If you think about it, there is an interesting fact from office workers that they may have a small salary, but in fact many of them have a lot of free time. Unfortunately, most of them do not use their free time optimally and turn it into money.
Actually, from that free time there are many opportunities to run a side business that can be used as additional income or maybe it can be a long-term financial plan. However, not a few people use their working time as an excuse for not being able to run this side business.
Even though from the working hours that must be fulfilled in one day, actually we can still set aside a little to take care of a side business, after all we are not prohibited from doing side business activities by the company, right?
Why Should You Open a Side Business?
Interesting side business to do. In general, there should be no failure in this business because it is only a side business or additional income.
The following are the main reasons why you should try a side business. Some knowledge that also needs to be known so that more and more people undergo this side business.
Starting from a Good Idea and Unique Ability
Kebanyakan perusahaan besar yang sudah sangat terkenal di dunia sekarang ini berawal dari sebuah usaha sampingan yang merupakan buah ide bagus, serta kemampuan dan keterampilan dalam menjalankan ide tersebut. Tingkat kompetisi makin rendah dan peluang sukses makin besar jika ide Anda unik dan jarang ada orang lain yang memiliki. Anda tinggal merancang strategi untuk mengeksekusi ide tersebut menjadi kenyataan.
Market Opportunities Still Wide Open
Never be confused to open a side business. If you are a creative person, then everything can be used as business material for a side business. Make sure that the business to be opened, whether it’s goods or services, is indeed willing to buy.
So that the business can be right according to the plan, also consider the amount of competition you will face later. Do a small survey of public opinion, or you can start with the people closest to you, on your product idea.
Need Extra Money
The facts found in office employees as described above, namely the salary is mediocre but have a lot of free time, making a side business a new trend that continues to grow. Having a side business can add to the coffers of sustenance to help make ends meet. In addition to meeting the necessities of life, this additional money can also be used for future savings for you and your family.
Retirement Preparation
For private workers, it is necessary to consider having a retirement plan. By having a side business, the plan will be easier to fulfill because it will really help you when you reach old age. You can use this side business as a lifeline or just fill in old age activities. The reason is, post-retirement daily activities are needed to maintain your mental health.
Self-actualization
When your career is stuck and you experience a deadlock in carrying out work in the office, or you feel that your current job at the office is not in accordance with your passion, then a side business can teach you many things that you will not get by being an office employee.
This process is called self-actualization, but keep in mind that sometimes these lessons come from failure. However, don’t be afraid to fail because failure is actually the beginning of success.
Why Do Many Side Businesses Fail?
Even if it’s just a side business, it’s still a business. Even a small-scale business has almost the same risk of failure as a business that has been run for years.
What caused the side business on a small scale to fail? To answer this question, we have prepared several points that mention things that are often mistakes in running a side business.
Wrong Priority
A side business does have an understanding of not being a priority or main job. But if entrepreneurs are still keeping their full-time jobs while developing a small business on the side, then it’s best to exercise caution. Many failures occur in this side business due to the ambition to be successful quickly, so that the portion in doing side business can be as large or maybe larger than the main job.
They sometimes force themselves to take a lot of orders in their side business, and forget that they are still an employee. This results in a loss of focus and becomes not optimal in the process or is stuck, resulting in many complaints from customers. It would be nice if the business owner was not too fixated on developing a side business, or in other words adjusting the level of the business to your current abilities.
Misdetermined Needs
When starting a side business, unknowingly business owners are often lulled into things that are not so important. They are often wrong in determining needs like they already have a big business. For example, creating a business logo, making business cards, buying expensive software for bookkeeping, and so on.
Indeed, all of these things are important for a business, but relatively new small businesses don’t need such things. It would be nice if the newly opened side business should focus on promotion, supply of raw materials or materials, licensing and so on plus creating a solid business concept.
Wrong Mindset
Many business failures are caused by the wrong mindset or mindset. An example of the wrong mindset is the assumption that “whatever is sold there will be a buyer.” This incorrect mindset can also take the form of underestimating the aspects of good marketing and product development so that they tend to be reckless in terms of spending money on aspects of the business that are less important at the beginning of their career and result in the newly opened business failing.
Immature Business Planning
No matter how small a business is run, it still requires a plan. A business plan can include a simple plan without the need for detail such as making a plan for short-term and long-term goals, such as your business vision and mission, a list of potential networking contacts and the like.
This is important to do to help business owners when they want to develop their business. Good planning at the beginning will make it easier for the entrepreneur to develop his business later because he doesn’t have to rearrange a business plan that is already far away so that it wastes time, money, and energy.
Can’t Build Network
The power of business lies in the network. No matter how big the business you have, it is obligatory to continue to add and build an existing network. Networks can be customers, friends, relatives, and so on. The way to form and build a network is to have a lot of business relationships. Frequently attend events or meetings to add new acquaintances who can become a new network for your business.
Many business people may be hesitant, embarrassed, or lazy to open a networking route on the grounds that their business has just developed without it. This is of course wrong. Sooner or later, if business owners are lazy to build a network, their business will be unable to compete with other businesses.