Taking Your Side Hustle Full Time | How I Started BrandWell
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Show Notes
Today I want to share with you my own experience on how I was able to take my side hustle and turn it into BrandWell- a growing team of 6 brand and web designers! In this episode of the BrandWell Podcast, we cover the practical steps I took to build BrandWell from side hustle to my full-time dream business.
The first thing that I want to encourage you with is this- if you are in that season of side hustling, where you're staying up late every night and muscling through the workday so you can get home and do the work that actually inspires you and leaves you feeling fulfilled, if you're giving up your Saturdays and Sundays to go sit at a coffee shop and work on your business, I feel you. I was there only a year ago! It really hasn't been that long since I left my full-time job to actually dedicate all of the time that I wanted to on BrandWell. I was able to leave my full-time job after just about a year and a half of hustling. I know that that's not everybody's experience. But what I can do is give you advice and tips on how I think you can get there a little bit quicker.
It’s important to note that in this episode I also share reasons why you shouldn’t leave your full-time job just yet. I think this is so important and I really believe that the reason I was able to grow BrandWell from a team of one to a team of seven in less than two years is because of what I was able to take away through the time that I spent at my full-time job, all the experience, the discipline, and the financial stability that it gave me so I could then invest into my side hustle.
The Going Gets Tough
The first thing that I want to tell you, it's not going to be easy. I think we have this idealistic view of what social media puts out there as “girlboss” where all we do all day is post pictures on Instagram. For the traditional person who is starting a business selling a product or a service, it is not going to be easy. You make this transition from your full-time job and I promise you, there will be days when you think, what have I done? If anything goes wrong with your business, it is your problem and it is your responsibility- not somebody else’s.
I share this because I want you to be prepared for the transition. It might not be what Instagram makes it out to be. There are going to be days when it's really tough and you have to be willing to put in the time. You have to invest a lot of time and energy into your business in those early days.
Once you grow it to a point where things are a bit more stable and the leads are coming in consistently, and you may have a team helping you with the day to day operations, then YES, owning your own business, being your own boss is amazing! I believe it's everything it's cracked up to be. Just be prepared to put in work so you can reap the benefits down the road.
So now let's talk about what those actionable steps are that you can do in order to get to the point where you are ready to put in your notice and leave your full-time job.
Step 1 - Verify The Demand
You have to prove that there is a need for what it is that you want to offer. You have to start offering your services or giving away your product or trying to sell your product on the side and make sure that the demand is there. I cringe when I get on a phone call with a potential customer who wants to quit their full-time job, invest several thousand dollars in a website and they have never tested the market. That scares me and it should scare you too. Make sure that there is a need for what you're offering. When I was starting BrandWell, I offered website designs for pennies. I knew I had to see if there was a need, if people wanted a custom website design, and if they were willing to pay for it. I also had to build up a portfolio that would then help me get more customers. Without examples of your work, you can’t expect for people to trust you as an expert in your field. Build that portfolio, baby!
Step 2 - Think Like a Boss
Whether you hate your boss or you love your boss at your full time job, there's something you can learn from them. For me, I had a wonderful boss and I knew as long as I was working under him, I had something to learn from him. I never would have thought two years ago when I was getting ready to leave my 9-5 that I would be managing a team of seven people in just a couple of years. I'm so glad that I had the mentorship and the guidance of watching how my boss and other directors that worked above me, watching how they worked with me and worked with other people. BrandWell has grown so much and I've brought on team members, I'm taking a lot of what I learned from that job and I'm implementing it now. So start thinking like a boss, because pretty soon you're going to be one and you're going to wish that you had a little bit more grooming and a little bit more guidance from somebody who had been in that position before.
Step 3 - Find Your Tribe
For me, I had some built-in encouragers through my family and through my husband, and I'm really thankful for that. I also knew that I needed some objective people that we're going to support me along the way. In 2017, I decided to start a mastermind group with three friends that I knew who had their own businesses. We began to encourage each other to grow and we were able to learn from each other with our different skill sets. I'm actually still in the same mastermind today! It created a level of accountability that I wouldn't have had had I not been in this group. So I definitely encourage you to find your group of supporters and a mastermind is a great way to do that.
There are so many masterminds on Facebook, but if you're not sure, send me a message. You can email me Victoria@BrandWellDesigns.com or go to Instagram and shoot me DM @BrandWellDesigns.
Step 4 - Be Professional
The last thing that I want to talk about in terms of preparing your side hustle to be able to replace your full-time job is you have to show up professionally. I want you to decide whether you have to save up for a few more months, stay at your full-time job, and set aside a little bit of money each month that you can invest in the right tools for your business, like getting a proper website. You need to show up professionally and confidently from the start, or I think you're going to have a tough time getting to the point where your business is actually stable and successful enough to leave your full-time job and replace that income at some point. So here's why. It's not just because I'm a designer and I think everything needs to look beautiful and be functional. That is a good reason, but it's not the main reason. The main reason is when you are starting a business, the only way it’s going to survive is if people are willing to spend money with you. That's how business works, the business is fueled by dollars spent, so in order to do that, you have to show people that you're credible, that you are an expert in your industry, and that their money is not going to be wasted if they invest it with you.
Web design is a pretty expensive service and product and I knew that if I wanted people to invest at some point thousands of dollars on a website designed with me, I had to be investing in my own business. This has been a huge thing for me, guys. I know it is so tempting to save every dollar that we make with our side hustle, but it is so much more important, especially in those early days, to reinvest that money that you're making to keep showing up more and more professionally, to keep enhancing what that experience is going to be for the customer.
We certainly talk a lot more about leaving your 9-5 and growing your side hustle in this episode, so don’t forget to tune in to the full episode!
