5 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting My Side Hustle

When Is the Best Time to Start a Side Hustle? The Answer Will Surprise You

Photo by Videodeck .co on Unsplash

When people ask me when is the best time to start a side hustle, I always have the same answer:

The right time is now.

Today.

That’s right. If you want to start a digital business with a YouTube channel, a podcast, or a writing business, now is the perfect time.

In this story, I will explain to you why now is the best time to start a side hustle. And I’ll also give you 5 key things you need to know before you start.

From zero do 100k YouTube subscribers

One of my favorite creators on YouTube is Stephen Robles.

Stephen Robles YouTube channel. Screenshot by author

Stephen is 38 years old, he has a family with 3 kids and a full-time job. Aside from that he makes amazing YouTube videos about Apple products (yes, I’m a big Apple fanboy!).

In just two years, he has released nearly 300 long-form videos.

Yesterday I watched a special video from Stephen. He reached a huge milestone — 100,000 YouTube subscribers. So he shared his journey, tips for aspiring content creators, and how consistency and timing played a big role in reaching 100,000 subscribers.

And now I’ll share what I’ve learned and give you 5 key things that you need to know before you start a side hustle.

Prepare for a long journey

There is no such thing as overnight success. Look at Stephens’ subscriber line. For the first two years, nothing really happened there.

Stephens’ subscriber line. Screenshot by author

And this is the hardest part for creators. These long months, sometimes years of very minimal growth. When you don’t see the results you expect.

Being able to keep doing things without seeing the results is the most difficult part.

This, in turn, leads to the next point, which is consistency.

Be consistent

Most people can’t do one thing over and over again. They can’t be consistent in the log run.

But one thing helped me a lot. It changed the way I looked at my goals.

What is it?

I realized that the goal is never the outcome. The goal is to do the thing.

Here is a simple example:

• Outcome: Reach 100 subscribers

• Action: Write every day for 20 minutes

Can you see the difference?

So your goal as a creator is to commit to action. Show up for your audience every day.

Put enough effort

Do good work and your content will eventually get noticed.

Stephen’s first videos didn’t have great stats. Screenshot by author.

Stephen was making videos for months without seeing results. But he cared about quality.

Eventually, one video became big. It was the HomePod 2 review of the speaker, and it was shared outside of YouTube by other creators.

This is why consistency + quality pay off over time.

Quality is all about what you do around your business:

• do your research and test things

• take the time to share valuable content

• commit to being consistent

• find topics that people want to consume.

Experiment with your content

See what works. Learn and improve. This is my mantra.

Stephen started with a few videos on TikTok. He then moved to YouTube. He tested different video formats and eventually understood what worked best.

And that’s what being a digital creator is all about:

• create content regularly

• see what works

• do more of what works

• get feedback

• make it better.

Just learn and improve.

You don’t need fancy tools

We live in such great times where you don’t need a big investment to start something on your own.

• Want to start a YouTube channel?

Use your phone. You can create amazing videos with the device in your pocket.

• Podcasting?

AirPods headphones for listening to music are also great for this.

• Writing?

I don’t think I need to explain. Medium and Substack are excellent for getting started.

See what I mean? Don’t waste your time and money on the software, tools, or products.

You have everything you need to start your side hustle today.

Summary

Don’t waste time thinking about how you should start. Start today, right now.

1. Be patient

2. Set goals based on action

3. Focus on effort and quality

4. Experiment with new things

5. Use the resources you already have

And remember, it’s never too late.

Now you can watch this video to see how Stephen built his channel over the years.

Thanks for reading!

-Robin

P.S. If you want to build alongside your day job, join the 1-Minute Creator newsletter.

About the author

👋 Hi, I’m Robin — digital creator, husband and father. I run a side hustle alongside my full-time job.