The Business Guide
Just a regular guy that decided to quit his stable job and start a business. After successfully being in business I've learned a thing or two, unfortunately the hard way. I've created this podcast to share my successes & failures and to talk about the "real" ins & outs of business. I'll be personally sharing my stories along with guests.
As Business Owners we wear so many different hats and we have so many different struggles, we will breakdown those struggles together and talk about how we've overcome them and how it's shaped us to be better. If your a business owner currently going through a struggle, I hope this content helps!
The Business Guide
The Side Hustle Start: Transitioning From Side Hustle To Full-Time
Ever wondered what it takes to transform your side hustle into a flourishing full-time business? You'll discover the essential steps and mindset shifts needed to make this leap, along with the critical importance of having an exit strategy from the get-go. Addressing a listener's question, we unravel why early planning for an exit can fortify your business's future and financial health, whether you aim to nurture it for the long haul or plan to sell eventually.
Listen as I recount a powerful story about a high school friend whose side hustle, despite having excellent marketing, couldn’t sustain itself. Through an eye-opening breakfast conversation, we explored the tough decision he faced to close his business and return to the workforce—a move that might just reignite his entrepreneurial spirit later on. I also dive into my own experiences of balancing a principal business with side projects and why treating new ventures as side hustles initially can be vital for long-term success. Packed with actionable insights and real-life anecdotes, this episode equips you with the knowledge to navigate the challenging path from side hustle to thriving business.
Hey everyone, what's going on? It's Jonathan Wagner and you have tuned in to another episode of the Business Guide. Thank you for being here. The Business Guide is all about the ins and outs of everything business. I started my business years ago and I've noticed, as I've networked with other businesses, we all come into contact like we're all dealing with the same issues all the time. So I love talking about business. I love helping people through problems. I've had a ton of struggles of my own that I've been able to overcome. So if I can get together and get you on this podcast or whatever platform you're seeing and we can work through maybe some struggles I've been through and hopefully it avoids struggles that you may go through.
Speaker 1:So on today's episode it is going to be the side hustle start transitioning from side hustle to a full-time business. Now this one really resonates with me because you've heard my story before of how I started carpet cleaning, got into adding a service on and then becoming a full-service water damage restoration provider. There's a little bit more to that story and I really want to go over that and share that with you. We're going to go over just kind of what I think about the side hustle approach, start or the side hustle kind of start approach. Yeah, again, see Tongue Tied Podcast raw love it. Thanks for being here. Let me jump into this. So, number one this is pretty cool. Thank you for listening, guys. It sounds like you guys are kind of receiving these episodes and I'm getting some feedback, which is really cool.
Speaker 1:We've got our first question from somebody that responded to me saying, hey, send me a message. So thank you for that the text message on the platform that you're using. So that was pretty cool. So this question is from Kyle, and he asked the question when building a business, when do you start thinking about an exit plan? Now, guys, this episode is really the. You know definitely how we start small, where we're going from a side hustle into a full-blown business. But I want to make sure I get to these questions. That way, if somebody's dealing with something, they can go through it. So bear with me, as this is not a part of the episode but, I think, a valuable piece of content for everybody to know.
Speaker 1:So, specifically, when building a business, when do you start thinking about an exit plan? So I'll tell you, when I started my business, I didn't think about an exit plan. It didn't come until years later. That was definitely a mess up. When I was first in business and I was kind of making my rounds on the networking circle, I remember talking to a guy and he said look, I love starting businesses and I love selling them and that is super lucrative for me. Not only do I get to make a bunch of money, but on the flip side I get to sell it and make a bunch of money. So that was kind of foreign to me. I was like you know, I'm starting a business to be in it. Why would I want to get out of it? I don't understand that. I'm building like a career for myself. So it was a little foreign language.
Speaker 1:Now, when going into new business ventures, there is always an exit plan. There's an exit plan in my business. There always needs to be an exit plan. You don't know what's going to happen. Are you going to get sick one day? And you want to make sure that you're valued at what you need to be valued at, whatever it may be. Oops, so anyways, yeah, I mean, I think if you're new in business, of course you don't want to put too much massive energy into really crafting this exit plan, unless that's a part of your business strategy. Now, for that gentleman that I had met with, that was his strategy. He liked building the businesses and he liked selling them. So if that's in your model, then you need to be thinking about an exit plan sooner than later.
