The Argument for a Side Hustle

I get it, everyone and their mother is pitching the elusive idea of a ~side hustle~. Millennials in particular are known for their side hustles and incidentally, their total life and career burnout. I’m also not going to sit here and tell you that your side hustle will let you “quit your day job and make six figures!!?”. (Sorry business coaches, but that’s definitely directed at you). So what is the argument for making a side hustle?

There are a lot of things a side hustle can be. Though, more importantly, there are plenty of things it shouldn’t be. A side hustle should not simply add stress to your life for the sake of added income. Odds are that your day job gives you enough stress and responsibility without needing to stack on a second job. After all, if that’s your goal, why not just GET a second job?

Turning your side hustle into something you lose sleep over is just a quick way to hate the hobby associated with it.

After all, a side hustle should be something that inspires you, right? Maybe it’s something you enjoy but don’t choose to make your main career out of. Perhaps it’s a niche skill or hobby that you’re still testing the waters with.

At the end of the day, my policy is that if your side hustle isn’t something you love and isn’t contributing something to your life (and I don’t mean $$$) then you should just toss it right in the bin.

All that aside, here are all the incredible and not so common arguments for a side hustle.

Your side hustle doesn’t have to make money!

Hear me out. I know the internet is obsessed with maximizing the profit on your side hustle, being a boss babe, blah blah blah. But at the end of the day, if your small business barely makes money or maybe you don’t even turn a profit, that’s okay! Hell, the first year of running my Etsy shop I didn’t pocket any of that money. When I did make money, I used it on art supplies or threw it right back in the business. Frankly, it was great. I called it my “self sustaining hobby” because it basically paid for itself while I got the joy of putting my art out into the world. Looking back, I know if I had set out with the main goal of making money I would not have enjoyed the process at all.

I also spend quite a bit of time in the Etsy Seller Facebook groups, and one of my favorite stories is from a jewelry maker that did the math and found that their business basically made no profit. Nonetheless, it gives them so much joy that it doesn’t change anything for them and they are happy to be able to practice their craft. This kind of passion is honestly much longer-lived than someone that is out to make a quick buck.

You don’t have to be consistent, there are no rules

When you’re not relying on a side hustle for your full time income – there is no pressure to be consistent with new content, keeping up with social media, and making sure you have every detail in order all the time. Your business can to ebb and flow and you have more power to take a break if you need one. I certainly can’t say that about my day job.

Etsy is honestly so fickle that I would NEVER recommend it as a full time income for anyone unless they have already seen real, consistent success on Etsy and they have a fallback plan. Etsy is one algorithm change away from potentially messing with your sales, and that’s a lot of pressure for anyone.

Your side hustle is allowed to fail

The argument for a side hustle is as simple as that. You can try something new and possibly fail at it without any real consequences. Etsy certainly wasn’t my first attempt at a side business, and my early attempts at art… well, they’re super embarrassing. You would not want to see my early Tumblr artwork (yikes). That said, I wouldn’t be where I am today without having earlier failures and learning from them. So fail, and fail again, and make sure you’re having fun. It means your next venture will be that much more successful.

You get first hand experience on running a business

You can take all the classes you want, get that management degree, and still not have a real idea of what it takes to run a business or whether you even like it. Being the front person for the product or service you’re selling means dealing with customers, being your own marketing team, and even your own tech support. I’ve learned that dealing with rude customers is my least favorite part, so I’ve taken steps to make automated responses so I can interact with them as little as possible. I also learned not to read customer reviews anymore for the same reason.

In addition, I have become a pro at understanding profit margin and tracking all my expenses. I have made moves to insource what I can print myself and outsource what I cannot. Learning these things has brought me a ton of joy and I continue to get more business savvy every day.

The truth is: this is just the beginning for me. I have many more business ideas that I hope to sprout and grow in my lifetime, because why should we ever stop making things we love?

Don’t overthink it, have fun, and enjoy the process!