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Finance, Lifestyle, and Passion: The Three Main Reasons Why People Start a Side Hustle

If someone asked you the main reason for you starting a side business today, the most plausible answer that you would give them would be to get more money of course!

In fact, over 57 million Americans have at least one side business that keeps them going. This is according to an analysis carried out by The Hartford.

The insurance firm carried out an online survey of over 4000 American adults in the month of May, with all the respondents having at least one side business.

Interestingly, about half of these respondents that owned a part-time business worked full time in their main jobs, and added that their part-time business consumed at least 10 hours of their working time. An additional half of those who had full-time jobs said that they took some time off their busy schedules to focus on their part-time gigs.

Most SME owners cited money as the major factor of starting their side hustle

Money as a Side Hustle Motivator

However, the most interesting finding was that, regardless of the age of the business owner, about two-thirds of the respondents cited money as their major motivating factor to start a side business.

In fact, about 72% of respondents said that they started a side business primarily because of financial factors. 18% of the respondents said they started a side business because of a desire to change their lifestyle, and the remaining 7% said that they pursued a side business because they were passionate about the side business.

Passion is great, but it can be stressful especially if you see limited returns on your side-hustle

Dabbling with Side-Hustle

According to the founder of the Side Hustle Nation, Mr. Nick Loper, these statistics are very sensible.

Nick comments on the situation using himself as a fine example. He says that he first started his side-business purely for financial reasons. With time, he felt the passion for the side business grow gradually.

Interestingly, his passion now is the art of side husting. The site that he’s created, Side Nation, talks extensively on the facets of beginning one’s own side gig, offers ideas to individuals, and divulges into the spectrum of affiliate marketing.

Nick further started a blog that provides information to beginners starting out in the side-hustle industry.

His two cents? True passion is quite rare. In fact, he even cited the book So Good They Can’t Ignore You’, which says emphatically that any advice on chasing your passion is ridiculous.

Most side-hustles are not viable enough for individuals to quit their main job and go in full-time

Why Passion Is Overrated

The reason being is that the passion that you have might not even have a market in the first place.

Additionally, starting a business around something that you’re passionate about might be a bad idea because it can minimize your love and joy of that particular niche, especially if you find yourself struggling to gain traction and to monetize.

However, this shouldn’t deter you from expressing interest in your passion, and working towards becoming an expert in that niche.

Ideally, Nick Loper’s original side hustle was a comparison site dedicated to footwear shopping that he first opened in 2004. In retrospect, it was not his passion, but it did help him understand the confines of the e-commerce spectrum, and how he can transform it into a viable business structure.

The Downside of Side-Hustling for Money

However, one major caveat that Nick comments on is that if your main desire is money, then the motivational factor might dwindle. Especially if you don’t see instant returns and results. Alternatively, the money is motivation enough to keep you going!

Loper adds that plenty of people get shackled by the idea that they need to come up with this never-before-tried business venture that will buy them a direct ticket to Forbes 40 under 40. On the contrary, the world is over 7 billion strong. It’s a given that your business idea has been thought of and tried before!

The best way to go about it, as Loper recommends, is to concentrate your efforts on one business at a time. In the event that you see some great results, kudos to you, and carry on.

On the other hand, if things go south, on to the next one, and concentrate on it.

That being said, The Hartford finance company shows that despite most SME owners desiring that extra financial reprieve, it is not enough to transform their business into a full-time investment.

As a matter of fact, only 25 percent of side hustles have shown confidence in their business becoming full-time financial options.

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