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Rethinking Side Hustle Job Security

In this episode, we are going to talk about job security. More specifically, we are discussing side hustle job security. Our part-time businesses do not need to match our paychecks by matching our full-time schedules. Instead, they can provide security, with the right strategy, while still operating in less than 40 hours per week.

If you feel or have ever felt uneasy in your career for any reason, this episode can shine a light on security and begin to answer a lot of questions for you. 

Starting a business and having it earn consistent income takes hard work. But when it is there, a profitable side hustle can be the start of some really great career options, including the ultimate job security. 

Ready to calculate just how much your side hustle can make and where job security lies inside your business? Download my free side hustle calculator tool right here!

What is Job Security And Why Do We Want It?

Job security is having a job and an income stream remaining in the event that another job (or maybe our main income stream) is cut off or removed. 

No matter what happens, we want to see income flowing to us to create financial security for our lives. 

This concept peaked in 2020 during the pandemic. We suddenly saw just a drastic, real-world example of people losing their job not to performance, but to the economy- something we cannot control. 

Since then, I think we have all gained a better understanding of the need for more security within our careers. We want to be prepared. We don’t want to be caught off guard. 

And now there are multiple ways to build out financial security like saving, investing, and more items like that. But you’re listening to an entrepreneur podcast so in my opinion one of the best ways to create security within your career is through having your own business. 

In fact, I actually believe only through entrepreneurship do we have true job security. 

If you think about it, we have security around the things we can control. And where do we have the most control in our careers? … inside the world of entrepreneurship. 

We crave security inside our careers whether we realize it or not. There is something inside all of us that doesn’t want to return to square one in the event of being let go, accepting a job that wasn’t right for us, or carving our path to full-time entrepreneurship. 

You may be already thinking of how to build out security within your career and what this will actually look like for you.

What Does Job Security Look Like For You?

So when thinking about your job security…what does this look like? Is this something that you have been able to itemize for yourself? Or paint a visual picture?

Well, a great place to start is by looking at your numbers. What do you need to earn every month to take care of your necessities? 

Financial necessities would include:

• rent or mortgage
• utilities
• groceries
• bills
• health priority like medication

From there, maybe get a gauge of what living comfortably looks like. This would factor in additional expenses like clothes, entertainment, and travel. My free calculator download will help you plug all of this in.

From here, you have a black-and-white number for what bottom-line income you need to make every month. So when we are talking job security in the form of entrepreneurship, your side hustle will need to earn these numbers (at least your basic necessities) to give you true job security. 

This means no matter if your full-time, 9-5 job, was removed from your life, your side hustle can still fund your basic life needs each and every month. 

You will also need to factor in taxes and your side hustle’s overhead. 

Example:

If your basic life needs are $3,000 each month. And your side hustle has a monthly overhead of about $500. Your side hustle will need to make at least about $5,000 each month in order to give you true job security. 

Out of this $5,000, you will want to allocate 30% roughly for taxes and remove your $500 overhead leaving you with $3,000. 

This podcast episode is not giving you professional financial advice and should not replace professional financial advice. 

And remember, this isn’t an episode about what our side hustles need in order to go full-time. This is all about understanding how our side hustles can give us true job security and protect us when life happens. 

Reaching Security With A Side Hustle

If you’re thinking, “That sounds nice but there’s no way my side hustle can match my paycheck or meet my life’s financial necessities without more time to devote to it” I have a question for you.

I would ask you would be “is this the side hustle for you?”. Meaning is this the business you love and that you want to truly invest your time and energy into growing? 

Some businesses do need hours in order to scale. But if your needs are job security and more income, ask yourself if you need to consider a side hustle that can generate the income you need with the time you have. Because that’s a real formula and a real situation that you can create. 

Side hustles are not exclusive to meek streams of income. Side hustles are part-time businesses. And part-time business can be just as powerful as “quote on quote full-time businesses. 

In fact, go back and listen to episode #21 of Side Checks: Why Going Full Time Should Never Be Your #1 Goal In Business. This episode does a great job at providing a fresh prospective of our business goals.

My food photography side hustle wasn’t watching my full time paycheck because it was matching my full time schedule. It was generating just as much income because I found a higher ticket product that I could create and sell at a consistent cadence to my same client list. 

• My high ticket product wasn’t bound by needing high volume. 
• My client journey’s weren’t over after one sale. I found an industry where clients bought consistently and had an ongoing need. 
• And the product was something I could create in my time available which was on the weekends. 

So if you think you need just as many hours to match your paycheck as the job giving you that paycheck, you don’t. And you’re not bound by that. And you will need to shift your mindset in order to start making more money. 

There may even be a chance your mindset has molded to the idea of 40 hours = $50,000 therefore 10 hours = $12,500. And you could be subconsciously selecting or running part-time businesses to yield this amount due to this mindset. 

But…. this isn’t the case and it doesn’t need to be your reality. 

If Your Side Hustle Isn’t Matching Your Paycheck

For the purpose of this episode, we have identified job security as meeting our financial needs in the unlikely event our main income stream is cut off. 

However, I think it’s also important that we highlight another aspect of job security before we wrap up. And that’s security in creating potential income. 

Having a side hustle or any part-time business in general is a great way to build security for yourself even if it’s not earning enough income right now to cover your financial needs. 

You are still building out security in the opportunity of having another income stream. 

Now it is important that we recognize if we have to fall back on the job security of our side hustles, they should meet our basic financial necessities. 

However, I wanted to pass along a note of encouragement in case you’re not there yet… you can be. And the concept of job security can still be applied because you still have money coming in, which is better, and a much more secure plan, as if no money was coming in and you were back to square one. 

Next Steps

If you are looking to start building some job security for yourself, side hustling can help you get there. 

Having any part-time business, and bringing in any form of additional income means no matter what life throws our way… we are in control and have income flowing to us. 

Now our goal with this ultimate job security is for it to meet our monthly basic financial needs. When we have true job security, it means our needs are met each month, no matter what. 

And to achieve this for yourself, there are a few things you will want to do.

One; know your numbers. You want to get a good grip on what security actually means to you financially. Calculate expenses like your rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, bills, and any health priorities like medications. 

Two; choose a side hustle, or ensure your existing side hustle, can meet that financial requirement each month. Chances are it can. But do you need to tweak anything to make it happen? Do you need to bump prices, increase volume, or extend the customer journey?

And a side note on this… if you do find yourself needing to tweak your side hustle business model in order to obtain true job security and the adjustments just aren’t doable for you… like working an additional 40 hours per week or hitting a viral-like volume amount that would require your to scale into some type of factory … you may need to consider a different business model. 

Three; understand that building job security has to start somewhere. Even if your side hustle isn’t hitting those numbers now. That doesn’t mean it won’t in a few months from now. Be patient, give yourself grace, and understand that any additional income flowing in is more security than $0. 

Ready to calculate just how much your side hustle can make and where job security lies inside your business? Download my free side hustle calculator tool right here!