Most people get started “on the side” before going solo or founding a startup. More and more people have a side hustle going on just to make ends meet.
Fact is, once you’re on your own, you’re likely doing one thing in order to do the next bigger and better thing. Even larger companies leverage existing lines of business in order to expand and evolve to the next level.
In short, it’s not where you’re at, it’s where you’re going. Surprisingly, this lack of contentment with what we’ve achieved so far is the key to personal growth and even happiness.
The Show Notes
- Half Of U.S. Freelancers Wouldn’t Take A Job No Matter What
- Robert Reich: Why the ‘Gig’ and ‘Share’ Economy Is the Last Thing You Want to Depend on to Pay the Bills
Transcript
The Perpetual Side Hustle
Voiceover: Welcome to Unemployable, the show for people who can get a job, they’re just not inclined to take one — and that’s putting it gently. If you’re a freelancer or solopreneur, Unemployable is the place to get actionable advice for growing your business, improving your processes, and enjoying greater freedom day to day. To get the full experience, register at no charge at Unemployable.com. You’ll get access to upcoming webinars and more. That’s Unemployable.com.
Brian Clark: Hey there, Everyone out there, whenever and wherever you may be, this is Brian Clark, founder and CEO of Copyblogger Media and your host for Unemployable.
Just getting back from a relaxing vacation in Southern California, celebrated my birthday out there. Not too bad, but the week before I went on vacation and the week back after vacation almost make it to where you shouldn’t go on vacation. You know what I’m saying? It’s pretty intense. But I’m glad I did it. It was good, necessary, all of that great stuff.
The Current Stats on Freelancers
Brian Clark: While I was gone, I had a chance to catch up on some reading. Actually I had an Unemployable listener send me an article about freelancing statistics that I thought were pretty interesting.
It turns out one in three Americans or 34% of US workers is freelancing. And now, that’s not all of these people being full-time freelancers. I think it breaks down to about 19 million people are full-time supporting themselves as a freelancer.
So, that means a lot of other people are doing freelance stuff as a side gig, a side hustle. Making some extra money maybe, or maybe they’re working toward quitting, which is something we’re all a big fan of here.
There’s good news though. Roughly 60% of freelancers who left traditional employment now earn more than they did at their job. But the funny thing is, fully 50% of those who are freelancers said there’s no amount of money that would compel them to go back to take a traditional job, because they prized their time flexibility and the freedom to work from anywhere.
I think the key part of the word freelancer is free, as an entrepreneur. Freedom is my number one driving force, whether it be freedom in time and where to work and how and all that good stuff, but also intellectual freedom. To be able to act on my ideas in the way I see fit. And that’s a big part of it.
Sharing with “Gig Economies
Brian Clark: So, at the same time, thereabout, 16.6 million freelancers have said that they now earn 10% or more of their income through the sharing economy or the “gig economies, if you will. That’s up from 9 million people who said that same thing last year. We’re talking about things like Airbnb, we’re talking about Uber.
It’s an interesting thing, because I also read an interesting article from Robert Reich. He’s basically saying let’s be careful about this whole sharing economy or gig economy. And his basic argument is a downturn in demand or sudden change in consumer needs or personal injury or sickness, and poof, there goes your income.
Well, Robert, that’s all of us really. It doesn’t matter whether you’re making money from some sort of sharing platform or you’re a part-time freelancer or a full-time entrepreneur, things can go wrong. That’s just the way it is. We also know that things go wrong with traditional employment. And recently, over the last five, six, seven years, it has gone very, very wrong.
That part of his argument was not compelling to me. It was not convincing. It’s almost like, “Yes, of course, things can change. They do, absolutely. And we always have to be looking out for that.
But, fundamentally, at the same time, I agree with him about banking too much on Airbnb or Uber, or whatever the case may be, or Elance, or Upwork, or whatever they’re calling themselves now. As far as, anyone else who you have to depend on to feed you clients or work is only one step removed from having your job. But no, none of the benefits that you’re supposed to have with employment, such as steady work hours and health insurance and benefits and all this kind of good stuff.
My warning to people is: don’t rely on someone else to provide you with business to do the job of marketing for you, because you become dependent on them. That’s as bad as building your website on Facebook. You don’t control that. You’re not leading your own destiny, if you will.
The Side Hustle
Brian Clark: But when I was in SoCal on vacation, I took a lot of Uber rides, more than I usually do. I’m not a prolific user of Uber, but I do take advantage of it. And it was fascinating talking to the various people that I met while doing that, because they all seem to be doing Uber to help them do something else.
Now, there was one guy who had his own car company, car service, and he used Uber to supplement his income obviously, but he also used it as a marketing platform. When I needed a ride back from Laguna to Oceanside, he gave me his card and he was a great guy. I enjoyed him, and he was now a known quantity. So what would I rather do? Take a risk on another Uber ride or just call this guy?
