How to make money in your spare time

FORGET the excuse that you’re too busy, there is an easy way to make money in your spare time. Here is how to pursue your passions.

Confidence coach Susie Moore says find what you’re passionate about and how you can make money from it.

LACK of time is the biggest excuses I hear when it comes to people pursuing their passions outside of work hours.

I’m so used to (and yawn) when hearing “But I’m so busy” and “Yes but I have no hours in the day for X or Y”.

This changes on a dime however when I tell people how much money they could be making in their free time (it’s there — I promise you!), by pursuing their passions and making them a priority in the evenings and weekends.

We so often fail to make a connection between our love of organising and how it can transfer to event planning or our love of writing and travel and potentially blending those skills to begin a travel blog.

Perhaps we have a natural ability to career coach others through a job interview process. Many things that come easily to you in your day to day existence can become real life, breathing, profitable businesses.

In the USA we call these “side hustles” or side gigs. But a part time small business can exist anywhere. And you can start one today.

Here are five steps to put you on the entrepreneurial path to making serious dough when you’re not at the office:

UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU LOVE TO DO

There are lots of ways you can do this. You can brainstorm your hobbies. You can ask a close friend of relative what your most natural skills are.

You can pay attention to the problems you help people solve and even consider what you wanted to do or become when you were a kid.

When we do a little inner digging, we always know the work we are attracted to. And what we are drawn to is almost always the stuff we are good at.

FIGURE OUT WHAT PEOPLE WILL PAY FOR

People will pay for more than you realise. I know of someone who made six figures teaching others how to juggle through an online course and another person making bank teaching knitting! When people want something, they will pay for it — like picking up a valuable, fun or impressive new skill.

Remember, people are constantly looking to transform and improve their lives — from work to relationships, to their home or their body — side gig ideas endless!

DO SOME RESEARCH (WHO ELSE IS DOING IT)?

A pre-existing market is a good thing. It shows proof of concept, that there is demand, and there is always room for you to express your uniqueness in any product/service.

Take the time to research 5-10 products/service providers in your space and create a list on what their product mix includes, their pricing and their marketing strategy.

This will help you determine somewhat of an “average” to use as the baseline for your offering. What are two things that you can offer (or aim to) that the competition isn’t? Your unique flair, organic ingredients, personal story, accessible price point?

DO SOME WORK FOR FREE!

To build your confidence, you can do some work for free for friends in exchange for testimonials. This way you get some practise (without the pressure) and have great testimonials to share with potential buyers.

Limit this to 3-5 people. Once you have some experience in the bag, you’re well on your way!

DON’T OVERTHINK IT — GET GOING!

One thing that helps me really grow my business is knowing that it’s not for everyone.

Not everyone would hire a life or business coach and that’s OK, they don’t have to.

Because there are plenty of people who do (refer to points two and three).

So many people never get started with a small business because they fear failure and rejection too much. Do not be one of these people!

Our success in life is not measured by our grand intentions or ideas. It’s based on what we actually did with our time. So be a doer.

Remember — it’s a side gig. We aren’t striving for perfection, we’re looking for action.

Taking action is the only antidote to combat fear and to make money doing work you enjoy (on your terms!) in a very short amount of time.

Write down five steps you can take today to move toward starting a business.

Can you commit to an idea, understand your competitive landscape, find a couple of potential clients, buy someone in the industry a coffee to learn more?

It’s amazing what we can do when switch off the TV and power up our potential.

Susie Moore is an Australian Confidence Coach based in New York. Sign up for her free weekly wellness tips at www.susie-moore.com