Speaker 1:But when we start our businesses as small business owners and we're hustling and we're grinding, I think the last thing we're thinking about is how can I get out of this or how can I sell it? So you know it's important to structure your business at any time so it can sell at its maximum value. And I have learned that after my kind of years in business. You never know what's gonna come your way and you always need to be ready. Now it doesn't mean you have to sell, but if you are financially structured the way that you need to be at any time, it just makes for an overall, just a healthy business, right, and you know, of course, as you're building a business, you might be, you know, dumping a little bit more money in marketing and things like that. So you know, I just know that sometimes, when these guys come in and value businesses, sometimes they, you know, they want to see that you're already there. So, um, yeah, I think an exit plan is something that you need to be maybe looking at yearly. Um, I think it would be a good idea again, unless it is your uh, your strategy to build a business and get out of it right away.
Speaker 1:So, thank you, kyle, I don't know where you're from. I'd give the shout out location, but don't know where you're from I. So, thank you, Kyle, I don't know where you're from. I'd give the shout out location, but don't know where you're from. I appreciate the question and any listeners. If you have questions as simple as they are or super long and you want to get a question through, please do. I would love to work through it. If it warrants its own episode, I will definitely give it its own episode. And, kyle, I am sure at some point we will be talking about exit plans. That is not in the future right now, as far as the next maybe 10 episodes, but moving forward, we'll definitely probably have an exit plan in place. So, moving on, let's see. Moving on, let's see.
Speaker 1:So, specifically on the side, hustle start is where I'm getting at with this episode, is. I'm not talking about you wanting to maybe create a little bit of extra money to offset your income from your job that you're working. Now you could decide to start a side hustle to then pay for, maybe inventory for your new business that you want to start. But this is really treating the how do I put it? It's overall treating the business like a. I want to start a shoe store and I need to slowly start building up my inventory, building up my customer base before I quit my job, but ultimately you're going to start a shoe business. Same thing to say with, maybe, a car wash business. Maybe you're working your full-time position and you've got this side hustle which is washing cars, but you ultimately want a detailing business. So this is really that. It's not. You know, I'm going to have a ton of side projects while I'm starting my business and I'm just going to kind of see what sticks. It doesn't work out and I can speak from experience on, you know, maybe biting off more than you can choose. So, specifically, going back to my story, I think this is where we're at right now.
Speaker 1:So, specifically going back to my story and the side hustle, so you guys know that I was a carpet cleaning company that then merged into a water damage business and the rest is kind of history and now current times. But before that, right out of high school, I cleaned carpets and I worked for two different companies. One of those companies did carpet cleaning and a bunch of different things, but also did dryer vent cleaning. Recession had hit. That particular gentleman just didn't do dryer vent cleaning anymore. Times were getting slow, and so I was talking to him and he said, hey, why don't you just pick up my dryer vent cleaning anymore? Times were getting slow and so I was talking to him and he said, hey, why don't you just pick up my dryer vent cleaning stuff? I don't want to do that anymore. And it was a relatively slow or not slow relatively low startup cost. So I kind of jumped in on that. I was like, yeah, I'll start dryer vent cleaning, I'll start my own business. This is going to be great.
Speaker 1:And I, full on, went into building my own business and let me tell you, I failed horribly. So there's a couple of things that you know caused me to fail. Let me grab a sip of water real quick. A couple of things that caused me to fail there, but I think, number one being is I wasn't planning to get into business. It was more. We started to have more of this kind of slowdown and we could tell that the economy was kind of stalling. There was kind of an issue there and I just needed a job and I thought that I could start just a business. I didn't plan it. So when you're planning to start a business, obviously you're thinking about the capital you need, you're thinking about marketing plans, you're thinking about your business plan. You're really thinking about everything. And for me it was just more of oh, I'm going to be a business owner, I'm going to start, I'm going to go offer my service and people are going to use me.
