Whether you’re just starting out with a new business idea or you’ve been up and running for a while, today we are going to discuss three proven, fundamental things you can do to continue to grow over the long haul.

When I began my first side hustle while I was in1 college, I didn’t know much about how to run a side business. The term “side hustle” wasn’t even a thing! The internet was brand new, pay pal didn’t exhist yet, amazon wasn’t even a thought and people wern’t comfortable giving their credit card number online.

All I knew was that was interested in helping people get healthier usning nutrition and herbal remidies without taking prescription drugs. In my mind, and I still believe this today, prescription medications should be a last resort and if at all possible should be a temporary fix. So I launched one of the very first e-commerce websites giving people information about altenatives to medications and then offering those alternatives for sell.

Well that venture failed and when I graduated from pharmacy school I put the blinders on and went to work.

Back then there weren’t books I could read or workshops I could go to on ecommerce and on line marketing. I just stumbled along and figured it out on the way, picked myself up and dusted myself off (literally)!

But now we live in this exciting side-hustle economy where folks are making money doing what they love every day. Since 2013 I’ve been coaching folks on how to build a business from home —whether they’re working at their kitchen table or in their spare bedroom or building their business through blogging and even hotel events and conventions.

So, what’s their secret? I can tell you that business cards, a website and a the latest computer and studio equipment are all well and good, but that’s not what will turn your hobby into a business! And once you catch that thrill of making your first sale, what will drive your business even further? Whether you’re just starting out with a new business idea or you’ve been up and running for a while, here are three proven, fundamental things you can do to continue to grow over the long haul.

1. Know where you are.

You have to be able to evaluate where you are in your journey so you can identify what you need to do from this point forward. In an article from Harvard Business Review, Anthony K. Tjan writes, “ . . . there is one quality that trumps all, evident in virtually every great entrepreneur, manager, and leader. That quality is self-awareness.”(1)

As a business owner, awareness isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s essential.

It can be tough to wear so many different hats and juggle so many areas of your business. You’re the boss, and you’re also in charge of the marketing department, production, shipping, budgets, scheduling, administration and more! So if sales are down or, just the opposite, you can’t keep up with your customers and are experiencing burnout, you may not even know where to begin to make things better.

That’s when you know it’s time to gain some awareness.

Get some honest feedback from a mentor. Survey your customers. You can’t grow if you don’t know what’s holding you back.

2. Invest in yourself.

Learning and growing is so important, especially when you’re building a business. When I spent that year traveling one weekend a month, to meet different high income earners one thing every leader had in common is that they’re constantly reading, growing, refining their skills and learning new ones.

They subscribe to industry newsletters, meet with mentors, and attend marketing workshops.

I heard Dave ramsey often quote Charlie Jones: “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.”

Well I don’t know about you all, but if I’m not intentional about reading—between my job, blogging, video production, getting household chores doner—it just doesn’t happen. If you want to incorporate more reading into your life, try setting a goal to read one personal or professional development book every month.

I also listen to podcasts as I comute to work. And there are countless amazing courses you can take online, so you don’t even have to go back to school to master a new craft.

3. Surround yourself with support.

We all need people who are in our corner who want to see us succeed! But feeling alone and secluded is something many business owners struggle with because, as Entrepreneur.com explains: “[They] start out trusting themselves and themselves alone. After all, entrepreneurship generally comes from a product or idea sprung from your head . . . so a company is uniquely yours. It is a part of you.”(2)

When the company is yours, the successes and failures feel like they’re yours alone, too. You begin to feel like you can only rely on yourself.

That’s why it’s so important to get plugged in to a community of folks you trust. Folks who you can bounce ideas off of and solve problems with who are out there killing it! Many of those high income earners that I met in my travels are my mentors and coaches today.

If you do these three things—know where you are, invest in yourself, and surround yourself with support—you can succeed in business!

I know you can win in business because I see folks doing it every day. If you want it bad enough and you’re willing to work hard enough, you’ll eventually get to where you want to be, and, in many cases, even further!

If you dont already have a way to make some extra, part-time income but have considered finding something to do I have been working a side hustle business for several years and I have several friends who do it as well and we love it. It’s possible to make anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars per month. Some even use it as their primary source of income.
Another great thing is the company that I work with already has the marketing materials, such as websites, phone apps already designed and ready for you to use.

It takes some time and effort to build a side hustle income, but if you’re a good self-starter, love personal development, this just might be the right side gig for you. It can be a fun way to make some extra money while also building your professional network.

In the company I represent there are a variety of niches so you can pick your passion, from health and wellness, to cosmetics, to jewelry, essential oils, pet products, coffee. We even have a service-based division, as well, offering ID theft protection, virtual doctors visits, roadside assistance, and other services for individuals and businesses. We also offer capital funding services and credit card processing services for small businesses as well.
And now we are launching into the lucrative CBD oil space.

And the investment to get started is very low. Just reach out to me and we can have a conversation to see if its a fit for you or not.