- As you enter the new year, you might want to turn your side hustle into a high-paying career.
- Some of the most recognizable companies like Apple, Twitter, and Facebook started off as side projects and later became multi-million dollar corporations.
- Business Insider talked to entrepreneurial leaders who earn six figures or more with their side hustles, and we've gathered career advice for those who are looking to bootstrap their businesses.
- While Joana Galvao, founder and CEO of Gif Design Studios, recommends old-fashioned networking approaches for freelance graphics designers, influencer Huda Kattan suggests getting the legal paperwork done as soon as you can.
- Click here for more BI Prime stories.
As you enter 2020, you may take on a side job for a number of reasons. Whether you're doing it to pay off your student loans or to pursue an unfulfilled passion and eventually become your own boss, you may be able to turn your side hustle into a high-paying career.
In fact, some of the most recognizable companies like Apple, Twitter, and Facebook started off as side projects and later became multi-million dollar corporations.
That is the art of the side hustle: You get to give entrepreneurship a test-drive all while earning on your own terms. Better yet, what you work on in your spare time may just be a billion-dollar idea.
Given the time constraints that come with working on a side job in addition to your main career, side hustlers have to master the key entrepreneurial skills of efficiency and productivity, accessing the learning tools and tweaking simple income habits.
Business Insider talked to entrepreneurial leaders who earn six figures or more at their gigs about their advice on building side hustles.
Gif Design Studios CEO Joana Galvão on getting started as a graphic designer: Don't shy away from old-fashioned approaches
Galvão quit her job and became a full-time freelancer after discovering clients would pay big bucks for logo designs. She charged her first client $800, and she was earning $100,000 within 10 months, she wrote in a Business Insider post.
In 2014, she cofounded Gif Design Studios, an award-winning design agency based in Portugal. Galvão wrote that she didn't need a big audience to build her company. Instead, she emphasized in-person networking, attending conferences, and reaching out to other entrepreneurs for advice.
Similarly, graphic designer Morgan Overhault wrote in a Business Insider post that she makes $200,000 a year, using freelance website Upwork and securing contracts she procured on her own. The 34-year-old gave a breakdown of her expenses and how she makes it work — by developing careful spending habits and investing in future growth.
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Ghostwriter Annastasia Kamwithi on getting started as a writer: Create a portfolio and carefully craft your work samples
Quitting a full-time job to write is a lot more common than you might expect.
According to a Statista report, there are nearly 58 million freelance workers, and that number is expected to reach 86.5 million by 2027. Moreover, many freelancers actually earn more than they did when working a 9-to-5 job.
When Kamwithi lost her job as a banker with Co-operative Bank Limited in 2015, she was on the lookout for something to replace $50,000 of lost annual income. Now, she is a ghostwriter earning $80,000 a year on her own time.
The entrepreneur told Business Insider that good writing comes with practice. She also recommends developing a writing portfolio with your byline so that you have original samples to show clients.
"I remember when I started out I had written one personal article on entrepreneurship tips," Kamwithi said. "I had used this when I was training and just starting out, but turns out it was a great piece that got me hired by a few good clients who created for me an opportunity to launch my career as a ghostwriter."
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Beauty mogul Huda Kattan on getting started as an influencer: Get your legal paperwork done right away
In today's day and age, becoming an influencer is recognized as career choice. Business Insider has interviewed social media starts on how they leverage their online platform. Among the list of YouTube creators like Kevin David and Marina Mogilko is Huda Kattan, a self-made beauty mogul worth an estimated $610 million.
After quitting her job in finance, Kattan built her cosmetics empire of more than 40 million Instagram followers and cofounded makeup brand Huda Beauty with her sister Mona.
When it comes to starting an influencer business, the Kattan sisters suggest straightening out legal aspects as soon as you can.
"A lot of people think good lawyers are expensive," Mona told Business Insider. "But bad lawyers are much more expensive in the end. Not having that right will screw you up later on."
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Blogger Helene Sula on getting started as a digital brand strategist: Know your audience's interest
In an interview with Business Insider, Sula said she went from making $50,000 a year as a marketing communications specialist to $250,000 as a freelance digital brand strategist and blogger.
She now has several online platforms like travelling blog "Helene in Between," membership site "Blog Boss Babe," and "Instagram For Success," an online course package for aspiring influencers. At the beginning stages of her business, Sula explained that she spent three months on her email list of 2,000 people. Over time, she got to learn more about her readers, and having a better grasp on her blog's demographic led to membership launches.
"Before advertising the Instagram course, I polled my audience to see their interest in such a course — what price points they felt comfortable with, and whether or not they had purchased one before," says Sula.
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Internet marketer Marc Andre on getting started as a web designer: Freelancing is a stepping stone, not the ultimate goal
In 2008, Andre was juggling a job as an auditor and two side hustles — website work and writing projects. But he was dissatisfied with his low $40,000 annual pay at his full time job and decided to leave and pursue his side hustles full-time, Business Insider reported.
From 2010 to 2018, Andre logged a six-figure income each year. He sold his first web design platform for $500,000 and has since launched several industry blogs — including three photography sites that sold for more than $700,000.
Andre told Business Insider that he leveraged his freelancing skills for a bigger entrepreneurial venture.
"At the very beginning it was simply for some extra money with no intention of growing into anything full-time, but that stage didn't last long," Andre said. "Within a few months, maybe less, I saw bigger potential and I quickly set a goal of replacing — and then far exceeding — the income from my job."
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High school teacher Brian Weitzel on getting started as a real estate investor: Automate your savings and max out your retirement accounts
Weitzel is a high school economics teacher who also hosts business podcast "Ride Your Money Wave," runs a photography business, and owns two rental properties.
It was only when he started earning additional income from his side hustles that his family was able to reach a seven-figure income. The entrepreneur explained the value of increasing income in order to build wealth.
"Strategically, I knew I wanted to build a system where all of my investments were maxed out and automated, forcing me to live below my means and keep my standard of living in check for as long as possible," he wrote in one of his blogs, ESI Money.
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Entrepreneur Ethan "Moose" Read on getting started as an e-commerce reseller: Build capital, and make sure you have some money to spend
Read dropped out of college about a year ago to pursue his side hustle full-time. In an interview with Business Insider, he said he made $225,000 in sales last year reselling sneakers through his website, Moosetraxshop, and at shoe conventions and events.
The 20-year-old warned against taking out loans to get started, but he recommends having at least $1,000 in savings or an emergency fund to start.
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