If I Were to Start a New Side Hustle From Scratch
If you're starting your side hustle from scratch, I don't want you to see you jumping in to either sink or swim.
When I started my online business, I got so caught up in the research.
Research is important, but the problem was I wasn’t acting on it or applying this knowledge to my own business.
Eventually, I made the shift and took action.
In my latest podcast episode, I’m sharing what helped me make the shift and finally get serious about my business. If you’re at the beginning of your business-building process, hearing my experience is going to be so helpful to you!
Listen to the latest podcast episode to learn how you can avoid my mistakes and start taking action right away.
CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN!
Show Notes:
Hey, risers. Welcome to episode 125 of Empathy Rising. We are halfway through an impromptu virtual schooling week around here, which has thrown everything for a little bit of a loop, but you know, it's almost second nature now. It's like, okay, virtual school, let's shift to this schedule. Okay, back in in-person school, let's shift back to the schedule.
So it's kind of, it's annoying, but at least we have procedures in place and plans in place that make it possible. I have snuck away at lunchtime. The children have chicken nuggets, and I am now recording. So you do what you gotta do, right?
I wanted to remind you that applications for Side Hustle are officially open. We have some really vibrant and interesting students joining this round, and I am just thrilled with how this cohort is shaping up.
I love that we have people who are committed to, you know, social justice and activism with their programs and other people who, you know, really want to touch a population in a different way that they can't do in therapy, and people who are, you know, “this was my personal experience five years ago, and I really want to pay it forward now that I'm through that experience”.
So it's just really neat to just see people's creativity come out, and I can't wait to get started with this cohort. If you know that 2022 is the year that you go from idea to income and that you get your side hustle up and running, I would love to invite you to join us in this round.
You can always apply for side hustle over at https://marissalawton.com/side-hustle fill out that application. It's super quick. And then we'll hop on a call to see if the program feels like the right fit for you, and if you'll be joining us this coming year and this coming cohort. So I can't wait to see who is going to be rounding out the rest of this group.
Now, because you are here listening to this podcast and hanging out with me on a weekly basis, I know that you know that the appeal of online business is strong. It is just a nationwide movement right now, for sure, if not a worldwide movement. There's been data for the past several months about this great resignation where people are choosing intentionally to not work in the way that has been conventionally conditioned for the last, at least 60, if not a hundred years in our country in terms of wages, in terms of hours, in terms of commuting to a physical location.
This used to be pre-COVID, online income was kind of on the fringe. It was that thing that some people did like, "oh, you make money on the internet". And with 2020, and now even more in 2021, if it's a pandemic, we can always find some silver linings in this. But one of the silver linings that has legitimized online work and online business, more so than would have happened in the next 5, 10 years without the experience.
So it is something that people are actively looking into: how can I use this tool of the internet to make a livelihood, to make money in a way that feels more free, in a way that feels more creative and more fun for me. In a way that lets me call my own shots and live on my own terms, and not be responsible to social constructs anymore. And there are so many people who are looking for this alternative, and I don't even think it's an alternative lifestyle anymore.
They're making this choice, this legitimate choice. And I think that, you know, there's good reasons for this. Pensions are a thing of the past. No one really works at the same company for 20 years anymore, retires from that company after 20 years and has a pension and is taken care of.
We really need to rely on ourselves to fund our security as well as rely on ourselves to build the lives that we want. So it seems like lots of people are jumping on this train. But not everyone is jumping on the side hustle train, or the online income train, with a well-thought-out plan. A lot of people say, oh, so-and-so's doing it. So-and-so's doing it. Let me do it too.
And while online income is 100% possible and I really don't think it's as hard as we make it out to be, it does need strategy. It does need a plan. It's not something to jump into willy-nilly. I do believe that when you look at things with a sink or swim mentality, if you just jump in with both feet, there are a lot of people who swim.
There are a lot of people who do jump in and they swim. They figure it out eventually. They find the right side up and they get a big gulp of air and they figure out how to get out of the middle of the pool. But there's a lot of struggle that goes into that process.
Once you've jumped into the pool before you sink or before you swim, there's the struggle. There's the freaking out part. And that process could have been avoided, had the person just simply taken the stairs into the pool. I'm not saying that there's not a benefit to taking action. We learn through action. We have to get started.
