Your Side Hustle Checklist

So you've come up with a killer idea for your side-hustle, and are ready to take the first steps into making that hustlin' dream a reality. Good for you! But before you leap into the great unknown, take a quick peek at our list (a checklist, some might say) of items to get your side-hustlin' off right.

1. Take care of business!

If you're ready to start making money on the regs and turn your hustle into a full-on business, then you'll want to look into the US Small Business Administration site, 10 steps to start your business, with legal info, funding programs, and lots more. And if you're confused about how taxes work for side-businesses (and who wouldn't be?) we put together a quick resource guide just for that!

2. Bust out your to-do-list!

While a full-on business plan might not be necessary at this stage, you are definitely going to need a to-do list to keep track of all the details of getting your business up and running. You can boot up Excel and make a spreadsheet of tasks, or use a to-do list app like Google Tasks, or good ol' pen and paper. But the important part is to have it --- without a to-do-list you'll almost certainly have stuff fall through the cracks.

3. Hype yourself!

It's not much of a business if nobody knows about it, right? So settle on a business name (sorry, TextNow is already taken), and get yourself a spiffy logo. But what if you suck at, you know, drawing? The internet has got you covered. There are a number of D.I.Y. design sites online --- one I've used myself is Canva, a super easy-to-use site, even for the most artistically challenged (like me).

4. Sell stuff!

Another area where the internet is there to help. There are so many places online where you can sell your hustle, it could use a whole article on its own. Luckily we wrote one!

5. Communicate!

If you want your hustle to really take off, you're going to need a dedicated business phone line. If only there was a place where you could get a real phone number, in the area code of your choice, for free! Well you're not going to believe this but --- TextNow is the place! (Ok, that's actually pretty believable.)

For more tips and tricks for your side-hustle, check out our other blog articles below!