This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Welcome to Side Hustle School, Chris Guillebeau here. I love the question you're gonna hear in today's episode. Very short question, very short answer, most likely. I'll try to give you something helpful. I'd like to help the listener who calls in and also many of our other listeners by proxy.
So if you were out there trying to start your first or your next side hustle, you might be wondering about timing. When in fact is the best time to start? When is the optimal time? Okay, does such a thing exist? You know, and it's easy to say just start and I will say just start most likely, but I'll try to be more helpful than just that.
I'll try to give a couple of specific comments on how to tackle this decision for yourself, right? In the midst of a busy world, in the midst of so many things that can take your time. So our listener Casey has heard various advice, but wants a more definitive answer. So let's see if we can do that. When's the best time to start?
Quick shout out to our sponsor, The Question and My Answer. [Music]
Hi, I'm Casey from Green Bay, Wisconsin. I've been contemplating a side hustle for some time, but I'm unsure if there's a best time to launch. Seasonality, economic trends and personal commitments all make me wonder when I should move forward versus waiting it out. Is there an optimal time to start a side hustle?
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Hey, Casey, thanks for the question. So maybe the generic advice first, then I will try to get more specific, but this generic advice that you have no doubt heard already is I guess valuable. I mean, the advice to just start is, I mean, that's like, that works, right? Like the best time to start a side hustle, what was that old parable about the best time to do something was last year, right? But if you're too late for that, then today is good too, right?
Today, tomorrow, that advice is timeless for a reason. You know, there's all kinds of reasons to put something off. You can always find an unlimited number of reasons to defer something, but there's a lot of power in starting. Okay, I know we don't want just a generic answer, so I'll move forward here. But I think like when in doubt, sooner is better than later.
Okay, so less generic. Well, it depends on what your side hustle is, depends on what's going on in your life, but let's assume all things are equal in your life and you could start now, you could start three months from now, you could start a year from now. Think about perhaps new year momentum. So new year's coming up here. The start of a new year is a time when a lot of people are motivated to try new things.
You might have a resolution, you might be updating your workout routine, your fitness, you might be changing other stuff in your life. So, you know, that's a good time. You also might want to avoid major life changes. Like if you're going through a significant life change, like you're moving or you're starting a new job, perhaps, maybe a major relationship change, might not be the ideal time to also start a side hustle. Like it's great to start a side hustle when you have some relative stability elsewhere.
Again, relative is the key word, of course. Just getting really practical, if you're gonna sell something e-commerce, you're gonna sell a product, you know, you wanna start before a peak shopping season. And of course, it depends on how much time it's gonna take you to get up and running, sort out your inventory, your logistics, your systems, and so on. But in most cases, if you're selling a retail product, it was probably better to have everything ready to go in October, let's say, rather than February, if possible, right, because you're gonna have a lot more sales towards the end of the year. And of course, there's other seasons that are big too, late summer, early fall, sometimes back to school.
Really depends on the item, of course. But if you're able to plan before a peak shopping season, then that is helpful. Some people also like to start their side hustle after tax season, depending on how busy that can be, especially if you're getting a tax refund in the spring. Maybe that gives you a little bit of money to experiment. But of course, my whole message is you don't need a lot of money to start your side hustle.
So I just mentioned that because when I asked this question on social media, a couple of people mentioned it. So I did wanna throw that out there as well. The best time, honestly, is whenever is best for you. And that goes to our listener, Casey. It goes to all of our listeners out there.
Mostly I want you to, in fact, just start. Okay, I hope you will. I'm cheering you on. I want to hear about your steps, your progress, what's going on with you. Let me know, sidehustleschool.com/questions.
I know it's a busy time of year, of course. But I'll be here every day with a new episode. I hope you'll join me. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School.
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From the Onward Project.
