This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
I want to say a very happy and Merry Christmas to all of our listeners who celebrate and wherever you are in the world. I'm wishing you well. Whether this is a holiday for you or not, thank you for being out there and welcome back to Side Hustle School. Of course, the podcast continues every single day, 365, 366, in some cases, such as this year, which was a leap year. And today we're going to hear a question from Alex in Seattle.
Alex has already started a Side Hustle and has some early traction, but isn't sure what to focus on next. So they're asking a really simple, specific question that I think is really helpful for lots of people. What are the top three things I should do next? What are the top three things I should do right now? If you can only do three things, which, you know, that's a good number, like too many more than that just becomes overwhelming.
What are the three things he should do next? And maybe this will be helpful for somebody else out there as well. I'll try to give some specific notes that are also widely applicable. That's always my challenge with this podcast, but I do my best. And of course, let me know how I can do better.
But for now, quick shout out to our sponsor, Alex's question and my answer. Hey, Chris, this is Alex from Seattle. I've started a new business and I've seen a little bit of traction, but now I'm a little unsure about what to focus on next. There's tons of advice out there and it's overwhelming. What are the top three things you think I should do to keep building momentum and make sure I'm headed in the right direction?
So if we knew all about Alex's business, we might look at it and say, okay, there's a specific opportunity here. Here's what I think you should do, but to give a general answer that is still helpful, hopefully, here's what I think when you're in the situation of feeling overwhelmed. What do you do in a business sense, specifically? Number one, you double down on what's working, okay? So if you're already seeing traction, it means something is going well, whether it is a product, a marketing approach, customer segment, certain type of social media you're using, figure out what is driving that initial success and focus more energy on it as opposed to doing new things, do more of what is working.
This is not the time to experiment with a whole bunch of stuff. Double down on what's getting you results and build from there. Number two, build some sustainable systems. This is always good. Systematize your business.
Think about how you can be more intentional. Develop systems that save time and make things run more smoothly. So try to automate some repetitive tasks, scheduling posts, sending invoices, tracking orders, whatever you can do to focus on higher value activities. Zapier is great for that. Zapier is an online tool that allows you to connect lots of other tools.
Stripe for payments, a very simple payment solution. Our longtime partnership station is really great for e-commerce businesses that are shipping out product. So whatever you can do to build sustainable systems, that's going to save you time and take away some of that overwhelm in the long run. And then number three, engage with your customers, specifically your early customers when you're getting something going, they are incredibly valuable, not just because they bought something from you, but also because they can offer insights into what is working and what isn't. So don't be afraid to reach out to them, ask for feedback, use that information to improve your next product or service or wherever you're going next.
As you double down on what's working, as you build those sustainable systems, also build strong relationships, you know, that can lead to repeat business referrals, just a much stronger business overall. And of course, that's what we want as we go into a new year soon, as we wind down one year and go into a new one, how can we be better than before? I like to ask myself that question. My friend Gretchen Rubin wrote a book with that title. Great title, great book, great concept.
How can we in fact be better than before? I'm asking myself that question at the end of the year. I hope you'll do the same. Let's all come back strong for next year. And for now, thank you for listening.
You can subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcasts. Of course, always free, new episode every day. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. From the Onward Project.
From the Onward Project.
