This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Hey listeners, thanks for tuning in today. Hope you're doing well wherever you are in the world. Hope you're working on something that's important to you. If you get off track, just try to find your way back to that North star. I always think of it as doing more of what matters.
And of course, you're the person who decides what matters to you. Your answer could be different from mine or from anybody else. So it's just good to think, you know, what really matters to me and how can I do more of that? How can I do less of the things that kind of drag me down or drain my energy or just, you know, kind of feel purposeless, right? We all wanna do more of what's purposeful.
So I make this podcast as a quick five to 10 minute encouragement for you every day, hopefully some practical help as well. And in today's episode, we're gonna tackle a question from Carlos, who is in the exciting but uncertain phase of considering whether to transition his freelance web design side hustle into a full-time business. We'll discuss what to consider when deciding if it's time to take the leap, as well as how to navigate that transition. And this conversation is gonna offer some guidance for anyone thinking about turning their side hustle into their main gig. Or maybe if you just wanna do that sometime in the future, right?
It's always good to plan ahead or at least to dream. So let's look at the question, when's the right time to scale up? It's coming up after this quick message from our sponsor. [Music]
Hey there, I'm Carlos from Austin. I came across your podcast while browsing for business tips online.
I've been working on my side hustle, a freelance web design service for a while now, and it's starting to gain some traction. I'm considering quitting my day job, but I'm unsure about the timing. How do I know when it's the right time to scale up or consider transitioning my side hustle into a full-time business without jeopardizing my current job and financial stability? I just want to make sure I'm making the right decision for my future. [Music]
Carlos, first of all, congratulations on the side hustle gaining traction that is awesome and exciting.
And of course, deciding when to transition into a full-time business can be a tough call, but it's a good place to be in, right? So normally in this situation, you know, I would give like three to four factors or maybe a few different questions to ask. Let's simplify just for the sake of progress because I just realized, by the way, this is episode 2300 of the podcast, 2300. We've come a long way and it's great to hear from people like Carlos who are in this place. So to simplify and make it two factors, first factor is financial stability.
Like you want to make sure you have that solid financial safety net. This includes having a consistent income from your side hustle that meets or exceeds your current expenses, maybe some savings to cover any unexpected expenses. And also as part of that financial stability, just a general belief that if you put some more time into this, it can actually generate some more money, right? Which is good. Now, the second factor here is what do you want to do?
Like your own motivation, your own personal motivation, your desire, and in this case for Carlos, it sounds like he knows what he wants. You know, he just wants to make sure. But for him and maybe some other listeners as well, a simple visualization exercise can help. And what do I mean by that? It's actually really simple.
Just imagine that you no longer have to go to your day job. Just take a moment and see like, what does that feel like? Like if I don't have to go to my day job, I can work on what I want. You know, does that make me feel excited? Maybe a little bit nervous.
That's kind of normal. But does it, you know, does it feel purposeful to go back to what I said at the beginning of the episode? Does it feel like, oh, that would be doing something that matters. You know, I think pay attention to those two factors above all, like your own motivation and financial stability. If you've got both of those, then that's the time, or at least that's the time to plan for it.
And if you don't, then maybe that's the time to say, okay, it's a great side hustle. Let me keep running it as a side hustle, but I'm not gonna go all in. There's all kinds of different ways to do this. You know, that's what's beautiful about this world of side hustles and projects and, you know, creating financial stability in general, whether it's through this particular project or something else. There's just so many options.
So I'm proud of Carlos and everybody else out there who's taking action on their goals, turning inspiration into action, let's say. And if you have a question, by the way, I should mention, of course, sidehustleschool.com/questions. We'll continue to feature them each week. We're not done. Episode 2300 and one coming out tomorrow and then counting on from there.
Thank you so much for tuning in, making this part of your world. I'm grateful for that. And I hope you'll keep listening. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School.
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