The 6 Questions to ask yourself before starting a side business

Thinking to start a side business for more income? There are people who do side business that ends up as their primary source of income. It could be a long-term solution to solve all your financial needs and improve your life experience.

But what do you need to start a successful side venture? First, you must begin the discovery process. Answering these 6 questions should give you enough information to craft a clear path forward and help kick start your new side business.

1. Are you willing to sacrifice something?

Everyone has their own responsibilities and duties. Imagine your life is a box and it’s already so full that you case barely able put anything in it anymore. If you add building a business, you won’t be able to close the box.

The only solution is to let go of something less important in this moment. If you can’t leave your current 9-5 job, you’ll need to reduce the time you spend elsewhere.

Are you willing to sacrifice your rest time or time spend on your hobby? What about saying “No” to most people’s requests? You might even need to consider paring down the time you spend with friends.

Everyone gets the same number of hours in a day. Properly managing yours is the only way to build a business while you’re still working full-time. 

2. Are you passionate about your business?

Starting a business isn’t easy, especially when you still working on a regular job. Making money can’t be your only motive — it would not be sustainable when you are facing challenges.

You must be truly passionate about your side business and its potential. If you want to succeed, you need to love even the process, and put in as much work as you can to build the dream from the ground up.

This is a simple but very important question. If you can’t imagine yourself working on your business idea — and loving it — 5 years from now, you need another idea. 

3. Are you financially sound right now?

While some business can be started with a very low cost, but in long run, a lot of expenses and maintaining cost would come into play. Do you have sufficient capital or a backup plan when bad things happen?

Perhaps you can find someone to partner up to share the cost, or get a business loan to help you.

Give this question careful thought and write down every asset you can put to work for your new business. 

4. How resourceful you are?

Your network is your net worth. Do you have good connections to get things done quickly and cheap? If not, you’ll have to buy things in a normal price.

Not having good connection can also use up more of your time by sourcing for vendor, surveying for price, testing and evaluation of each of your raw materials.

Create a new list. Include everything from the people you’ll need on your team or relationship that you can leverage. 

5. Who is your target customer? 

Making your customer profile is an important step to help you communicate your message clearly. You should know who to talk to, understand what they need and serve them in the best way you can.

Create a list that include their demographics, their characteristics and their motivations. Study that particular group of people and try to understand what kind of message they response positively toward. Do everything you can to discover what they love, what books they read and what wakes them up in the night.

6. Which problem(s) will your business solve? 

Relevancy is essential in new business idea. Your business needs to solve the pain points of your target customers, or improve their life, in terms of health or wealth.

For example, if your business offers weight-loss strategies for college-aged men, the ideal customer’s problem is losing fat without destroying his lifestyle. His motive might be attracting a date.

Establishing a clear problem/solution scenario makes it easier to build a base of raving fans who feel as if you’re speaking directly to them.

Make sure you can properly answer all the above questions before starting your new side venture. All the best!