabi

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eBook - ePub

Side Hustle in Progress

A Practical Guide to Kickstarting Your Business

Elizabeth Ogabi

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About This Book

A practical, accessible guide to starting a side hustle to help you avoid wasting your time, money and efforts.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the information out there about starting a side hustle? Do you have a great business idea but no clue where to start? Are you looking for advice to help you build the portfolio career of your dreams?

Side Hustle in Progress: A Practical Guide to Kickstarting Your Business is a handbook packed full of inspiration, no-nonsense advice and fresh ideas to help you feel empowered and excited about your future business idea. It also includes case studies from founders who have built their own businesses and thrived.

In this book, Elizabeth Ogabi shares her experience on everything you to need to know about starting a side hustle – from how to validate your idea and get your first few customers to strategies for marketing yourself and your new business. It is an essential tool for your side hustle success.

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Information

Publisher
HarperCollins
Year
2021
ISBN
9780008455019

1

BEFORE THE JOURNEY

There’s nothing like being mentally prepared for the journey ahead, and that is what this first part is all about – from mindset to wellbeing to productivity, we will cover it all.
These topics are usually found at the end of most business books, if they’re even included! But I’ve gone ahead and put them first to demonstrate how important I think they are. I don’t subscribe to the belief that running a side hustle or a full-time business needs to be all hustle and grind to the detriment of your health, or that you must hide your femininity in order to succeed. Don’t get me wrong, it is hard and some people won’t be able to hack it, but if I have learned one thing along the way, it’s that if I’m not mentally and physically well, everything else will fail. As the popular saying goes, ‘You can’t give from an empty well.’

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET

‘Think right, to show up right.’
Over the years I have been curious to find out what makes the most successful people – not just entrepreneurs but leaders, activists and innovators. Because as far as I’m concerned, having the audacity to start something is a big deal. Some say it’s talent, others say it’s grit. This curiosity motivated me to start my podcast ‘How I Made it Happen’, where I tend to ask guests, ‘What made you think it would work? What gave you the audacity to start?’ It also led me to dig deep into research books such as Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, by Angela Duckworth, to understand what actually brings about success.
After interviewing hundreds of successful entrepreneurs, I’ve realised they all have something in common – even the ones that ‘fail’ the first couple of times – and that is a way of thinking, a mindset, and a few similar characteristics.
Why a whole chapter on mindset? Because it has been proven that the way we think determines how we deal with situations and setbacks, how we show up in life and how we develop ourselves.
What we’ve been taught is that those who succeed are the people who are extremely talented, incredibly smart (with high IQs) and have always excelled in life. Some of you may feel that none of the above applies to you, which might make you think this will limit what you can achieve. You’ll learn from this book that you don’t have to know everything about the industry you are going into, nor do you need to be super talented to succeed, but you do need to have the attitude of never giving up, of being willing to learn, fail and start again. That is what sets people up for success.
Investors usually like backing second-time founders because they can see these people understand the road ahead and have probably learned lessons from doing it once before. Also, statistically the second attempt succeeds more than the first one. Second-time founders also have access to a bigger network. So don’t fear failure, it has its rewards.
You don’t have to have attended university, or have any professional qualifications to succeed. Success is not dependent on formal education. Don’t get me wrong, formal education is important. However, although my MSc was in International Business, there is absolutely nothing better than hands-on experience.
I’ve been asked a few times how I’ve managed to build For Working Ladies alongside a 9–5 job. I put it down to passion for what I’m trying to achieve and a way of thinking – being open to learning things I don’t know and asking questions of those who can help. I’m also always willing to make things work, and not fazed by getting it wrong and starting again. Writing Side Hustle in Progress has been a new challenge; I’ve never written a book before, but here I am with my dĂ©but, trusting myself that I’ll learn from my own lessons, which has been challenging and also frightening.
The greatest reward you receive from launching an idea is not necessarily the return of profits or having a successful business, but the person you become and the mindset you cultivate in the process. It is the best form of self-development. This is invaluable; it shows that you have the ability to dream and fearlessly go after whatever it is that you desire. The brilliant thing about this type of mindset is that it can be learned. Mindsets can also be changed, because the mind is like a muscle, but it won’t change overnight. Those mind shifts come with time, lessons and experiences. This right here is more valuable than any business strategy that you’ll learn.
Read on for a list of qualities that are important in developing your entrepreneurial mindset and achieving outstanding success.

SELF-BELIEF

There is absolutely no point in embarking on the journey of starting a side hustle if you feel you are incapable of doing it. You may as well not bother starting. That limiting self-belief that you have created about yourself will be your experience, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Our belief in ourselves guides how we show up in the world, it determines whether we become the person we want to be and whether we accomplish the goals we set for ourselves.
The beginning of failure is the lack of self-belief, and the beginning of success is an abundance of self-belief.
In his book The Magic of Thinking Big, Professor David J. Schwartz writes, ‘Belief, the “I’m-positive-I-can” attitude, generates the power, skill and energy needed to do. When you believe I-can-do-it, the how-to-do-it develops.’
It’s a straightforward formula: Believe – Feel – Do.
It is not wishful thinking, which only requires you to dream. You can’t wish a six-figure side hustle, but you can believe you are capable of creating one, then start to observe and learn what it takes to create this. Then, of course, finally you can take action. Can you see the difference? Self-belief must be coupled with action.
Your self-belief is what gives people confidence in you. Have the audacity to believe in yourself. You can achieve great things.