But when that action is rooted in reflection, and when that action is rooted in intention, it's an entirely different process. So while sink or swim works for some people, it doesn't work for everyone. There are the people who just flat-out sink. And when it does work, when there are the people who are able to swim, it works after a lot of discomfort. It works after a lot of struggle.
Now, I am someone who has done both. I am someone who has jumped in and then while I was flailing and struggling and pretty darn close to sinking, I reached out and asked for some help and I've had a few different coaches along the way. One coach who I've worked on and off with since the very beginning of my business, since 2014, 2015 when I very first went online. I have one person who I've worked on with on and off that whole time. And then I have hired other people in different capacities along that time.
So, I wanted to put myself back in the very beginning of this process and walk through it with you guys of what it was like when I first jumped in, what I would have done now with hindsight being 20/20, what I would do differently, and if I was to start a brand new side hustle from scratch, what are the things that I would want to have in place in the very beginning of the process?
So, that's what I'm sharing with you guys today. What would I do? And what would I have in place if I decided to start a brand new side hustle from scratch? I want to rewind a bit and take us back to 2014, 2015. A lot of you know my story. I'm not going to share all the details and go and spend an hour talking about it.
So in 2014, I was working in community mental health, and my first daughter was born in late August of that year, and it turns out she was born with some health concerns and so I had maternity leave planned for September and October and was supposed to go back in November, but it was when she was 11 weeks old.
So right at when I had gone back two days a week, that was when a lot of the health concerns started to come up because you know, when a baby's brand new, (if anyone's a parent out there) they're sleeping all the time and their eyes aren't even open, so it took us a few weeks to actually notice things.
And then it took a few weeks after that to start to realize that they were issues. So I was already back from my maternity leave by the time that we realized there were concerns for Sawyer. And so at that point I was going to specialists. We had like five different specialists in one week. And then we had follow-ups with all of those specialists and everything like that. And so a lot of you have heard, you know, I got fired from my agency story, but basically they gave me the ultimatum: we need you here seeing your clients or, you know, you don't have a job anymore.
And so at that time it was like, well, who's going to take my kid? Who's going to take my kid to these specialist appointments? I'm not having a nanny do that. I'm not having a babysitter do that. So at that point I left my agency. And quickly after that, I was like, well, I'll start a blog. And in 2014, it was a very interesting time.
I actually have an episode on this. It's one of the very first episodes. It's like episode number four or five or something. So you can scroll way back and listen to it about how the online income industry evolved. It started with blogging and then from blogging, it went into kind of digital products like eBooks and things like that. And then from there it opened the world of courses and memberships and all of that stuff.
So I really came into the online space as those things were really starting to explode and gain popularity. So I started a blog, and then within a month or two, I bought a program called "Your First 1K" by Mariah Coz. Some of you might be familiar with her. And that was the first time that I reached out for help because I knew I could write blogs. I'd written a thesis for my master's, I'd written all kinds of stuff.
So the writing part wasn't the issue, but the monetizing, the making money from it was like, ok how do I do this? But when I started, I had no plan. So there were a lot of starts and stops. I would blog for a week or blog for two weeks, and then I would skip three weeks. I was following other bloggers and trying to kind of replicate what they were doing, and so basically I was just kind of copying them, not plagiarizing per se, but like copying their processing, copying their procedures.
And I was taking in information from tons of sources. It was in research mode, but I was in research mode in perpetuity because I was taking in all of this information, but I was never acting on it. So I was reading other people's blogs, I was listening to tons of podcasts and I could spit theory at you. No problem. Like here's how this works and here's why we do it, but I was not actually applying it to my own business.
So it very much felt like two steps forward and one step back, or two steps forward and five steps back in some cases. There was never any actual momentum built up, and never actually any progress built up. I had landed a few one-on-one clients at that point, but I always felt like it was hard fought or hard-won.
I felt like I was kind of pulling teeth to get any kind of revenue coming in. So that is when I purchased that "Your First 1K" program, and when I joined a membership site for mom entrepreneurs. By first reaching out at that stage of business, I started to see, like, "Okay, take this step, then take this step, then take this step".
