5 Tips to Help You Start a Side Business

While starting your own business is a wise move, quitting your day job to start one may not work with your finances right now. Since most new businesses need some time to break-even, quitting your day job to start your own business could land you into financial problems. Launching a side business is one way of keeping your entrepreneurial spirit alive while still maintaining your day job.

Starting a side business is a great way to earn extra cash to supplement your monthly income. The side business may not pay the mortgage, but it can definitely relax some of the tension in your budget.

In addition to supplementing your monthly income, a side business will let you do what you love. It will ease the transition to working for yourself without endangering your career.

Here are 5 tips to help you start a side business:

Tip #1: Discover what you have to offer

The first tip to start a side business is figuring out what you have to offer. Identify your personal strengths that can be turned into profit. Scrutinize your strengths against the overall market to see whether you have a chance of profiting. You also need to set some goals for your business. Do some planning, but be flexible with your plans.

Tip #2: Get honest with yourself

The biggest mistake would-be entrepreneurs make is to focus on their personal strengths and ignore their weaknesses.

It's important that you get honest with yourself. Identify your weaknesses, then try to improve them by getting some form of business assistance and training. Take advantage of free training services and business seminars to improve on your entrepreneurial shortfalls. For example, if bookkeeping isn't your cup of tea, take advantage of the 30 minutes of free QuickBooks coaching from Ignite Spot.

You can also connect with other entrepreneurs in your niche who possess the skills you lack. This way, you will be able to imitate what they do.

Tip #3: Test the market

Test, test and test again. To get a clear idea of what works and what doesn't, test your market. You don't need a million-dollar budget to do this. You can test the market by collecting feedback and information from your target customers. If you want more tips on how to test the market, make sure to read our blog post called 4 Ways to Find Demand for a Business.

Tip #4: Keep the costs down

When you start a side business, you need time to break-even. During this start up period, make sure you don’t spend too much on unnecessary things like a fancy desk. To keep the initial costs down, consider leasing the needed equipment. You can buy the equipment after the business has started making profit.

Tip #5: Embrace challenges and discouragement

As an entrepreneur, you should be ready to embrace the challenges that come with start-ups. When you start a side business, you should be ready to face rejection, competition and sometimes even failure. Gasp! Let's be honest though, if you fail, what's the worst that could happen? You'll walk away from it a champion because you believed in yourself. There's no shame in that.

One thing – do not let early-stage struggles get you down. Separate what works from what doesn't and focus on the positive.

We believe in you. After all, that entrepreneurial spirit that you feel is the every spirit that built our great country. Small businesses are the fuel of our nation and they are run by people with heart, courage and a need to make each day better than the last.

Make today your day and start a side business. You can do this!

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