On the Side: How a Side Hustle Could Change your Life
Starting a side hustle was the best thing I’ve ever done. After graduating from university, I was drowning in job applications and the pressure of post-graduate life. Embarrassed by my part-time job, I committed myself to trying to be a freelancer on my days off. It was a side hustle that began from a desperate attempt to stay relevant in the creative industry but, over time, it became my true love in life.
So when I was offered a full-time job in Bristol, working as a junior designer 40 hours a week, I decided to bring my side hustle with me. I’m incredibly lucky and grateful to have a creative job, but I’m just not ready to give up my small business.
I’ve always loved drawing animals and the main form of income from my side hustle is designing custom pet portraits for clients, although I also sell prints, cards and other illustration-based products on Etsy. I’ve designed everything from greeting cards to life-size wall decals, collaborated on international projects, and drawn more dogs than I can even imagine – all thanks to my side hustle.
Working for yourself on projects that you feel passionate and excited about can open so many doors to new opportunities, even if you’re still sat at a desk for 40 hours a week.
Having a second form of income can offer extra financial support for many who are struggling to make ends meet, and running your own business can provide flexibility and freedom that no other job can.
“I’m an actor working in musicals mainly, but there are always gaps between shows where you have to start auditioning for the next one,” says illustrator and actor Grace Kelly.
“Most people end up in part time jobs that are flexible enough to let them go to auditions, but those kinds of jobs are generally not well paid, they have anti-social hours and personally I was just tired of serving people and cleaning things. So, I decided to use my love of sketching to start a small business.”
Grace has been running her business, Pencil & Grace, since 2016. She creates beautiful watercolour paintings of families, houses and pets. The business that began as a side hustle now offers her financial security between (and during) shows, and has flourished into a potential future career.
Even if you’re not struggling for money, a side hustle could provide a handy boost to your savings, or just an excuse to splash out on an extra takeaway every now and then. It will also teach you about managing money and may help you become better at budgeting in your everyday life.
And with salaries dropping and employees hopping from traditional full-time job to traditional full-time job, a side hustle could help you break away from an unhealthy focus on your full-time career.
Our capitalist society wants you to believe that your full-time job should mean everything to you – that the success or failure of the company you work for is intrinsically tied up in your success or failure as well. We yearn for better salaries, better job positions, better benefits, but ultimately this results in us working our asses off for the benefit and profit of a huge organisation that just sees us as a number on a spreadsheet.
And although commodifying our hobbies into businesses is also a result of capitalism, running your own business means you are striving for your own success, rather than somebody else’s. You choose your own working hours, work on projects you feel passionate about, and make money that goes into your bank account at the end of the day.
Having a side hustle is the first step towards this, but it also gives you something to focus on outside of your full-time job. When I leave my office at 5pm, I leave all the stress, worry and problems of that job behind, and I come home to my side hustle. Its taught me that your job should be just that – a job, and not your whole life.
Of course, there’s a balance to be struck. Spending every spare moment of the day running your own business can lead to burnout, and you need to structure in down-time, too. It’s important to maintain boundaries – your mental and physical health should always come first.
And there is a danger for side hustles to be glamorised online – this is why many people have uncomfortable connotations around the phrase. There are so many upsides to running a small business in your free time, and these are the things that get shared on social media. But there are also distinctly un-glamorous moments. Doing your taxes, dealing with unhappy clients and chasing late invoice payments are all very unpleasant tasks, and are all required if you’re running your own business.
It’s also important to remember that any business venture requires investment, and there’s no guarantee that you’ll make your money back. When you work for yourself you also need to consider that you won’t get any sick days, holiday or other traditional employee benefits, which can be challenging.
But despite all of that, I still believe that starting my small business was the best thing I’ve ever done. I’ve learned so much about myself and about running a small business, and have been given so many amazing opportunities because of it. My hope is that one day, I may be able to go full-time with my little business, but for now I’m happy to work on my evenings and weekends to make it happen. Having a side hustle allows me to explore, experiment and make mistakes, all the time knowing that my salary will still be in my bank account at the end of every month.
Written by Hollie Alexa Moxham
Hollie is a full-time junior designer, who also runs a small business selling illustration-based products and designing custom commissions, usually pet portraits. She graduated from Plymouth College of Art in 2018 with a BA Honours degree in animation and spent a year freelancing in animation and illustration before beginning her job in magazine design. She also writes a blog about side hustles, organisation, creativity and well-being, and believes her life goals will be complete once she is able to own a dog!
You can also reach Hollie on Instagram by searching for @holliealexamoxham_art.