Speaker 1:I was also really young. I do think that you know and don't get me wrong there's a ton of young people out there that have been very successful on starting businesses. I'm not knocking young. In my situation, I think I was just a little too young. I didn't think about the capital reserves. I didn't think about saving money for a rainy day. I didn't think about dumping a ton of money into marketing. I wanted to go hang out with my friends. These things were just kind of an equation of the business never took off.
Speaker 1:Now, in my quick three months that I was in business, I did have clients. I mean, I remember going out and definitely bootstrapped my marketing, but I went out and I printed these flyers and I walked, me and my friend walked everywhere and we put these flyers out. It was educational material on how you could prevent a dryer fire and people started calling and I was like gosh, this is great, I'm making money, they're calling me. This business is going to be thriving, going to be thriving and you know to realize that that side hustle money wasn't money to actually live off of and thrive in for business. So I just remember being super disappointed that I felt like I put everything I had into it and the business bombed. I ended up then getting a job at Walgreens and working my way through kind of the ranks. Yeah, I was disappointed.
Speaker 1:I think that the lesson there that was learned is it was okay to fail. I actually needed that because years later to help my business when I started it in Thrive now I had something that I was able to work my way up. I worked my way up from ground up, I went into management, I learned management and then I was able to actually save money and start planning to start a business. So when I had the idea to start my business. I now had capital to do it. At the time I was wondering should I buy a house or start a business? That's kind of where I was. And then I took my management experience and those are things that I did not have for that first side hustle business. Did it give me the experience to start? Absolutely. But my bigger lesson there it taught me that it's okay to fail. That's the lesson that I learned there. So definitely okay to start the side hustle.
Speaker 1:That side hustle did kind of help propel my carpet cleaning business because, as I was kind of getting to my end in Walgreens, I started filling some of my off days with dryer vent cleaning and I don't know if I've mentioned that on previous episodes, but that's what I did is. There was a time where I knew I was going to start my business. This was a non-starter now. This was something I was going to get into and I was going to do, and so then I started tacking on well, let me go make this money because, again, low overhead to get into. I ultimately knew it was going to be one of the services that I was going to offer. And then I was going to tack on, of course, my what do you call that? Your flagship product or store or whatever it is? Mine was carpet cleaning. So, yeah, it definitely went right in line with my hand or my right, in line with my business, started to provide some revenue for this non-existent business, and then you know, of course, the rest is history once I started.
Speaker 1:So that side hustle approach is okay. It's okay to know, hey, I want to start my business and I want to get into pool cleaning, but I know that there's going to be a ramp up into pool cleaning. You're not going to be able to go out. I mean, I don't know. Drop me a line in the comments of what a pool cleaner charges. You know, weekly it's probably minimal, maybe 15, 20 bucks a week. But this ramp up of maybe you've got to get a truck, you've got to get chemicals, you've got to prepare for the slow season with capital reserves, things like that there's a ramp up in there. So if you were maybe already cleaning pools and you decided to start your own side hustle, ultimately with the goal of starting a pool cleaning company, then that is a good approach.
Speaker 1:So the side hustle start. It goes right in line with another episode that we talked about, which was start small, think big. That is this and that is in my business worked. So I don't want you to get disappointed or distracted. You know, don't get, don't be hard on yourself if you're starting into a side hustle and you don't think that you can compete with people, because absolutely you can. Matter of fact, big companies Apple, facebook, instagram either started as a side hustle or a side project and then were able to figure out how to monetize and grow that way. So you never know where your side hustle is going to develop into. But don't lose focus of it. I'm going to get another sip of water real quick.
Speaker 1:I want to tell you a story. A couple months ago, probably about six months ago, there was a gentleman I went to high school with real nice guy. He started a business probably about maybe a year, two years ago. It was totally a side hustle business. He had a full-time job. He made it known that this was his side hustle and the product that he was able to put out was great product. He really had the content creation down. He was a master marketer. The guy did a great job and essentially was working two jobs and I kind of watched from a distance. I watched from a distance Kudos to him, we talked to him a little bit, but we never really sat down. So probably about six months ago he asked me for a sit-down and he really wanted that.
