“I am an Entrepreneur based in St Neots and I have built every business or initiative I have been fortunate to be involved in off the back of successful relationships over 6 years of building my network.”

2021 has been the year of the Side Hustle, we all know someone in our network that has decided now is the time to turn that passion into the project. Whether they are turning it into profit yet will determine if there is a business beyond the very admirable commitment that building a side hustle takes.

This is a topic that is dominating my inbox currently, “how do I take it to the next level and make it a full time focus?!” The answer is simply to make it the focus, there is so much support available for start-ups in Cambridgeshire and the only requirement of that ambition is to ask the right questions.

Assuming you are not trying to build something truly unique then the likelihood is someone has pursued the journey you are embarking on. You will find that when you ask them how they found their success, they are usually happy to share openly, if they haven’t already recorded it all in a book or published content online about their journey.

Either way, entrepreneurship is about solving problems and to do that the focus needs to be on seeking the right questions, so what are questions that could get you started on that trail of a side hustle to business journey?

Start with Why (No just joking, not going to go deep here!)

For 9 out of 10 people starting side hustles, your why is simply to have it contribute in some way to your living experience, usually monetary! Either way, the question of “Why am I doing this in the first place?” is very valid, just be honest and remind yourself of that purpose daily.

What is the ceiling of your side hustle?

Usually, there will be some clear limitations of a side hustle, picture a 21-year-old producing 500 Bagels in a 4x4m kitchen or a hallway full of products and packaging, this is the side hustle nation clogging up hallways up and down the county. Imagine the situation where you triple the demand for your business, will it fall over as a result and if not that will it be cash flow that will run out. Either way, understand your capacity for growth well ahead of time and get support to find ways to overcome these.

Do you want to run a business?

Very simple question, building businesses is not for the faint-hearted and appreciating that before you get going is going to be crucial to how you overcome the inevitable challenge it may present you. Find the 5 business owners that you aspire to and again, ask them what life is like as one.

These are questions I ask guests on my podcast every week, if the conversation around side hustles intrigues you search for The Micro Business Podcast on Spotify and if this sparked (accidental plug for the magazine) questions about your side hustle ideas just drop Shifties an email on hello@shifties.co.uk and we can signpost you to answers.