Find Your Side-Business Sweet Spot - #47 (Replay)

Show Notes

So you want to start a side hustle, but you don’t know WHAT side hustle to start. Should you go with what you know, marketing your existing professional skillet? Should you turn your favorite hobby into a business? Or should you delve into a new industry, working on a cause you care about?  Could your ideal side hustle be a combination of all the above? Lori and Nola walk you through a series of questions to ask yourself, so you can find your entrepreneurial sweet spot. ​

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Sticky Brand Lab

Let’s dive into this week’s episode!

In This Episode You’ll Learn

• Things to consider if you’re thinking about turning your professional skill set into a business
• How to figure out what you’re really passionate about -- and whether that passion is business-worthy
• Why pursuing the biggest money-making opportunity may cost more than you realize
• Ways to determine if a business idea might have market potential
  
  

Some people know without a doubt what side hustle they want to start. Others know they want to start a side hustle but the rest is a question mark. Using personal examples to illustrate concepts, Lori and Nola take listeners through a downloadable worksheet. Aspiring side hustlers can answer the questions discussed, to come closer to answering their own question: What side hustle should I choose? 

(3:57:28) How sometimes finding out what does not work leads you to find out what does.

(12:11:15) Answer these questions to uncover hidden (or not so hidden) talents that may be marketable.

(14:08:58) If you don’t know what things you love to do that may translate into a business, ask yourself these questions.

(20:31:43) How you can turn problems into opportunities.

(23:24:00) The answer to this one question can mean you’re in business or you’re not.

Resources
Download the worksheet, Your Entrepreneurial Sweet Spot

Transcripts

Nola: [00:00:00] You've decided to go for it. You're going to start side hustle, but you haven't yet decided what business to start. You may have endless ideas, but no way to choose just one or you may have no ideas and no clue how to come up with one it's okay. We're here for you. In this episode, we're going to help you pinpoint a profitable side hustle. That'll make you excited to get up in the morning.

Announcer: [00:00:27] You're listening to the Sticky Brand Lab podcast, where time strep professionals, like you learn how to create a business you love in as little as three hours a week.

Lori: [00:00:39] Hello and welcome aspiring entrepreneurs. Lori and Nola here. It can be so frustrating when you know you want to start a side hustle, but you have no idea what business to launch.

In today's episode, we're going to help you find your entrepreneurial sweet spot. But before we do, hit the subscribe button and leave us a review on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. So more side hustlers, just like you can start a business they love.

Nola: [00:01:08] Lori.

Lori: [00:01:09] Yes.

Nola: [00:01:12] Tell me, how did you decide on your side hustle?

Lori: [00:01:15] How I decided on my first side hustle, I was a dating coach and my business was Make Dating Simple. I had gotten my coaching certification and I had done a track for life coaching and I had done a track for business coaching, and I did not like either track. And I was dating. And I just kept having miserable dates.

And so, the idea came to me, and this became part of my slogan, is, your date won't tell you what you're doing wrong, but I will. So, it was out of necessity. I kept feeling like I wanted to tell the guys I was dating, here's what you're doing wrong. And so the idea kind of flowed and, and that's how I decided on it.

Nola: [00:01:59] Well, that's cool.

Lori: [00:02:00] How about you? How did you come up with your side hustle?

Nola: [00:02:03] For an answer to demand.  I was already, I'm talking about my copywriting side hustle, I've done many of them, but really, it's usually an answer to demand. I was doing copywriting as a full-time job and I had people ask me if I could do it for their, um, usually for a company, and I needed to earn money. So that's what I did.

Lori: [00:02:24] I have to tell you, though, when I did the dating coach, I was working for the state of Colorado. And one of the caveats was that you could not do a site or part-time job in the same,

Nola: [00:02:37] You can't compete. It's a noncompete kind of thing.

Lori: [00:02:40] So the dating coach was an easy, I was working in the division of youth corrections. Clearly a dating coach did not compete in any way, shape or form.

Nola: [00:02:49] Right.

Lori: [00:02:50] Here's a question for you though. Have you ever done a side hustle that you wished you hadn't started?

Nola: [00:02:55] Ironically, I would say that my copywriting side hustle is one of those.

Lori: [00:03:01] Really?