Then there were other people. One guy was writing a book. Another person was trying to get started in software. So, as far as I’m concerned, that kind of thing is cool. You’re always working on something else. I think that kind of defines all of us.
Some of you may know that I write a curated email newsletter called Further, really kind of about growing as a person across the board, not just as an entrepreneur or in business. But the thing that I’ve really got out of doing this for the last six, eight months or whatever it’s been, is that we’re most happy when we’re doing the next thing. And this is where this whole concept of “Happiness is not a destination, it’s a way of travel.
I think those of us who are entrepreneurs or freelancers or just the unemployable type are kind of wired where our personal projects, the things we do that help us grow into who we’re becoming, tend to be business related. It’s just one of those things. And the more you get into spotting and leveraging opportunity, the more you do it. It’s just one of those things.
So, in my estimation, we’re always doing a side hustle. We’re always doing one thing, so that we can do the other thing, the next thing, the bigger thing, the thing that is more gratifying to us.
It’s an important thing to understand, because in the entrepreneurial world or just the world of self-employment, you have to, I think, avoid thinking that there’s this point that you’re going to arrive at where you’re content and completely satisfied and everything is wonderful.
Generally, it’s always some form of struggle, hopefully in a good way. But you’re always striving to go further. You’re looking to do more. And yet, you know that you have to do the thing that pays the bills in order to fund the time or the money, or whatever the case may be, to take it to the next level. And that’s a good thing.
For a long time, I thought something was wrong with me, because I was never really satisfied and I was only exhilarated when I was starting the next thing. Well, it turns out that’s the way it works.
That kind of leads into our listener question for episode, so let’s take a listen to John.
How Should I Structure My Time as a New Entrepreneur?
John Doherty: Hi Guys, my name is John Doherty. I live in beautiful San Francisco, California. I recently finished up my last job and I’ve decided that I’m going to give entrepreneurship a go, which is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Friends have been telling me to do it forever and now is the perfect time to do it.
I have a business that generates revenue, but it obviously requires a decent amount of time for marketing, which fortunately is my expertise, but it’s also going to require investment in product development. I was also a consultant for a number of years and I know that I can make money doing that. But right now, I’m thinking to split my time between consulting and my software business with the eventual goal, of course, of doing my software business full-time. I should also mention that consulting can also feed into my software business.
So, what do you guys think? Is restructuring my time, half and half, a good idea or is it a bad idea? How would you recommend that I structure my time in business as a brand new entrepreneur and freelance consultant? I’d love your perspective. Thanks.
Brian Clark: All right, John. Great question, and yeah, that goes to the heart of the matter. I absolutely think that’s a smart way to go. It’s the prudent way to go. Unless you’ve got a trust fund sitting around somewhere, you don’t want to have to go raise money, so you don’t have to do the consulting work. Trust me, you want to get down the road as far as you can go before you figure out, “Okay, I really do have to raise money or you know what? I don’t have to.
The longer you can go, or forever actually, the longer you preserve equity, the better valuation you’re going to get. All of that good stuff. So yes, absolutely. Whichever one is the side project is up to your mentality. But I wholeheartedly approve of this.
This is what I did in the past when I was getting started. It was funny, because my first successful business was really a thing to pay the bills to keep the first company, which failed eventually, going.
It’s funny, because to me, in one respect, I failed. But in another respect, I learned that I was an entrepreneur and that’s what led to the second and third successful businesses, and then Copyblogger and then everything since then.
Here’s my only a word of advice, and this is what I did back in those days when I was doing client work just to pay the bills. You have to be strict on yourself. You have to, if possible, take only the amount of client work you need to pay the bills. Be jealous of your time, so that you can work on the bigger thing, the next thing, the software company that you’re trying to build.
I’ve seen it time and time again where consultants or freelancers or agency type people, they want to move into products or services that are not tied to them selling their time. They’ve got great ideas and they’re smart people. And yet, the next client comes along, and it’s a big thing, and it’s too good to pass up, and they never end up making the product or doing the thing that they want to do, because they can’t say no.
It’s hard, because if you are good at what you do as a consultant, and I know you are, there’s a pride there. And when a big client comes along that’s going to fundamentally change your day-to-day existence, and you start thinking, “Wow, I could build an entire agency off of this client. Is that what you really want?
I faced that same thing when I had my solo law practice. I had developed enough business to where I could have started a very profitable law firm, but I knew that wasn’t the thing. And yet, it still tempts you. It’s funny how it tempts you, especially if you’re an ambitious person, and we all are. It’s hard to say no to things.
My only advice: learn how to say no. If you see an opportunity on the consulting side that is just so good that you legitimately decide to go in a completely different direction, that’s one thing. But otherwise, stick to your guns, take the work that will pay you the most with the least amount of headaches and keep your eye on the ball. That’s my advice.
All of you, my advice to you, same thing. Whatever the side hustle is, whatever the goal is, whatever the next level of your unemployable career is, just keep going. That’s all there is to it. Talk soon.