Speaker 1:The goal of this sit-down meeting was for him to pivot from this being a side hustle into a full-blown business. With that being said, I sat down, we had breakfast it was probably about three hours and at the end of it I told him I don't know how this business survives. What you are describing to me is either a hobby or a business that you will always have a job, but I really don't see the way that you have the model, it being a full standalone business. And so I could tell it kind of hurt his feelings, and I didn't mean for it to hurt his feelings. Trust me, I am the one that wants to encourage entrepreneurs, but sometimes you need that outside source or you need to come to the realization, if you will hey, this business isn't going to thrive and I need to move on and adapt before you get burnt out and before you put out the fire that you have for running the business that you want to run.
Speaker 1:And unfortunately, in his situation. You know, he walked out of there and disagreed with me. He said, look, I'm going to figure out a way to push this business and I said, hey, more power to it. I would love to come back if there's anything you have to. You know, any questions, you have anything there? And probably about two months ago he decided to finally just pull the plug and no longer have that business. He has since went back and got a job. I have not spoken to him. I've reached out, but unfortunately I think he's more just a little discouraged right now and that's me just kind of guessing. But I don't want to see that happen to anybody. Where you lose the fire for what you want, don't get caught up into. This is the business and it's going to work.
Speaker 1:Because I'll tell you my example and I think I use the example in my meeting is my business would have never survived if it was just a dryer vent cleaning business. It is a great add-on business or service, excuse me. It is a great add-on service to an already established business, but it is not a good standalone business, just not in my situation and what I wanted to do Now. There are people out there that have successful dryer vent cleaning businesses and their models are different than what I wanted, but nonetheless, this gentleman came to the realization of like hey, this isn't going to work out, and ended up closing shop, and I really hope what I see with him is that fire not gone. I hope that he does restart back up, because that's what I had to go through. I had to go back and get another job. I had to take my new experiences and new experience and put that towards my business, which then helped me thrive into a bigger business.
Speaker 1:I do want to mention matter of fact. Before on this episode, I was talking to somebody else that has a relatively smaller business that is looking to go larger, but they have not quite left their job yet. So this is something common. This is what most people are doing. So, guys, if you're looking at that business, maybe they've got a great Instagram page, great content, marketing, whatever it is hey, it might be a side hustle and you would never know. So it is okay to treat your business as a side hustle to start. Matter of fact, I prefer that.
Speaker 1:Anytime I get into a new business, I am treating it as a side project, because my business currently, now and then the I don't want to say which one, but my main business water damage restoration business that business has kind of taken it's taken the lead right. So anything outside of that is a distraction and it's a bad way of looking at it. And the reason I'm hesitant to tell you about the other business is because it is still in its growing and emphasis stage on one that I think is going to be very lucrative and probably shadow my water damage restoration business. But starting that as a side hustle is important. You can start making money. It's great. It does take a little extra time and resource, but remember don't get it twisted and don't be confused that you have a main business for a reason if that's where you've gotten and this is a side project, that you are turning into something legitimate.
Speaker 1:And I think that on a couple businesses that have failed for me that is a takeaway that I learned is it's okay to fail because I didn't dedicate the time, because I thought it was just gonna start making money right away and I will tell you the stuff I have done in my business to make it succeed. That is kind of the. I have to be able to recreate that on every single business. And if I don't give it that thought, then the business is probably not going to work out. So, yeah, guys, side hustle, start. It's okay to do it, you inspiring entrepreneurs out there.
Speaker 1:I know that this, this episode, is probably it's probably already been passed up, maybe by most business owners that are already in it because this is, this is more for the smaller guy, kind of getting going, thinking about business, thinking wins the time to kind of pull the plug or not to actually do it. So yeah, and then you know, I think, just going into it being your side hustle, this is really going to be a good opportunity for you as you're dealing with it, especially if you don't have any employees, no partners, anything there. This is really going to give you an opportunity to dive into the niche of your industry. You know, I think that when people go in and they spend, I'm I don't want to tip that, tip the next episode off, so sorry, but I think when, when business owners go in and spend a bunch of money on something that they think is going to work and it doesn't work, it leaves you at a disadvantage.