That's what I got from Mariah Coz's program. And then Jacqueline, my current coach, the one I started working with in the very beginning, it was her membership that I joined and that was the community. Being able to be with other moms, business owners, seeing other moms do it, even though they had newborns or infants or toddlers or whatever at home, having the community piece gave me the support to keep going.
So knowledge and structure as well as support were the two things that I needed in that stage of my business. I feel like those investments are what helped me get serious about it. It was no longer like, "oh, let me start and let me stop". Or, "oh, let me throw spaghetti at the wall and just see what sticks". It was, "I want to make something of this. I want to make a business out of this".
At first, I was only ever trying to make grocery money. And then I was like, you know, two grand a month would be awesome because then if we saved that up, we could take, you know, a couple of vacations a year. Christmas presents would be so much easier because we were on one income at that point because I had left my agency.
So it was just thinking like, how can I bring my family a bit of relief and a bit more flexibility around money? And then from there, it turned into me being the breadwinner. And from there, it turned into my goal of building a house in cash that you guys have heard me talk about. But those first two investments by putting money down and putting intention down made all the difference in turning it into something real, made all the difference and turning it into going from a hobby to an actual money making source and impact making source. And from there, it grew into what it is today.
Along the way, each of us is going to have a different version of what that is. Grocery money might be amazing for you. Student loan money might be amazing for you. If you could pay your student loans off faster, easier without stressing about it. Paying your mortgage off faster. Those can be and are very legitimate goals for your side hustle. And if you want to turn it into a bigger business, if you're somebody who wants it to be your main gig and you want your practice to be your side hustle, we can absolutely structure that for you.
Because when my action was rooted in reflection, when it was rooted in "this is what I want", in intentionality and in purpose that's when everything flipped for me, I got clear on who I wanted to help and how I want it to help them. Back then, many of you know, I was still coaching moms because that was my experience. I just had a brand new baby. So what can I coach on? Let me coach on moms. Let me teach attachment style. Let me teach these things that I had been doing clinically for years. How can I turn those into a new income source? How can I repurpose my clinical skills?
So I got clear on the type of mom I wanted to help and what I wanted to help her with, instead of just saying I was a mom coach. I defined those things. I also was able to find much more of a flow state. It was no longer starts and stops because I knew what I had to do, when to do it, and what was going to be effective. So it wasn't, "let me try this and try that and try this". It was, "this is what works, I'm going to do it at this day and this time, and then I'm done".
So I was able to really build this business into my lifestyle, even though I had a brand new baby at the time, I was able to find flow around that and find ways to integrate it into my lifestyle, integrated into who I was and build a business with it. I also started to see an abundance mindset to put money down on programs when I didn't necessarily have it, or when, when my business certainly wasn't making it. We paid for it out of my pocket.
That was a big decision and it was me showing myself, well, I'm at least going to make money back what I spent, I'm going to make the... I believe your first 1K was like $500. I was like, I'm going to make this back. And I'm going to pay for this membership site from my business.
Like those were my very first goals, but it also put me in this abundance mindset that money comes in and money goes out and then money comes back in and then money goes back out. Like, there is always more money flowing in. There is always more clients coming in or more students coming into courses or whatever.
So that was my first experience, really getting into a self-trust place and an abundance mindset place, and a place of just believing that it's all working out. It's all working out for me. And then I started to see that the business could actually work for me. This is possible. There are other moms doing this and they don't only have one baby at home, they have a baby at home, a toddler at home and a school aged kid at home or whatever. If they can do it, I can do it.
I started to see that this actually worked for me. And then as you guys can tell, it became a snowball effect, right? One little bit of progress turned into a bigger bit of progress, turned it even more progress turned into even more progress. And now what is it?
Seven years later, six and a half, seven years later, I have a multi-six-figure business and I'm the breadwinner in the family, and we have financial freedom, but also financial plans and goals and dreams and hopes and wishes that were not possible when my agency said "you're fired".
Basically, you know, when there was the ultimatum and we went right back down to a one-income family, and it was different when we were a one-income family and I was in grad school and stuff like we're eating ramen, we're eating pizza rolls and bagel bites and whatever, but now we have this baby and this baby with health concerns, and we're a one-income family. It was just a totally different scenario.
