Interested in using your lockdown time efficiently by getting started on a side hustle? We know that earning a little extra money is handy for most of us right now. Therefore we have written this post with 10 things you can do now to get your side hustle started in lockdown. This will get you ready to either make money straight away – or once lockdown is lifted depending on what side hustle you choose!
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10 things to do now to get your side hustle started in lockdown
Decide on your side hustle.
This is the hardest step! Sometimes narrowing down one hustle that really interests you is hard and daunting. What is it that you want to do? What will you enjoy? What do you have time for an want to achieve? Read our current list of ideas here or if you’re not sure which side hustle could be a great choice for you, read our top 5 tips on picking the right side hustle for you. Make sure it will fit in with your time availability both during and out of lockdown and then jump in and get started!Pick a name for your side hustle!
Will you be Billie’s Beeswax Wraps? Cooky Cool Candles? Lovely Landscapes Lynbrook? Five-Star Photos + Film?
When choosing a name, think about the brand and what a name might mean or portray for your side hustle. Do you want to sound fun? Luxurious? Warm and friendly? Naming your side hustle can have a big impact on how people perceive you and memorability (the amount of businesses I have seen on Instagram and then can’t remember their name for the life of me!).There are some free tools our there to help give you some inspiration, such as:
https://businessnamegenerator.com/You will then want to check it is available on Facebook, Instagram, as a domain name and under ASIC business name register if you wish to consider saving the name so no one else can legally use it. It’s best to check that no one else is already using these names to protect yourself.
A fun website is https://namechk.com/ which searches your chosen name across heaps of social media platforms, but unfortunately is US and won’t check for .com.au domain names.Set up a specific email account
Either register a free account through Gmail or Outlook or to take your side hustle to the next level, purchase a domain name with email hosting so that you can email from your own hustle name! (ie. hello@mamahustles.com, tim@cupcakesechuca.com.au).Firstly, purchase your domain name – this is the part of your website address and email that is your hustle name (startasidehustle for example) and costs about $12-$20 a year for .com.au depending on your supplier. If you already own a domain name you can purchase email hosting (such as these plans with VentraIP) Or purchase both to get you started.From here everything you create and sign up for can be sent to this one email to keep it separate from your personal account.
Start buying your equipment / tools / materials
With many countries in and out of lockdown you may find there are still shipping delays from some locations. Get your ‘shopping’ list of what you need to purchase and do you research early. If we have the hustle listed on our website, we have listed what we think you will need and some recommended products to get you going. Purchase items so you have plenty of time to get some practice in or get used to things before the real clients come rolling in!Hot Tip: Sign up for Shopback and download to your browser – when you purchase items through some online retailers like Amazon.com.au, Target, Catch, eBay, etc. you receive cash back into your account! It’s free and 100% legit. The percentages are only small, but it all adds up and something there are special promotions where the percentages are doubled or tripled. I have accumulated over $200 back in just over a year! This link will give you a $10 credit to get yourself started – and I get a little bonus too for referring you as a friend! 🙂 No pressure, but who doesn’t like saving money?
Save your social media handles
Log into Facebook, Instagram and other social platforms you wish to ‘dibbs’ your name on. Create your business pages and accounts with your chosen name. This will ensure that you have the page/account handles you want and that no one can swoop on in and take them first! You can start posting or spend some time making a social strategy.Create yourself a logo!
If you are creative minded, go ahead and create a logo yourself! Remember to choose colours, fonts and imagery that reflects your brand. Canva.com.au is a fantastic online (Australian!!) design program – and it’s free! They do have a pro version which you can trial for free (Or be sure to use Shopback and you can get up to 50% off pro!!)As I’m no designer, I actually started off with my logo design in Canva to get my ideas down, and then I hired someone on Fiverr to polish and finalise it into a proper logo file. Fiverr is full of skilled designers that can help you come up with concepts and great logos for really low prices. It’s wonderful for those of us just starting out on tight budgets! Plus use my link to sign up and you will receive 10% off your first order if you choose to hire someone!Start planning out your social media schedule
Once your side hustle is up and running, the small marketing tasks like social posts can fall to the side. It’s really important that social media users can see consistent and regular posts to legitimise your brand and keep them interested in your products. Spend some time during lockdown mapping out different types of posts you can do, taking photos or gathering images (be sure they are ok to be used!) and making social media tiles. Canva is again an awesome tool to set up some post templates to keep them all looking on brand and consistent.
If you’re thinking of purchasing any stock photos to use for your website, head to shutterstock, iStock or AdobeStock – the best value for money is one of their big image plans but you’ll need to spend lots of time downloading everything you can think of! Taking your own photos is always the best idea.
Do an online course to up-skill
Interested in doing an online course to learn a little more about how to be awesome at your chosen side hustle? Lockdown is a perfect time to do this!Build a website
Having a website will help to add a professional touch to your side hustle. People trust business that have websites more and it helps you to reach a broader audience through Google – should you wish to! There are numerous free website makers out there, and site builders such as WordPress which offer more flexibility. Keep an eye out for a future blog post comparing the different types of makers.Keep in mind that if you want to stick with free website makers, such as wix.com and godaddy.com – keep in mind that your domain will have a .wix or .godaddy at the end if you don’t purchase a domain name. A great way to make your domain look a little nicer is to use a link shortener like bitly. which allows you to make custom links (and is free!)
Get promotional material
So we have digital covered, people can find you via your website and through social media – but don’t forget about print!
Your side hustle might need- Business Cards
- Pricing brochures and flyers
- Posters
- Branded t-shirts
- Stickers for boxes
- Signage
Vistaprint is one fantastic website for this, it’s super easy to use, you can design directly in there and use any of their starter templates or upload your own artwork. Not only do they have awesome discounts all the time – you can also use Shopback and you can get 7-10% extra cashback! It really is a great way to save a little extra mula when starting out.
We hope these 10 steps help to get your side hustle well and truly underway in lockdown. Good luck!
Remember – the only side hustle that can’t make money – is one that hasn’t begun yet.
