Succeed as an entrepreneur in 15 hours per week? Really, You mean, actually start a business that turns into a real money maker in your spare time? 

You’ve probably heard of something like this before: part-time entrepreneur, “chicken entrepreneur”, side gig, or side hustle. It’s all the same concept. And the beautiful part about this  business-starting process is it does not take 40-to-50 hours a week. It starts small – with a seemingly insignificant amount of time. But it has the potential to give you a proof of concept for your new business that will be impossible to ignore if you’re aiming to fire your current boss.

Before we dive into this concept of side hustle, let’s take a stroll down memory lane. The idea of starting something on the side that has the potential to become a full-time business is nothing new. Years ago, I heard the approach described as being a “chicken entrepreneur”. And no, it has nothing to do with raising chickens. Mark Morgan Ford popularized the concept of “chicken entrepreneur” when he wrote:  

“I firmly believe that one of the best (or possibly the best) ways of growing wealthy is to start your own business…A chicken entrepreneur is somebody who keeps his day job while he gets his ideal job going at home in the evenings and on weekends. He is an entrepreneur, because he is taking the initiative to start his own business. He is chicken, because he’s not willing to quit his current job and lose the income.”

So what Ford is saying is a “chicken entrepreneur” is a person who has a job, a mortgage, responsibilities that he feels he must continue to support. But he also has a dream – something he knows will not be able to be fulfilled by continuing forever at his J-O-B. So he starts something. On the side. He uses nights and weekends to build a sustainable part-time business, while keeping his day job. Make sense? 

The big question is how do you do something like this? It’s not rocket surgery. In fact, it’s something I practiced when on two separate occasions before — one was a successful business and another was a business that was breakeven but I decided to close it down. And you can do this too. 

I’ve isolated 7 steps to start a side hustle business in 15 hours a week that succeeds. These are steps that almost anyone can do in whatever the circumstances as long as you can carve out a dedicated 15 hours of your week for the project. And really, 15 hours/week is not a big commitment considering everyone has 168 hours/week. Let’s dive in.

Step #1: Start Something You Know Something About

Succeeding in any business is not easy. You have to put as many things in your favor as possible and even then it may not work. But that does not mean it’s impossible. One key factor in succeeding in your side hustle is to start a business you know something about. 

Here’s Ford again: “To succeed in any business, you must know certain things very well. You must understand, for example, what kinds of products the marketplace desires and what price points are ‘sweet.’ You must know how those first sales are made – what specific marketing techniques are employed to generate a sale without spending too much money acquiring the customer.”

Ford reminds us, whatever business you decide to start, make sure it’s about something you know something about. This one factor will help you pick something where you’re putting the odds of success in your favor.  

Step #2: Consider Several Business Ideas

When you’re thinking about starting a business, there are many ideas to choose from. I mean, lots. But to keep things simple, here are 5 side hustle business ideas from fool.com:

1. Become a tutor or consultant

People may want to pay you for skills you have. Think violin teacher, algebra tutor, or email marketing consultant. Whatever skills you picked up along the way – that people want to learn – you can teach as a side hustle and make $20-$50/hour (or more) depending on the skill and the customer interest. 

2. Start freelance writing

If you like writing and you’re good at it, maybe you’d like a writing side hustle. That’s actually what I was aiming to do years ago before I got my break at a marketing agency. Good freelance writers can make $30-40/hour or more, depending on the niche and your experience. Some copywriters get wealthy writing.  

3. Launch an ecommerce business

People love buying things online. Just think about how many times you’ve seen a delivery truck drive by just in the past month. An Ebay or Etsy side hustle may be just the thing to get your business underway. The sky’s the limit for a good ecommerce shop. 

4. Become an affiliate marketer

What about affiliate marketing? That’s basically where you act like a sales person for other businesses and earn a commission for every sale you send to another company. One of my affiliate businesses made over $35,000 in a few years. It’s not full-time income, but it’s not bad for a side hustle. 

