Nearly 50% of Americans have a secondary source of income or income. Here are 7 steps you should take to create lasting value for yourself.

The concept of a side hustle was born during the pandemic, when the economy as we knew it was immediately transformed and most jobs were transformed overnight. As life returned to a recent definition of normal and markets rebounded, stabilized, and even flourished, the sideshow economy continued to grow, becoming increasingly popular and financially significant. This trend has survived to at the present time, including: CBS News report that nearly half of the American workforce has an additional source of income or their very own side hustle.

Technology platforms like Uber and Postmates promote youth-driven economic development. But there is more to this story. Indeed, according to (*7*)Side Hustle Nation46% of scammers are over 35 years old. Moreover, side hustles are not only for people with financial difficulties; over 40% have household incomes over $100,000, and 78.4% said that they had no difficulty making ends meet.

The bottom line is that side hustles are becoming more common, diverse and significant. In this manner, today’s entrepreneurs have the opportunity to look at it from a different perspective, changing it from a small addition to side income to an impactful way to support their profession and/or finance other ventures. However, to do this effectively, today’s entrepreneurs must consciously create and manage their side hustles.

As you, the entrepreneur, consider building your individual side business, here are seven key steps to take to create lasting value:

1. Identify your goal. The truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all side hustle, and as the side hustle economy grows, comes the opportunity for side hustles to serve a variety of business purposes. For some, a side job may only act as an extra boost of income on top of a full-time paid job. Others may commit to making this side hustle their full-time job, eventually replacing their day job. However, others may use a side business as a means to an end, to repay debt or fund their very own startup. Before defining the goal you are striving for, it is necessary to first present the reason why you want to pursue it.
2. Identify your talents that you can use and complement them with training. Once you’ve narrowed down your goal, it is important to discover any talents and inclinations that might be leveraged. For example, you could be a graphic designer who can take clients on the side, a author who can easily double as a freelance editor, or a creative director specializing in photography who can moonlight as a wedding photographer. These correlations provide the basis for natural transitions and opportunities for rapid revenue generation. Whether you have naturally useful skills or not, consider investing in yourself and taking additional training to improve your knowledge. This is not going to only make you more marketable, but also allow you to charge more for your services.
3. Define your definition of financial success and match your financial goals to your opportunities. It’s necessary to align your purpose and talents with your definition of financial success. Set your goal earnings goals and ask yourself if these three components fit together. For example, you might want to turn out to be a piano teacher, but you realize that you will probably earn lower than your goal amount based on the number of hours you can commit. Other activities, comparable to a social media influencer or vlogger, is not going to have the same scale limitations and subsequently may have a higher financial ceiling.
4. Develop an achievable calendar of side activities. Extra work can easily turn into idle work if you don’t intentionally allocate hours to it. That’s why it is important to determine how many hours per week you can allocate and block off targeted portions of your calendar to get work done. It’s also essential to select raises that do not interfere with your current job and make sure your role suits your schedule.
5. Create a scaled timeline with key success indicators. We’ve talked about the ultimate definition of financial success, but we also need to get specific about when and what to achieve. Therefore, you should create a roadmap for the next 12 months, setting key growth (e.g. number of followers, billable hours) and financial (e.g. gross money earned, profit) goals. It’s necessary to set a timeline that you feel is manageable so that you, as an entrepreneur, are arrange for success. Schedules also help us stay organized. Extra activity means switching between different activities, so organization is much more necessary.
6. Find a side champion who will hold you accountable. Many side hustles are pursued independently and with little responsibility. We have sports coaches, academic teachers and artistic instructors. However, it is rare that we have external resources that allow us to focus on our own independent workstream. Find an independent guide who can commit to acting as an advisor to keep you honest and on the right track. For some, it might be a subject material expert knowledgeable in the field you are interested in. For others, it might be a colleague or partner with whom you have developed trust and can rely. To increase your mutual advantage in the game, consider paying your side champion a success fee or a percentage to help increase your revenue and productivity.
7. Course correct where essential. The truth is that side battles are trial runs and you may not succeed on your first try. Combined with defining your goal timeline and success metrics, you need to make clear what’s working and what’s not, and course-correct if essential. For example, you may find that you love running a podcast channel, but despite your brave efforts, you make little or no money from it. Perhaps this should turn out to be a hobby moderately than a rush, or perhaps you should change your plan to focus on a stronger growth platform. Either way, do not forget that you can re-evaluate periodically and change course if essential.

Side hustles are on the rise, and the data suggests this may remain the case. According to McKinsey Opportunity Research36% of employed respondents representing 58 million Americans identified as independent employees, up from 27% in 2016. For entrepreneurs, this represents a unique growth opportunity. There is greater access to additional sources of revenue, and the income generated from them has turn out to be more significant. As such, the challenge has shifted from exposure to focus and intention. However, with proper structure, planning and evaluation, your side hustle might be a success.