Nola: [00:03:02] Yeah. Because, you know, I was, I was really good at copywriting and sometimes I really enjoyed it, especially if I was excited about the topic, but when I was not excited about the topic or if it was a really complex topic that I didn't know that much about, it was really arduous to try to come up with exciting copy for it. And it really became very energy draining. And so there were times like that, I would think, you know, why am I doing this again? Sometimes doing something you are good at is not necessarily the thing that you might want to do as a business, which is something we were about to talk about.

Lori: [00:03:40] I so concur with you. You can be great at something and not enjoy it, which is one of the reasons why starting a side hustle is an opportunity to create a path or discover something that you really do enjoy or to do more of something that you really enjoy.

Nola: [00:03:56] And sometimes you have to go down that path and find out what does and does not work before, you know, to pivot and find what does work.   there were times where I didn't enjoy copywriting, but I wouldn't have known that unless I tried. And sometimes the hit and miss approach to starting a side hustle, that it's sometimes is the best teacher. That hit and miss, that experimenting, finding out by doing, sometimes that's the best teacher.

 So, I know the thought of choosing a business that will be a focus of a lot of your time and energy and resources, that can be daunting. And I know that when, um, you know, some people say, hey, you know, just, just pick something that you're really good at and get paid for it. Similar to my freelancing. But the question is, would you enjoy it just because you're good at it? Would you enjoy turning that into a business?

Lori: [00:04:48] No. I mean, as a matter of fact, what I went to graduate school for, to work in the mental health field, is I was good at it. I have used the skills in everything that I've done in my life, but I did not love it in the same way that my colleagues did. And it became a pivot. Actually, the dating coach opened up an, a totally different career path for me. And I took that career path, but I would not have known that one if I hadn't let go of what I had gone to school for. And two, if I hadn't done a side hustle to find out that there was something else that used my skillset in a different way.

Nola: [00:05:35] That's, see, that's cool. Now in trying to figure out what kind of side hustle to do, some people will also say that, you know, not just go after what you're good at, but they'll say yeah. Follow your passion, follow your bliss. Go after that

Well, yeah, my question is, does passion guarantee that it will be a successful business model? I'm all for passions and being passionate about something, but yeah. Yeah,

Lori: [00:06:03] I haven't found my passion. I have found a lot of interests. So, when people say follow your passion, if you're to somebody like me, you think to yourself, but I am not that passionate about something. I'm like a Jack of all trades. I wear a lot of hats. I have a lot of interests. I go down deep rabbit holes, but one thing that I have to do for the rest of my life? No freaking, which is not the first two words,
No freaking way.!

Nola: [00:06:32] Yeah. And I'm the same way. As some people are just very obsessed and they know from the time they pop into this world, that this is what they want to do and they pursue it. And, you know, they have these great stories, but. Nope. I'm the same way I can grab onto an interest and dive down into it and explore it and explore it and then pop back up and go, wow. That was really interesting. That was cool. Ooh, look at this one and go dive back.

Lori: [00:07:00] Let me chase this one

Nola: [00:07:04] that that's actually common to certain personality types. So, it's, so I'm not really weird.

Lori: [00:07:09] No, cause we'd have to be weird together because you are two peas in a pod with some differences at the same, same pod.

Nola: [00:07:19] How do you think that through, I mean, how does just finding your passion mean? Okay, sure. Great. Now I know what business I'll start. It doesn't really come that easy.

Well, other people will say, I want to make a side hustle. I want more money. So, I'm going to methodically go through a process to figure out what is, you know, maybe an Amazon storefront. They have a, like a questionnaire they'll find out what product is is most in demand.

Lori: [00:07:45] I applaud those people because they're methodical about their approach to business. It is driven by a desire to be an entrepreneur and to be a profitable entrepreneur. And that's an okay place to be. I applaud those people,

Nola: [00:08:03] But would it be fulfilling?

Lori: [00:08:08] I mean, not for me, but for them it is.

Nola: [00:08:11] You don't know that. I, in fact, I had a client who went through that process and knew a product that had the potential for bringing in the type of money that would fund the lifestyle that he sought and was absolutely, absolutely freaking miserable. There's that word again?

Lori: [00:08:31] Exactly. And I think that's what keeps people from pursuing a side hustle or making a career change because  if it doesn't work out, then they look at it as they were the failure, rather than as a lesson learned. Hey, that didn't work or it worked for short period of time. That's a specific type of personality mindset. Totally get it. Your head could spin in circles, trying to figure out what business to start.

