To side-hustle, or not to side-hustle?
Seeking advice -
I'm web developer I want to work on a side project that could yield big up$ide but doing so would require 100s of hours of dev (maybe more) and am worried applying the time/energy/effort will disrupt the momentum of my main business (web dev + HubSpot consulting) -
This one particular idea has come back to me numerous times over the years and I know it will get built at some point (by me or someone else)
But I've fallen into this trap before of spending to much time on fun engineering projects at the expense of making $ in my core business (which I love and enjoy btw).
I'm on a great trajectory in my core business: making solid consulting rev, built 2 successful digital products (working on my third), getting some decent passive income; the future looks bright...
I need to clone myself
What should I do?
It's hard to say anything based on this information, but I feel like hiring some people may be a good thing to think about.
Also, how does your potential side-project relate to the third product you're working on in terms of organization? Is there any chance you can balance out the time allocation between these two?
Good question - I'm working on other products that do relate to my core business and am happy to work on those because it works in harmony with my other busines activity - the idea mentioned in the post is completely unrelated to my core business. I've decided I'm going to allocate a few hours per day for the next 3 months to this endeavor then reevaluate.
Have you actually asked anybody if they need the product that you have an idea for? If not, talk to your target market first and make sure this is something they need and will pay for. If they don’t need it, then you can go back to your business and make actual money.
Now if you just want a fun side project that you’re fine with having hang out in your GitHub profile and not a serious business, then go for it. But don’t dedicate any hours to it that you’d otherwise be getting paid for until you’ve validated the idea.
Very good advice, thank you!
First of all, congrats for having a successful line of business as a web developer and HubSpot consultant.
Is there any part of your core business that you can delegate to other people? Maybe that way you can free up some time to work on your side project?
Thank you! I'm writing process docs for my services as we speak; the next evolution will surely be delegation so that I can remove myself from various aspects of the business and free-up more time for other endeavors. Thanks for the feedback!