3 Side Hustles That Teach The Business Skills You Need To Succeed

There are so many businesses you can build for $1,000 or less, but many people who gain the courage to start one are often missing the basic business skills needed to scale quickly.

I teach new entrepreneurs how to get on a faster path to profitability thanks to my experiences from three side hustles. Before leaving my corporate job, here are the skills I learned that helped me become a full-time business owner.

Learn Daily Task Management By Working Customer Service For A Retail Small Business

On average, 4.4 million businesses are launched each year in the United States. The Covid-19 pandemic inspired many people to look for more flexible working hours. But dictating your own schedule includes the responsibility of assigning business tasks to yourself and to others with whom you work.

In coaching people on how to leave their corporate jobs, I’ve learned new entrepreneurs are often surprised at their own inability to manage their time efficiently. They don’t realize how reliant they were on a manager dictating their workload, even the highly paid executives who considered themselves autonomous before jumping into entrepreneurship.

Before I launched my own fashion retail business, I worked part-time jobs for $15/hour at two local clothing boutiques. I learned how to manage a broader range of customer challenges when there wasn’t an exact protocol to follow. More importantly, I was able to shadow the business owners to see how they delegated tasks to me and other employees.

I also watched them manage everything from bookkeeping to vendor management to maintenance of the physical products and space. When I was ready to start my own business, I knew what I needed to schedule administrative time for and how to keep a structured daily schedule to stay on top of my business tasks.

Practice Sales By Coaching Individuals On A Skill That’s Natural For You

KPMG found 75% of female executives across industries have experienced imposter syndrome in their careers. This condition can be even more challenging as an entrepreneur because you don’t have the mentors or managers to lean on when you are doubting yourself.

According to a study of 600 entrepreneurs by Kajabi, 84% said they experience imposter syndrome. I’ve seen many new business owners dread sales because of these feelings, which can be particularly detrimental if it creates fear around selling new products or services, and prevents them from getting feedback to iterate faster.

Before launching my full-time business, I practiced sales by coaching others on a skill that was easy for me due to my years of human resources experience — writing resumes. I wrongly assumed that others would not pay for this service, and the imposter syndrome really kicked in when I thought I was selling something that should be given away for free.

I then mustered up the courage to ask people to pay me a low price at first ($29) and progressively asked for more money as I received positive feedback about the value of what I produced.

I eventually raised my price to $400 per session. Practicing how to sell my resume services helped me get over the fear of being rejected by future customers. You can do the same by charging even a small amount for a skill others ask you for help about and use it to build your confidence as an entrepreneur.

Master Competent Communication As A Paid Speaker

Studies from around the world show more than 75% of adults have anxiety related to public speaking, according to Psychology Today. Entrepreneurship will likely require you to speak in front of strangers at some point, if not on a regular basis.

I grew a six-figure coaching and education business by speaking — both to live, in-person audiences and in front of a camera — to market my business on television, YouTube and Instagram. Due to the popularity of social media, I’ve witnessed how new business owners’ fear of speaking in public can extend into putting out necessary marketing content.

When I started my side hustle teaching financial education, I charged $99 or less to teach a class online, or to speak in front of local nonprofits and small businesses. I was not a natural, and I showed up unrehearsed, unstructured, and unaware of time limits. I acted similarly in front of new clients — rambling about myself and fumbling over my words versus helping people solve their problems.

Since 2020, I’ve delivered hundreds of speaking engagements and now charge several thousand dollars for a keynote talk or workshop. But more importantly becoming a paid speaker helped me:

• hone my messaging;
• become more concise in my verbal communication; and
• create meaningful content that attracts new customers versus chasing them.

I particularly recommend working a side hustle as a paid speaker for any entrepreneur who has a knowledge- or service-based business. Even if you have no desire to become a full-time stage speaker, just getting paid incremental amounts to speak at events will vastly improve your ability to communicate competently and confidently with any of your business’ stakeholders.