Speaker 1:So, being able to have this as a, you've got your cushion right, it's such a. It's such a big cushion. You've got your job or whatever you're doing and now you're starting your business. You're testing the waters and you're finding your niche. Maybe you wanted to go in and you wanted to bake cakes and you start selling your cakes and you're realizing nobody's buying my cakes and then all of a sudden you whip together cake pops and they sell like crazy. Well, you found your niche.
Speaker 1:So it does take time and, trust me, I'm the first one to say this you want to be in an opportunity where time is not costing you money. And if you are in the safety net of maybe having a job or whatever it may be, and it's not costing you money, then that is the best. And it's not costing you money, then that is the best. Unfortunately, with me currently, if I start a side business or a side hustle and I really have to put my time to it, so am I giving myself enough time to that business? And if I'm not, the business doesn't succeed. But if that business ain't going to work, then I'm wasting my time and my time costs me money because there's other things that I could be focused on.
Speaker 1:So diving in, starting small, get that niche, get the reception from your clients. Figure out, you know, figure out what they, what they like, what they don't like. I'm kind of like this podcast. This podcast is going to be crafted to your you know your liking. So you know Kyle's question earlier. If I start getting more questions about an exit plan, you best believe I'm going to put an entire detailed episode together about an exit plan, because that's what you want.
Speaker 1:That is me starting small. It's definitely got the side hustle. Now, transparently, this will never take over a business. This is just. This is for fun. Take over a business. This is just this is for fun. This is because I enjoy sharing information with other business owners.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I mean, I think that that side hustle approach is just crucial into making sure that you you know you can figure out a business that can thrive and survive. You can find your niche customers, customers. This is going to give you a super, super, like hyper local, targeted campaign on like. You don't have a thousand customers right now you got five. Figure out every single thing about those five clients and obsess over it and obsess over how you can make your product better for those clients. Again, this podcast as an example. I want to obsess. You are the driving factor behind these. So, yeah, find your niche obsess over that customer satisfaction and your product being delivered to that customer satisfaction and your product being delivered to that customer.
Speaker 1:But the side hustle approach is definitely where I think every entrepreneur needs to start. Now there's going to be some businesses that don't allow for that, especially like franchise businesses, things like that Like, hey, it's either all or nothing. You're going to hear me too. I do want to chime into this that most of my stuff is crafted to just the regular business owner that's going to start up. Of course, it can be applied in so many different ways, but I think crucial on kind of this first season, if you would is definitely more towards the ramp up of starting a business, getting going, really more like bootstrapping. Not so much of hey, I have half a million dollar liquidity and I decided to put it into a franchise and now I'm dealing with running that business. Those episodes will be definitely later to come.
Speaker 1:I definitely don't want to lose you as a listener or a viewer, so please bear with me, but we will get into those. So, guys, you prefer to start small, start small, create it as a side hustle, keep your job, do whatever you need to do, work out the kinks, figure out your niche, obsess over the customer and thrive into a massive business. I hope that out of this entire episode, that's what you were able to kind of understand and really point back to. So, as a reminder everyone, I'm not a professional podcaster. I'm just a guy that enjoys business, that wants to get you quality information. So and this is unedited it's raw. So if there were any maybe in tongue tied or whatever it may be I do apologize. I'm sure at some point I will get a little bit better at this.
Speaker 1:Whatever platform you're viewing this podcast on, please give it a like, give it a subscribe, a follow, whatever it may be. I'm doing it for that. Right now I want to make sure that we're getting the engagements and people are liking the content. I would love to hear in the comments if you have a comment section or, like I mentioned, I added a little text message button to send us a text message. Send me your feedback. What did you think about the episode? What would you like to hear in the future? Do you have any questions? Any struggles you're going through? I've definitely been through my fair share of struggles. So if there's anything I can help navigate you out of or speak on that, then you don't have to deal with that struggle. Then the podcast is a success. Yeah, just leave me some feedback. I would really like to hear it. So, everyone, thank you so much for joining me on another episode of the Business Guide. As mentioned before, I'm Jonathan Wagner. I really appreciate you taking the time to listen to this. I'll see you on the next one.