And when we come back, We're going to take you through a useful tool that help you pinpoint the ideal site hustle for you.

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Lori: [00:10:02] Welcome back to Sticky Brand Lab, the podcast for the soon to be entrepreneur who is ready to accomplish more with a side hustle in less time.

Nola: [00:10:10] Okay. We promised you a tool and we're going to take you through a worksheet we have available to download from the resources page of our website at stickybrandlab.com/resources. You can also find the links to that worksheet in this episode's show notes. So it's called. Your entrepreneurial sweet spot. Ta-da!

Lori: [00:10:36] Oh yeah.

Nola: [00:10:40] Among other things, this worksheet includes a Venn diagram. So in case you're not familiar with the term, a Venn diagram is made up of overlapping circles and each circle represents a concept, and the overlapping space where those are goals overlap, the space in between, is where the separate concepts merged to create new or blended idea. Our Venn diagram made up of four circles. They're laid out as, say North, South, East, and West, and each circle overlaps with the circles on each side of it. And they all converge in the center where. Is the sweet spot. That's the magic in the middle. That's the entrepreneurial sweet spot, right in the center where everything overlaps.

We're going to go through this and talk about what each circle means and some questions to ask yourself around that topic and how it can help you design a business you'd love. So we're going to answer questions through all of the four circles, and by the time you answered all four circles, something may bubble up.

Lori: [00:11:38] Okay. I like it.

Nola: [00:11:40] Great.  First circle we'll start with, let's just say the West. Go to the one on the left-hand side . It says, Wwhat you're good at. So these are some questions to ask yourself to help you kind of flush out your ideal side hustle. And remember, the more that you can answer, it'll help you get the full picture 

Lori: [00:11:56] I'm ready.

Nola: [00:11:57] Okay. Under what you're good at think about what are you especially skilled or gifted at? So for me, apparently it's copywriting. For you it's apparently giving, dating advice and business advice.

Lori: [00:12:11] I'm gifted at telling people what to do. Coaching is what attracted me, right? Because in therapy, you meet the client where they're at. And I found myself getting anxious at the process being slow. And that's that's me, but what attracted me to coaching was it was very action-oriented and you, as the coach had more input to the people that you were working for and they were ready to receive that. So it's no lie that it, at that time, I don't know that I would have thought of it this way, but now that you're saying that it's like, Oh, I get what skill or gifted at: being a nosy is one, also I ask a lot of questions.

Nola: [00:12:58] Yeah. See how just that one question can prompt these insights. Yes. So that's great. Another question under that is, do you have special training? Another is what do others seek you out for? A lot of people seek me out for advice when they're starting a side hustle, believe it or not. And another epiphany would be an answer to the question. What are you not good at?

Lori: [00:13:24] So,

Nola: [00:13:28] Right. So, you know, we want to avoid things that will require patience.

Lori: [00:13:34] Oh, that's, that's good. That's and it's also just a different way when you're thinking about what answering that question. What am I good at and what am I not good at? Or what don't I like to do kinds of things, the parts of the job that are not of interest to me, can tell you as much about what you want to do as what you don't want to do.

Nola: [00:13:55] Yup. And that is a good segue or introduction to the North circle, the one at the top. And it's all about what you love. What things energize you? What makes you lose track of time when you do them? Because you are so in the zone. So that's one question.

Another would be, what topic are you interested in? Some people just love animals or they're, you know, very interested in history or literature.

Another question is, if money were no object, what would you pursue? So it kind of takes you outside the box.

And finally, what part of running a business do you not like? And that's what you were. I think alluding to.

Lori: [00:14:42] Yes. And you know, this is where some people will hire a virtual assistant. They can answer these questions, they get the idea of what they want to do. And then they think, what can I outsource the parts that don't make me happy so I can do the things that make me happy and bring in income faster. But when you're first starting out, you don't even have that option.

Nola: [00:15:06] Remember earlier when you said you can't stand it when people say, you know, what is your passion? It's like, Oh, I don't know what my passion is. Well, and I would say that trying to identify something that really makes you tick would be what makes you lose track of time when you do them.

