Why Should I Have a Side Hustle?
My last blog post focused on the financial reasons that you should consider finding a side hustle. But there are so many more amazing reasons beyond financial reasons for finding a side hustle or side gig. Let’s chat about the most important ones.
A Hobby That Pays You Instead of Drains You
I have had a plethora of hobbies in my lifetime. None of them ever paid me any money before I found the hobby with Scentsy. In fact, some of those hobbies cost me a great deal of money both to get started and to continue to pursue those hobbies. Building a business, while work, can be lots of fun and a great hobby because you can find ways to work your passion into the work of the business. That leads us to the next reason you should consider a side hustle.
Grow Your Skills in your Passion
No matter what side hustle you consider, you should look to one where you can also grow your skills in your passion. Or perhaps you might even find a new passion all together. An example of this would be something I discovered while working in my Scentsy business. I have never really considered myself an artist in any way. I have always been crafty but never a true artist. In the past few years, with the growth of my business online and the increased use of Social Media, I found a need to learn to make graphics and do some digital graphic editing. With the use of some great user-friendly apps, I have grown and developed some preliminary skills in graphic design. While I do not consider myself a graphic artist in any way, I have discovered a new hobby in this and I have had the opportunity to continue to grow skills in this area. I would have never even known about my love for graphic design had it not been for my side hustle.
Test the Waters or Ease InTo a Possible Career Change
When I began my side hustle in Scentsy, leaving my profession of teaching was nowhere near on the radar. However, as my side hustle began to grow, it became evident that retiring from teaching was a possibility. It was great to have a time period to grow my side hustle and really decide whether Scentsy as a full time choice was even what I wanted to do. I am thankful that starting a side hustle allowed me to make a career change.
Flexible Ways to Earn Money
My last blog post focused mainly on the different things that extra money from a side hustle could be used for. However, I did not focus on the fact that earning that extra income was very flexible and allowed for the ebbs and flows of normal day to day life to take precedence while earning some side cash. I like to say that Scentsy fits into the “nooks and crannies” of life. I was able to grow a business while still focusing on my family and my children. Their needs always came first. Had I gotten a typical second job, this would not have been the case because I most likely would have had scheduled hours where I would have to clock in and out on a rigid schedule. So if you need flexibility in earning extra money, you should consider a side hustle.
Learn New Skills to Better Yourself and Your Portfolio or Resume
This one kind of goes back to the previous statement about growing your skills in your passion but actually goes beyond that. I have zero passion for accounting or managing spreadsheets. However, as a necessity of being the sole proprietor of my Scentsy business, I have had to learn to do both of these things. Business taxes vary greatly from personal taxes. I have had to learn the importance of staying organized and being diligent about staying on top of tasks throughout the year. Also, customer management has forced me to learn new ways of organizing information as well. I found that spreadsheets were my preferred form of maintaining customer information. While accounting and spreadsheet management were things I was vaguely familiar with, I have really educated myself through owning my own business. If I were to ever choose to leave my business (fat chance), I would have new skills to add to my resume.
Build Your Self-Confidence
This one is a big deal in considering a side hustle. I can’t speak for other Direct Sales companies, but I know that Scentsy goes above and beyond in recognizing and congratulating people who achieve goals, big and small, in their business. We have opportunities to earn incentives multiple times each year. We have the ability to earn bonuses every single month for the corporate level as well. Within the smaller teams, most leaders have multiple opportunities for business owners to be recognized for a job well done. If you would like to build your self-confidence, you should consider a side hustle.
Learn to Self-Regulate and Build Time Management Skills
This has been a tough one but a very needed area of growth for me in my side hustle. Most jobs have some form of regulation of the work that is expected of you. Even if it is to just show up to work on time, someone is looking to make sure that you are at work and doing the things you need to do. Not the case with a side hustle. When you have your own side hustle business, it is your sole responsibility to show up and do the things you need to do whether you want to or not. That can be difficult. This is not a skill that will be learned overnight but with the coaching and guidance of a mentor, this is a great skill that you will learn to grow with a side hustle.
Grow Your Circle of Friendship and Influence
Meeting new friends and growing my circle of friendship and influence is probably my favorite part of having a side hustle business with Scentsy. I had friends before, but mostly just from my job at the local school, involvement at church, and from relationships within my small community. Thanks to Scentsy, I now have friends not only all over the United States, but also all over the world. The people I now consider some of my best friends are at such a distance now that we actually plan family vacations together so we can spend time with each other. Learning about people from all over the US and all over the world is a huge benefit and reason you should consider a side hustle.
As you can see, there are so many various reasons that you should consider a side hustle. Whether you are looking to increase your income, or grow into a better person with more skills, a side hustle can do just that. I hope that you consider adding a side hustle in your life.