5. Do Market Research

Did you know you can get paid to give your opinion? It’s possible to make $25/hour or more for filling out surveys. A side hustle as a market researcher can help put some folding money in your wallet and help you succeed in your work-at-home business.    

Step #3: Pick 1-2 Good Business Candidates

Of course, those 5 ideas are not all there are. Google more ideas like “side hustle business ideas” and start writing them down. As you’re considering a potential side hustle business, you’ll want to weigh out the costs and benefits of each one. There are likely many articles or videos about starting and succeeding in each of those potential businesses.  

After you do this for some time, most likely, one or two ideas will rise to the top of your list. These 1-2 ideas are the ones you want to consider.

Now, talk to people. Your spouse, your close friends – the ones that encourage you. If you can find them, talk to people doing what you want to do and see what their experience is. That research will pay you dividends for years if it helps you pick the right side hustle.  

Step #4: Pray

Now, I’m all about doing research. And talking to people. But keep in mind, here at Total Calling we are all about doing something that is directed by an eternal purpose. And God knows the future better than you, better than me, and better than anyone. He’s already there in the future. Point is, you need to submit whatever ideas to him and pray about it. Even if you think you have a great idea, pray. Proverbs 16:9 tells us…

The heart of man plans his way,

    but the LORD establishes his steps.

So whatever business candidates you’ve picked for your side hustle business idea, make sure you’ve prayed about them. God has a way of moving things around and helping you do what it is that you should do, even if it’s not your first idea. 

Step #5: Get Started

Abraham Lincoln once said,  “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.” Now those first three steps were good. They were necessary. Now it’s time to chop down that tree.

All the planning in the world is useless if you don’t start doing. More research may get you smarter, but not richer. So start your side hustle – don’t delay. 

Step #6: Divide Your Time Wisely

Here’s where the 15 hours/week becomes important. This is the breakdown that Dan Miller teaches at 48Days.com for starting a side hustle business. In this model, he’s built many part-time businesses through his coaching clients. By the way, all those previous steps can also be done in 15 hours a week so you’re still not out a bunch of time at this point. 

Here’s Miller’s hourly breakdown:

3 hours: reading, studying, gathering new knowledge (20%)

5 hours: creating content, working on your book, courses, coaching packages (33%)

4 hours: working directly with clients (27%)

3 hours: marketing efforts to build your brand and reputation (20%)

Did you see that? Only 20% of the time should be spent on gathering new knowledge. The rest should be in product creation, working with clients, and marketing to build your reputation. And this 15 hours/week model works for all of the side hustle ideas I mentioned before: tutor, consultant, writer, ecommerce store, affiliate marketer, and market researcher. 

And if you want to spend more time on any one area, you may need to expand the 15 hours/week. The more time you spend in the right areas, the faster you should be able to produce a proof of concept. Just make sure you’re not neglecting these other vital areas.

Step 7: Stick With It For (At Least) 12 Months

The last thing may be the most important. The time table may be arbitrary, but it’s a vital principle: whatever you start, do it for 12 months. Don’t deviate from that rule. 

On one of the businesses I started – a podcast – I was determined to stick with it for a full year. I did and we hit 100 episodes in about a year. It was at that point I decided it wasn’t the thing I wanted to do and I “paused” the project even though we had revenue and we had finally hit a breakeven point in the business. The result – that podcast eventually boasted over half a million downloads – with revenue. And if you know anything about the podcast business, you know it’s hard to make money on podcasts.

Here’s the point. If you just start something and quit one week, one month, or even six months later – that’s just not enough time to prove the concept of your side hustle. You really need to give it a fair amount of time. Twelve months seems about right to see if this business is making money and it still makes sense amid all your other responsibilities in life. 

So that’s it. To recap, here are the 7 steps you need to follow to build a successful side hustle business in 15 hours per week:  

Step #1: Start Something You Know Something About

Step #2: Consider Several Business Ideas

Step #3: Pick 1-2 Good Business Candidates

Step #4: Pray

Step #5: Get Started

Step #6: Divide Your Time Wisely

Step# 7: Stick With It for 12 Months

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