Lori: [00:15:22] That's it such an important piece because, ideas. When you were doing that, I was thinking, ideas. I love ideas, but I don't necessarily tie the idea of ideas into a side hustle.

Nola: [00:15:38] You come up with a lot of ideas on podcast topics on ways that entrepreneurs can, um, grow or launch a side hustle. I can see you get excited when somebody comes out with a brand strategy and your brain just starts going and overdrive with all the ways that you can

Lori: [00:16:06] I want to build a better mouse trap. So yeah, show me your work. And I'm about to show you how to make it better.

Nola: [00:16:12] Yes, but it gets your creative juices going and then you think of all the ways they can, um, make their audience just go, yes, yes, yes.

Lori: [00:16:21] Yes. Saying this, the ideas is coming to me, Nola that sometimes talking these questions through, with somebody else who can do the listening for you, who can hear your excitement or hear what drains you may be a good way to use this diagram.

Nola: [00:16:40] Very good. That's right. So remember when I mentioned that a Venn diagram has circles where the edges of them overlap. And then there's the space in the middle. Just so you know, when you'll see this in the diagram, when you download it, the intersection between that, we just talked about what you're good at and what you love, where those circles intersect. That area is called your passion. When you have something that satisfies both what you're good at and what you love, that can be identified as a passion. But when you get these business ideas based on this passion, ask yourself, do you like the process of this? Or do you like the end result of this business idea?

For example, my husband is passionate about miniature models, especially historical battle scenes, that he will take a lot of time and paint an entire army, and he'll do it one at a time. And the thing is, once it's done, people will pay big money for sets like this. These finished sets, especially with such high quality workmanship.

I suggested, you know, you can make a whole lot of money doing this. You should do this as a side gig. And he said, well, actually, I can't stand painting these.

I love having them. I love them being so detailed,  and I love, you know, organizing them and creating the scene when they're done. But the painting that's just something I painstakingly put myself through so that I could get the end result of this finished battle scene. But, he said, I would never want to do this as a side gig.

Lori: [00:18:26] That is a great example of being really good at something and not liking it enough to want to make it a business.

Nola: [00:18:34] Absolutely. So on the East circle is what the world needs.

Lori: [00:18:42] When you say that? I think huge, right? I'm thinking the world needs homes for pets that are in the humane society and the world needs clean water and the world needs, I'm thinking huge, but that's not what you mean when you say this.

Nola: [00:19:01] Yep. It doesn't need to be planetary. There could be some tribes, some set of customers, a subset of the world that either needs something or desire something. And it's based on perception. It could be that there is a discomfort that needs to be solved to create comfort. And it could be that there's just a desire that needs to be satisfied.

For instance, you can live if you don't hear music, but there's something that. Music satisfies in a person and not the entire world may not think there's value in country Western or folk music, but there is a certainly a subset that just really feel fulfilled and do find value in that.

Lori: [00:19:48] Absolutely. There's a group of passionate people who love country music. So just because that's not my genre of music doesn't mean that it's not important. So what the world needs, if I understand you correctly, then is the thing that makes you come alive, that excites you and that interest could be different for every person.

Nola: [00:20:09] And you meaning the customer.

Lori: [00:20:11] Yes. Yep. Correct.

Nola: [00:20:13] Absolutely. And I'm glad you asked that question. So the questions under that to ask yourself in that category are what problems are you encountering that other people may be encountering? What solutions currently exist to those problems? Who else is experiencing the same problem and where do they hang out?

Lori: [00:20:35] And myself, I took an interest in paper quilling. One of my frustrations have been on tutorials that actually show. Some specifics to doing a design. So in what the world needs it, because that's an area of interest for me, what I need is some small tutorials that I videos that I can watch specifically that would help me be better or learn how to do a specific quilling style.

So if you're not interested in quilling, The world would seem like that's not necessary, but if you are like, I am, then what I need or the audience that I would be of newbies, we would want to see more of that.

Nola: [00:21:24] Perfect. Perfect example.

Lori: [00:21:26] Yep. Thank you very much.

Nola: [00:21:29] To refer back to that story about my, you know, my husband and his miniatures, I wouldn't say the world, but that subset, there are people who would really like a fully finished army set because their problem is they can't paint it

Lori: [00:21:45] meticulously painted. So people who want the set to be meticulous. Uh, with all the details, if that is important. And you're saying there's a subset that will pay for that, or be of interest in that. And if that is not important, that level of detail is not important, then the world or that subset would not be interested in it. So it's almost like two camps.

