We have all seen stories after stories of people ditching their day jobs for a side hustle. In some cases, multiple side hustles. These major financial and professional moves typically occur upon the realization that the side job provides more income, time with family and all round satisfaction as compared to the main hustle. Whether you want to make your side hustle your main hustle, or you simply want to supplement your main income with income, one important principle rings true. While you may want to jump head first into your first or second side hustles, do not allow your side hustle to interfere with your main hustle.
Reliance On The Main Hustle
Picking up and doing a side job is easy. Being consistent enough to garner a reliable income stream and/or growing the side job to become your main income source is difficult. This is akin to starting your own business. Building a reputation and developing a reliable clientele requires a huge investment of time and potentially financial resources. This investment is almost always reliant on your main hustle’s income. Therefore, it is essential to keep your main job stable as income from your side job grows.
The Problem
Even if your side hustle is performed in the hours outside of your main job, at the very least, your time investment will take away from the time available to focus on your main hustle.
- For example:
- Main hustle: 9am-5pm
- Side job: 7pm-10pm
Those extra 3 hours of working a side job per day or week will result in a tired employee. An employee who no matter how good you are, will become prone to mistakes. Further, such an employee will likely not be providing full attention to the main hustle as they will be thinking about the side hustle….potentially having one foot out the door. How would you react as an employer if you got wind of such developments. Now, as an employer, imagine if your employee’s side job is or could become a direct competitor.
Does Your Employer Have Your Best Interest
We would all like to think that our employer want the best for us as employees, and while this may be true for some, these employers are in the minority. Your employer wants what is best for you so long as what is best for you is best for them. Where what is best for you diverges from your employer, you will have trouble. This is often the case once you begin a side job.
Employer Becomes Aware Of Your Side Hustle
If your employer have the slightest belief that your side job could potentially compete or take business away from him, he will ensure that you do not survive, at least at your current position. Expect to be fired, however, before the axe falls, the warning signs will show themselves as complaints with regard to: your ability to focus on the task at hand, you not spending enough time in the office, you not making yourself available, or you are unable to handle new responsibilities and your inability to grow.
I have seen this play out, even in fields where a side job is completely unrelated to the main hustle. In one case, a jealous co-work informed the employer of a fellow co-worker’s side job, caused a big stir and eventually got him fired. In this case, the side hustle and the main hustle were completely unrelated. However, jealousy is ever-present as we are all human beings.
Once an employer learns of your side job, it is not uncommon for you to be accused of using company’s resources for your new endeavor. This can have far reaching implications depending on your employment agreement. For example, if your side job is one that is a new idea. Note that many employment agreements have an assignment clause wherein inventions developed with the use of employer’s equipment (for example computer) and on employer’s time belongs to the Employer.
As such, it is imperative that you keep your side job and your main hustle separate. We would suggest not even answering an email related to your side hustle on your current employer’s computer.
Conclusion
Side hustles may provide more income, time with family and all round satisfaction as compared to your current main hustle. However, if your journey to financial independence includes a side hustle, do not allow your side hustle to interfere with your main hustle until you are ready to have your side hustle become the main hustle.
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