How to develop self-belief

  • Feed your mind with stories of self-belief. Start with listening to a few of the podcasts I have listed in the resources section, read about stories of those who have brought their ideas alive, not just the successes but the failures too. As you are listening and watching, take notes so you can refer back to their learnings.
  • What are your limiting self-beliefs? Write them down and for each one create a mantra to counter it. Make time in your day for when you can speak this into existence. I suggest doing it in the morning, when you rise.
  • With each limiting belief you have listed, write down the action you can take to conquer it. For example, if your limiting belief is ‘I can never succeed at selling products online because I do not understand social media,’ the action you take to conquer this is to educate yourself on social media. This could be through reading books, watching YouTube videos or even taking a course. There is definitely a solution to every limiting self-belief.
  • Create a vision of what you want to achieve. You can do this by making a vision board or even just writing down a paragraph of what you want to achieve in the future. I have a personalised diary titled ‘Liz’s Manifestation Journal’, and in here are my BIG future ideas of everything, not just business. Take the desires within you, get them down on paper and take action.
  • Surround yourself with people who believe in you. Make a list of those who make you feel capable and spend more time with them. Our circle has the power to influence us and you don’t need bad energy. Make sure you evaluate the advice of others and ask yourself if some people are worthy of being in your space. I create absolutely no room for anyone that wants to plant seeds of doubt within me, but I do make sure I take critical feedback and filter through what needs to be taken onboard and what needs to be trashed.
  • Focus on your strengths. Create a list of what you know your strengths to be and also ask friends and colleagues to name the first five that come to mind – refer to this list often so you are reminded of your magic!

CURIOSITY

Have the mind of a child, forever curious and with a hunger for novelty. As we grow older we tend to lose our sense of discovery as we have less time on our hands and want to avoid risk and inefficiency.
I explored many options with For Working Ladies; I was always open to opportunities of trying a new business concept. Back in 2016, it started out as a media company and I began to realise that it would require huge amounts of funds in order to maintain and grow. I managed 20 writers on my own; what did I know about being an Editor in Chief? But I did it. I eventually burned out, though, so I decided to try a simpler business model. I always made sure to understand why things didn’t work and research the alternative solutions I had – that was my curiosity in action.
The people who have gone on to create unique ideas are those who have continued to be curious, have given themselves room to explore and seek more than what is on the surface by asking why and rethinking the normal way of doing things. Take Airbnb, for example: who would have ever thought we would be renting out our homes to complete strangers? People thought it was completely crazy, but curiosity led them to discover how it could work. In the first couple of years when the founders were only making $200 a week, they decided to use the money to fly out to New York to meet their customers and ask them questions. In doing so, they discovered that the main problem customers faced was that the pictures of most listings weren’t good. So they bought a camera and went door-to-door to take better pictures.
Curiosity meant continuing to understand the needs of the customers by asking questions, understanding behaviours and wondering why they took certain actions and not others. There’s also Butternut Box, a sort of Deliveroo for dogs, which was started by two ex-investment bankers and provides freshly prepared dog food. Who would have thought that dogs would ever get such a treat? Curiosity led the founders to understand why their own dogs were getting sick from processed packaged food and so they decided to feed them home-cooked food. When their dogs felt better they discovered there was a gap in the market and ran with the idea. Curiosity allows you the opportunity to think outside the box.
Be aware that curiosity can also annoy people; they may want to move forward with the bare minimum of information while you desire to dig deeper and question the status quo. Curiosity will always bring about the best solutions for problems.

How to develop curiosity

  • Read widely, beyond your area of interest.
  • Explore new things: visit restaurants you wouldn’t usually try, watch documentaries, travel and experience new cultures, even if it is local – you’d be surprised how a bus out of your neighbourhood will allow you to discover something new.
  • Be willing to ask the questions that no one is asking, the foolish ones. Dig deeper and discover more than what is on the surface. Curiosity is a muscle and will need to be exercised.
  • Rethink the usual way of doing things, which means always saying no to the usual approach and discovering a new one.

RESILIENCE

When I think of resilience, I imagine an elastic band that is stretched to its limits, then once released it snaps back together. Resilience is having the ability to snap back in the event of any challenges, problems and setbacks that you experience in life, but not just snap back, come back stronger. Bringing an idea to life will stretch you and you’ll experience challenges that you have not before, but having the ability to know how to cope better and recover more quickly will be a superpower that you’ll need.
The most resilient people are not superhuman, because like most traits these things are learned and mastered through drawing upon past experiences, whether they are life-changing or not.

How to develop resilience

  • Each time you experience being resilient or getting over something difficult, journal about the moment. That way you build a bank of experiences that you can draw upon when you’re struggling.
  • Create affirmations about the above experiences to help you remember them in times of overwhelm.
  • Become more self-aware – take an inventory of yourself and your skills, gather data and understand how you could better manage challenges and adversity. Knowing this will help you move through the experience quicker with time.
  • Reframe the narrative, change how you view negative situations. Pay very close attention to the words you use when situations arise and the way you talk to yourself. See challenges as catalysts for growth and learning.

COURAGEOUSLY CONQUERING FEAR

‘Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.’
Mark Twain
Before confidence comes courage – you need courage to conquer fear, courage to try to do new things. According...

Table of contents