So to go from that to where we are now in, you know, six years, it's just incredible. And these are the things that I want you guys to see is totally possible and totally incredible. And it can be done if you've got 32 people on your caseload, it can be done if you've got two kids at home with autism, it can be done if you've got whatever circumstances. If you've got aging parents that you're caring for.
You know, whatever your circumstances are, this can be done and online income can give you the freedom to no longer make your money tied to your time. So I'm getting passionate and I'm getting emotional, but sharing my journey and sharing my story is so important for me because it shows what can happen. But it's not only me that this has happened for.
Of all the students that have gone through side hustle, there are so many who have had profound transformations from a financial standpoint, but also profound identity shifts, profound glow-ups, and just the chance to be something and someone new and different. And to claim that, to claim that for themselves, it just really is super cool to bear witness to it's super cool to be a part of.
So, looking back now from where I am now and looking back six and a half years or so, what would I have gotten clear on if I could write a letter to myself or if I could tell myself, I want you to get clear on these things from the beginning, what would I get clear on?
Okay, the first thing that I would be sure to do or short to be clear of, if I were starting a side hustle from scratch, what I would do is I would get clear on my money goal. Is money the priority? A lot of people that I work with in Side Hustle, money isn't necessarily the number one priority, right? Their practice brings in plenty of income.
It's more about this identity shift. It's more about, over time, I would like to see less clients and have diversification of my income and stability in my income. So money isn't always the number one priority. Other people who come to Side Hustle, they say, I want my student loans paid off in two years because we have plans to build or buy a house and I want my debt to income ratio to come down. So for other people, money is much more of their prerogative.
Neither one is better or worse, but getting clear on that money goal, is this grocery money? Is this student loan money? Is this, I need to see less clients? I want to replace half of my caseload? Is this, I'm transitioning fully or almost fully out of therapy and I need to make at least what I make for my practice, if not more?
So getting clear on that money goal is the first thing I would do is this about cash in the bank fast? Or is this more about a shift in identity and long-term potential and, you know, answering the call to do something new and different? Just getting clear on that.
So I’d love it if you guys, if you're not driving or if you're not on the treadmill or whatever, maybe take out a pen and paper and, and push pause on me for a minute and write down: what is my money goal here? Is money my top priority and my top prerogative, or is money secondary to time freedom or location freedom? Take a second and journal about that.
Hey risers, just interrupting this episode to remind you that it is time to apply for side hustle support group side hustle is a nine month mentorship that guides you to repurpose and repackage your clinical skills into a course membership site or group program side hustle helps you evolve beyond the couch in a like-minded supportive group that feels like a cross between a think tank and a family.
This container becomes the space for all of your procrastination imposter syndrome and comparisonitis. By giving you the support and accountability you need each week, you'll accomplish major tasks, cross them off your list, and establish the new neural pathways to help you think and act like an online entrepreneur.
I designed side hustle to feel like an MBA in online business. My hope is that you find all of the knowledge, tools, strategies, and support you could ever need inside the doors of this program. Beat your best friends, build your dream business and return over and over again. When you need more guidance, I cannot wait to have you join us inside the program. So make sure to head on over to www.marissalawton.com/side-hustle to apply.
The second thing that I would then get clear on is my impact goal, and your money and your impact, or your income and your impact, go hand in hand. They go together because there is a relationship there. It can be a high volume, like you can design an offer that is to serve more people and to maybe be more accessible and more affordable, or vice versa you can design a program that is for fewer people at a higher touch point, and therefore has a higher revenue potential.
Impact and income go hand in hand, but I want you to separate them out here. We've talked about what's your money goal first, but now I want to talk about your impact goal. When you are impacting people? Do you want to impact them deeply or do you want to have a wide or broad impact?
Another way of thinking about this is few versus versus many. Do you want to have a deep, deep, profound lasting impact on a few people? Or do you want to have a lighter, I wouldn't say superficial, but not as deep, impact on a lot of people? Can you have a deep impact on a lot of people? Yes, but that takes time, that builds over time.
So when we're thinking about our very first step into this, are you more drawn to serving a lot of people or are you more drawn to serving a few people deeply? In my case, when I started this business, the therapist business, it was about a few people deeply.
