{"id":6178,"date":"2025-02-06T03:44:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-06T09:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discover.com\/online-banking\/banking-topics\/?p=6178"},"modified":"2026-01-31T14:37:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T20:37:21","slug":"how-to-turn-your-side-hustle-into-your-dream-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discover.com\/online-banking\/banking-topics\/how-to-turn-your-side-hustle-into-your-dream-job\/","title":{"rendered":"4 steps to turn your side hustle into a successful business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For Michelle Schroeder-Gardner it all began with a blog. When she started her blog in 2011, a chronicle of her journey paying off $38,000 in student loans, it was a fun way to make money on the side<\/a> while maintaining her full-time job as a financial analyst. Fast forward two years and she’s left her day job to focus on the blog exclusively. Fast forward another five years and she’s earning more than $1 million annually from her site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you too are looking to turn your side hustle into a full-time job, experiences like Schroeder-Gardner\u2019s prove that just about anything is possible. And you\u2019re not alone. According to Bankrate, 39% of the working adult population in the U.S. have a gig<\/a> outside of their regular job. Gig workers, also known as on-demand workers, function with a non-standard work arrangement and without a long-term employment contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some, like Schroeder-Gardner, have ditched a traditional lifestyle and are working while on the go and whenever they’re most productive (she travels around the world in an RV and sailboat and writes when motivation strikes). Others are logging full-time hours at home or in a coworking office space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Although figuring out how to turn your side hustle into your dream job requires hard work, with patience and persistence, you can succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn from the experts themselves and consider these steps for turning your side hustle into a successful business:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Educate yourself<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first step for turning your side hustle into a successful business is building the right skill set so you can stand out in your field. Research industry best practices and in-demand skills, speak to successful professionals, and read about others who’ve made the leap from side hustle to full-time job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When Jill DeConti, founder of a travel blog, decided to leave her finance job to devote all of her time to her side hustle as a travel blogger, she knew that knowledge would be instrumental to her success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I began researching, reading books, soaking in knowledge,” DeConti says, adding that she also focused on learning marketing best practices and how to generate revenue from her blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading about the steps for turning your side hustle into a successful business proved useful to DeConti not just for the practical tips she gleaned, but for motivation as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This made me realize that my dreams were actually possible,” she says, “and made me feel less alone in pursuing them.”<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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“Even though I was earning a good income from my side gig before I turned it into my full-time career, I was terrified to leave my day job.”<\/p>\n