Building a Business vs. Side Gigging
You decide you want to start a business and you are trying to figure out if you want to go all in immediately or start off with side gigs and work your way up to full-time entrepreneur. While most people will automatically have to start small and expand over time, you may be blessed with the financial resources and ability to leave your 9 to 5 and make the jump. This article will feature tips to know which avenue is best for you and factors to consider on your entrepreneurial journey.
• What is your motivation: When deciding to pursue a side gig, what are you doing it for? Are you doing the job to save up to start a business? Are you trying to pay off debt? Are you just trying to earn an extra $500 a month? These are very important questions to ask yourself. If your reason for side-gigging has no further intentions for starting a business and it’s all about the money, then that makes it easy to make a short-term plan of your goals. Plenty of people use services such as food delivery, rideshare to make extra money. If your goal is to turn your side gig into a full-time job, then it is imperative that you establish if you are doing a job that will parlay into your own business or is it a job you are doing until you save x amount of money and begin your freelance journey. • You get a glimpse of your business future: When you start to side gig and it’s doing something that you want to turn into a full-time business you get the advantage of seeing how you can manage your business before you have invested as much money and time. For example, if you desire to own a hair salon, most stylists usually work out of their homes and then move up into renting a booth from a salon before deciding to become a salon owner. This gives stylists the time to perfect their craft while also learning how to manage a salon with employees. There is nothing wrong with jumping into going full speed with launching a business, but the worst feeling would be putting 20k into a business to realize a year later you no longer want to be a business owner. Even worse, you never recouped your financial investment. • Both give tax benefits: No matter which avenue you decide to pursue you are entitled to tax write-offs. Keep track of your receipts and records to maximize your tax breaks. • You can explore your many talents: One of the biggest factors when deciding to start a business is if you want to do a business that you are passionate about or something that you do well and know will bring in the $$$ but it isn’t a passion. When you choose side-gigging, you get the chance to explore several side hustles at once (assuming you have the time). Taking this direction gives you the chance to see which is
more important to you: Loving what you do or loving the money. Of course, you can have a business that offers both but there are plenty of businesses that are thriving simply because of the demand they bring.
Comments