September 7, 2020 4 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Financial uncertainty has prompted many to start thinking about a Plan B to help supplement their existing income, while others have spent lockdown pondering whether the career they thought they wanted is right for their long-term future.

This, in turn, gets peoples wheels turning about creating a side hustle or starting up a passion project that is more aligned with how they envision their next steps. But how can one create a side hustle while working full-time? Perhaps you’re in a demanding corporate job and feel like it’s insurmountable to take on a something new, or you’re a mother looking after her children who can’t shake the niggling feeling that there’s something else you want for yourself.

I recently connected with Nikki Taylor, mother, founder and CEO of Italy Property Consulting, who’s been successfully running her business in just three hours a night while juggling her responsibilities as a parent. Here are her four biggest pieces of advice for building and managing your own empire on limited time.

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Be laser-focused

“Be super-focused and don’t get sucked into empty distractions,” Taylor recommends. “It’s crazy how much time we spend scrolling on social media or binge-watching Netflix when we could be focusing that time working on our dreams. Make a list of the absolute necessities that need doing and just do them. A solopreneur side hustle means you need to be like a jack of all trades — IT specialist, secretary and marketing guru. It can feel like a lot at times, but it is so rewarding when the results start flying in.”

Online publication The Muse shared that according to a University of California Irvine study, it takes on average 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to a task once you are distracted. Staggering, isn’t it? If you’re someone who gets distracted easily, a laser-focused approach is vital.

Mindset work is key

“Mindset plays a powerful role in our success in anything we do,” says Taylor. “Feeling in alignment with gratitude for your business can have a phenomenal effect on how things pan out for you. All businesses have their ups and downs, but it’s keeping that belief in what you are creating and becoming bulletproof that will protect not only your mental health, but also the results your business has the potential of achieving”.

Making upleveling and upskilling part of your regular repartee

“I’ve lost count of how many new programs I have had to learn since working for myself,” Taylor acknowledges. “But it has propelled me so much further along in my business growth than if I was working for someone else and going through the motions each day. Repetition is the mother of all skills, and taking the time to broaden your knowledge will not only make you more of a commodity from a business standpoint, but you will also be able to run your own show in the early days when perhaps you don’t have the budget to hire employees”.

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Remember why you started

“Your ‘why’ is your biggest driver,” encourages Taylor. “It is the thing that propels you along, even when you feel like giving up. It is what motivates and cultivates the creativity and passion to really go for what you want. My biggest why is my family. I don’t ever want to be the mom who says to her kids, ‘We could have had more, but I couldn’t be bothered to follow my dreams.’ I want my children to look at me and feel inspired to get out there and go after their own dreams in life, because their parents gave them that example that it is possible.”