In my previous blog post I wrote about my side hustle adventures and how I used this to change my financial position. It was the best way for me to illustrate how anyone can grow their side-hustle income and ultimately their net worth. By simply using what they have available at their disposal. As an accountant, bookkeeping was an easy side-hustle for me as it required very little upfront investment (financially and otherwise) from me.

When I started that business I had never worked in a finance department other than as an auditor. But I knew what a debit and a credit were and that a trial balance had to balance etc. And to be honest, it was not my idea to start the bookkeeping business.
A boy I was friendly with at the time suggested it to me. See it matters who you associate with! And that one idea opened so many other doors for me.

As a result of saving the income from the bookkeeping business I was able to start buying shares in the stock market. The stock market became a game changer for me as I could grow my assets with very little effort required from me. My money was literally growing while I slept. You know how business people like to talk about making your assets work for you? I have experienced it! And unlike my property investment, it didn’t need to be serviced regularly with levies, rates and taxes and mortgage repayments. For as long as the cash was invested, it could either grow or decline. And if I was lucky I would get a dividend once or twice a year if the company I was invested in so wished. Or if it had a policy that dictated when and how it declared a dividend.

That is how side-hustles transformed my life and helped me grow my net asset value (assets less liabilities). In the process I was exposed to ideas and opportunities that I never would have had I focused solely on my day job.

I thought it would be useful to compile a list of key things that can assist anyone to become intentional about growing their side hustle and related income.

Key things to consider if you want to take your side hustle to the next level

  1. Do proper bookkeeping. Hire a person if you must!
  2. There is free accounting software available online to help you with bookkeeping. FNB for example has a free offering for their clients called Instant Accounting which prepares financial reports based on the transactions in your business account. You may still require an accountant to help you understand the various reports.
  3. Record all the money coming in and all the money you are spending (going out out) on the side hustle. This is very important especially if yours is a business where customers pay you in hard cash.
  4. Employ the services of a tax professional. You are running a business after all and there are tax implications and tax benefits to what you are doing.
  5. SARS offers tax incentives for small businesses and individuals where you haven’t created a separate legal entity for your side hustle. Don’t let these incentives go to waste.
  6. Separate your side hustle income from your main income stream (salary).Then you will be able to measure the financial progress of your side hustle.
  7. Maintain separate bank accounts for your day to day activities and your side hustle, that way you are able to track income and expenditure related to the side hustle.
  8. Run your side hustle like a real business because you never know when the next opportunity may come knocking.
  9. Do not wait for SARS or an investor to request the accounts of your business. Doing so under pressure and on a retrospective basis becomes such an expensive and costly exercise on your time and limited resources. The bank will charge you for requesting old bank statements that they previously sent you for free. You will have to think long and hard about some of the transactions appearing on your bank statements, because let’s face it, memory does fade with time. And your bookkeeper will be charging you on the hour.
  10. Start thinking of your business as a sustainable source of income and become consistent with small actions that will ensure that your business is built to last.

If you want to chat to someone about your side-hustle or taking it to the next level, I am happy to listen. I provide bookkeeping and tax services to individuals with side businesses and small business owners at a fee. What are you waiting for? Let me help you take your side hustle to the next level. Contact me at info@thetaxspot.co.za for a consultation.