Now, as my business has grown and I have structured things to be different, I have offers at different price points and different levels of accessibility, which are designed to serve, to be bigger containers or smaller containers. So I have a variety now, and that is certainly something that you can work toward over time. What's your one-year goal for impact? What's your five-year goal for impact, what's your 10 year goal for impact? These are things that I would want to get clear on because they directly inform the type of offer that you're going to start with.
So if I were starting from a side hustle from scratch, well, if it was truly a side hustle, like if this business was already established and currently established, and I was starting a new side hustle in 2021, 2022 , I would be going for more people. I've done a lot of deep work inside this business and I can continue to do deep work in this business, but if I were starting something brand new, today, on top of what I have existing, I would want to go for many people, I'd want to have a wider impact.
If this business didn't exist and I was starting from scratch with nothing, I would again, go for deep and wide. So a few reasons for that: you can start with a smaller audience. You don't need as many people because you're not trying to have a broad, a wide and broad impact. You're trying to have a deep impact. So you don't need a big audience. And deep impact is usually higher priced. And so you get to make substantial money sooner with a smaller audience.
So that's how I would start if I had nothing going on. If I had this current business going on and I'm starting something new, I would be going for wide. So you can see that when you get clear on your money goal and you get clear on your impact goal, it starts to give you direction, starts to give you direction, and these are the things that I want before you start a side hustle.
When you're starting your side hustle from scratch, I want you to start with direction. I don't want you to sink or swim. I want you to get in that pool with intention. I want you to dive right in headfirst because you know where you're going. I want you to have direction and purpose.
The last thing that I would get clear on if I was starting my side hustle from scratch is my timeframe. Things to ask around timeframe: is there a lifestyle or a life transition or a milestone that is important for me?
You guys all know that Josh is coming up on retirement for the army, and my goal is to be able to, when we transition, to build a house with cash, to not have a mortgage after retirement. That was my dream dream dream. So there is an impending life transition milestone that is happening at a certain date on a calendar. And so there's a timeframe that is in place already, an existing timeframe in which I am operating.
Alright, and that's the next question I would ask is: is this your timeline or is this someone else's timeline? In my case, it's kind of someone else's timeline. It's the US government's timeline, whether we are happy about that or not. So I am operating within someone else's timeframe, someone else's timeline. I don't, if I'm going to be flat out honest, I don't think that's ideal.
I want this timeframe and timeline to be yours 100% and for you to shape that and you to craft that. But sometimes there are external factors that play in. That's just the case. You know, what is great about a side hustle is, when you know how to generate revenue, you can do that at any time that you need. It really becomes like a superpower. And I'm so passionate about that because let's say you've got an unexpected medical bill or an unexpected house repair or an unexpected car repair. With your side hustle, you can cover it. You can just be like, all right, cool. Done. I'm not even worried about it.
Funny story, we just drove Josh's mom back to the airport and we were speeding, because we were late. Well, I wasn't driving. Josh was speeding and Josh got a ticket. And before my side hustle that would've been the end of the world. Holy crap, how are we going to come up with $300 out of nowhere? It's going to have to go on the credit card, blah, blah, blah. Like all of that.
Now, I mean, I'm not happy that he got a fricking ticket, but the financial worry isn't there anymore. So I know that's a little off the topic of timeframe, but being able to just have the trust in yourself to be able to cover and handle whatever comes your way. I mean, that, to me, is priceless. That to me is just incredible.
So when you're thinking about your timeframe, is this something you're working towards slowly but surely and you know, it's coming, or is this something that there's, there's kind of a clock ticking on this? And then I would ask, you know, who's in charge of the clock? I want you to be in charge of the clock. If you even need a clock, I want you to be the one in charge of it.
There's a lot of pressure when it's someone else's clock and someone else is in charge of it. And that's how I feel. I feel a lot of pressure. So getting clear on your timeframe and hopefully having that be an easy, manageable timeframe, a relaxed timeframe if possible, so that you're in a state of flow. And so that you're in the state of ease, I think is what I would shoot for.
You know, looking back with the experience that I have now, six and a half years later, I am shooting for more ease around my timeframe. I'm not quite there yet. But it is something that I would really want to get clear on before starting something from scratch.
A little bit of an aside is this is exactly why… I'm getting a little choked up. This is exactly why I started a Side Hustle Support Group. I have, kind of the purpose driven, the emotional "why" that you've probably heard come out in my voice a little bit as I've been talking, and that is financial independence.