Nola: [00:22:11] So also the problem of how to, how can I get a really nice set without having to paint it myself? I guess if we were walking through that, the solutions currently exist to those problems are well, paint it yourself,

Lori: [00:22:21] be satisfied with a less perfect paint job.

Nola: [00:22:23] Exactly. And the people who experienced the problem are those hobbyists. And historians that love to go through those recreations and where do they hang out? That's a question to answer that will help you think through the marketing and the target audience and find out if, if that's big enough to create a business on and the, again, the circles are all converging and we talked about what you love and it overlaps with a circle of what the world needs and that intersection is your mission. Circle four on the South is What you can be paid for.

Lori: [00:22:59] That's a big one.

Nola: [00:23:01] Yep. What will people be willing to pay you for? I remember thinking when I was walking through this pre-internet days, I went through in a small town outside of Seattle and this little shop was full of everything, frog frog, there were frogs, frogs, salt and pepper, shakers, everything. And I noticed not a whole lot of people were in there if any. And I wondered. Wow. That's really interesting. This lady really loves frogs. And I wonder how many people also love and love frogs enough to keep her in business
business?
Well, and the next time I went down there that that little downtown area, that shop was closed.

Lori: [00:23:45] Oh, wow. Well, good point. So you can have a passion for something. And people aren't willing to pay you for it. Or they're not willing to pay you the amount of money that would make it worthwhile for your time. Because you're trading time for dollars.
You're either making, uh, at a lower price where you're, you've got a big audience who wants to purchase it, or it's a higher ticket price in which you have a smaller number, but they pay the higher price for it. So if people aren't willing to pay, then you lose money on your brick and mortar store, as an example. That's a good point.

Nola: [00:24:26] As you get these ideas, business ideas, and you vet them through these circles. Some of them will fail the test. Some of them won't, you can't say that at work, that people will be willing to pay for where they will be.

Lori: [00:24:37] And there will be some people who will say that's okay, this is my passion. If I don't get paid for it, I'm doing it because I love it.
Yeah. That's okay. But that's not a side hustle.

Nola: [00:24:48] True. Although, you know what? The internet makes small very profitable, because you can find your niche on the internet now. So

Lori: [00:24:58] This is true.

Nola: [00:24:59] But even still, sometimes a niche can be so small that you don't have enough traffic or a volume of traffic to really make it worth your while, unless you have the right product.

So, we talked about what you can be paid for. And prior to that, we talked about the circle of what the world needs. Now, where those intersect that's called your vocation. Again, we're at the South circle and we started with the West circle of what you're good at. So, the intersection between what you can be paid for and what you're good at is your profession.

When your passion, your mission, your vocation and your profession all converge, you found your entrepreneurial sweet spot.

Lori: [00:25:46] And, you know, we really created this opportunity for this episode in this segment, because so many of the responses that we've been hearing from people regarding creating a side hustle is I don't know what to do.

And given that that's a pain point for some people, we wanted to give people an opportunity to kind of think that process through, especially when you're thinking about a new year, a new beginning, a new direction. So, you may not answer all of these questions. The idea here is to answer enough of them to help you identify a side hustle that's right. For you. Which kind of brings us to the end of today's segment. So, are you ready to find your entrepreneurial sweet spot? Well, you can walk yourself through this same exercise by downloading the worksheet from the resources page of our website, stickybrandlab.com/resources. You'll find the link in our show notes as well.

Nola: [00:26:48] Are you an aspiring entrepreneur, who's ready to share your vision with the world, but you're not sure exactly what that would look like? Or do you just want a safe soundboard to help you evaluate your top business ideas then a B unique session is just what you're looking for.
This two-part clarity session is customized and based on your individual goals and experience. Together, we will help you determine your ideal business niche, target audience, and strategy. You'll leave the session with a realistic timeline and a set of small step, big win goals that make sense for you and your lifestyle. Sign up today for a free 20 minute consultation at stickybrandlab.com/ shop.

Lori: [00:27:27] We've come to the end of our time together until next week. Remember, there's no time like now to start building the business of your dreams.
 
[Out-Take]
Are you an expiring
dead on arrival.