Having a side-hustle sounds great – you get to work on your business idea while also gaining an income from a traditional job. But it also comes with challenges, from time pressures to gaining support from others. This article explores some of the key challenges associated with having a full-time job and a side-hustle.
Challenge 1: A loss of focus on your main job
One of the first challenges to be aware of is the danger of losing focus on your main job. Trying to manage a side-hustle while also working full time can cause you to become distracted – wanting to work on one thing (your side-business), but having to work on another at the same time.
The dangers of getting distracted may be further increased when working at home – a sudden trend as companies both temporarily and permanently move employees to remote work to deal with Covid-19. Without the monitoring associated with a traditional office environment, there is a real danger that your side-gig starts to encroach on your regular full-time job, and over time your performance at work begins to deteriorate.
Challenge 2: Not enough time to work on your side-hustle
A related challenge is not having enough time to sufficient work on your side hustle. Launching a business takes a lot of effort, and this is further compounded if you are also working a full-time job when trying to work on a business. There simply may not be the hours in the day to achieve all you want to achieve across both jobs, and the amount of effort that you are able to put into your side-hustle is lower than it would be if you were able to devote your full attention to it.
Challenge 3: Pressure of working two jobs
The pressure of working two jobs will also start to mount over time. While initially you may be able to put in double the time and effort as a regular job, your energy to do this is likely to dwindle with time.
Challenge 4: The joy of the side-gig fades
One implication of the additional pressure of working two jobs is that your enthusiasm for your side-gig may start to decline. What may start out as a passion project – where you are able to pursue your creative or entrepreneurial desires – may start to feel more like a burden. The sid-hustle may start to turn into a second job – a commitment that you have, and don’t want to give up on, but also not something that you are actively gaining pleasure from.
Challenge 5: Getting the support of others to a side-hustle
A final challenge associated with only working part-time on your side-hustle is that you may have a harder time gaining the support of others. Only working half time on a venture may be an immediate turn-off for investors, who are not sure where your allegiances lie and may be reluctant in supporting a venture that you only appear to have one foot in. Investors typically want your full, undivided effort – that you are all-in on your business – and only being half-in may make it a lot more difficult to gain the support of others for your venture.
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