Financial independence, especially for women. Financial independence, and self-trust being able to... there's a little bit of rebelliousness here. Being able to stick it to the man a little bit, to work on your own terms, to be financially solvent and secure on your own. That's really important to me.
But even if we take that whole, you know, like societal stuff out of there. If we take that piece out and we just talk about self-trust and reliance on yourself and resilience, having the tools, skills, capabilities, to be able to handle any situation that comes up no matter what it is and knowing that you're going to be okay, that is the emotional "why" behind why I do this.
I want everybody to have that ability. Every single person had that ability, but also, aside from the emotional "why" behind side hustle, I spun my wheels for a long time. I went two steps forward and 12 steps back (I've changed that number every time) but I've gone forward. I've gone backwards. I've spun my wheels.
I've zigged and zagged and had very sideways paths, and the fact that I can synthesize this for you and I can bring in my missteps and my wins as well as previous rounds of five other students, as well as everything that I've researched and learned over the last six and a half, seven years, and I can synthesize that and condense it into one experience for you.
And I could say, "watch out for that pothole", "oh, there's a snake living over there. Don't go that way." I can guide you through this process. That's pretty awesome for me. It's pretty cool for me. I understand what it's like to have extenuating circumstances, to have a kid that we didn't even know, like what her life was even going to look like.
We had no idea what the long-term effects of these health concerns were and, you know, lucky knock on all the wood and whatever you want to say, all the good vibes that most all of it has resolved.
We don't have that much that we were facing in the beginning, you know, to be able to still want something for yourself and to still want to be of purpose to your family financially, and want to be a purpose to people outside of you and still want to serve and help and have an impact.
All of us have our own things going on in our lives. But what we can do with Side Hustle is we can make sure that we're not jumping into something new. And then, you know, floundering around, we can have the direction, the purpose, the intention, the clear path to the outcome. And I think that's the other reason that I started Side Hustle.
I now know how to put all of the pieces of this business model, this online business model. I know how to put them in place. I know how to structure them for you. And I know how to help you walk through them step-by-step so that you arrive at whatever your money goal is, whatever your impact goal and whatever your timeframe is, side hustle can serve you and support you through that.
So I didn't even have that on my outline. It just felt like I had to say that, but I really want everyone in the world, like every single person in the world, but especially all of you listening who have already started to take mental steps, emotional steps in sometimes like actual steps towards this, I want all of you to have a lighter lifestyle on your own terms that I've been able to cultivate.
I just really see the self-reliance and self-trust piece as something that, now more than ever, I think we all need, so just kind of getting on some soap boxes, the last couple of episodes I've recorded, but I think it's really important.
So if you know that you do best with a comprehensive step-by-step guidance, and that's what you're looking for as you build your side hustle,if you know that you certainly don't want to sink and you know that you don't want to struggle before you swim, if you want to dive in with intention and purpose toward the outcome, I want you to apply to Side Hustle. I want you to join us in Side Hustle Support Group.
It is the most thorough program on the market for therapists to step into online income. It guides you through building your offer. It guides you through marketing, your offer, and it guides you through selling your offer.
My goal for every single Side Hustle student is to make money within the program and to set up a sustainable business that's going to grow with them for the long term that is matched to their money goal that is matched to their income goal and that is matched to their time frame. My heart goal is that everybody is able to make 100% of the money that they spend with me.
It doesn't happen every time. A lot of the time, but it doesn't happen every time. But my goal is for every single person to make money within the program, to see that it's possible to also see that it, that the impact is possible. And within the timeframe that you commit to working with me, I want you to have a return on your investment. So there's some really awesome bonuses included in this round as well. And those are things that we will talk about once you apply.
So if you are ready to make your side hustle a reality this year, or actually next year, if you're ready to commit this year and ready to work on it next year, join me over at Marissa lawton.com/side-hustle. Fill out that application and we'll see if the program is the right fit for you. Alright, I will be back next week with another episode, and until then keep on rising.
Thank you so much for listening to the empathy arising podcast for show notes, links and downloads. Head over to Marissalawton.com/podcast, where you'll be able to build a deeper relationship with me and the show as well as binge on all past episodes.
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