The Ultimate Side-Hustle How-to Guide: 10 Rules for Side-Hustle Success

You may need to spend some time on admin and infrastructure. But you don't need fancy spreadsheets, comprehensive reports, a catchy brand or a mission statement.

Successful side-hustlers focus on selling and working. Anything else is time taken away from generating revenue.

Rather than finding a way to make a million dollars, find a way to serve a million customers. Start small and prospect where you have a reasonable chance of success.

Along the way you'll learn and build a customer base. Later, you can leverage that customer base -- and everything you've learned -- to successfully hunt bigger game.

Decide how many hours you think you can spend a day on your side hustle. Then add 25 to 50 percent to that number, write it down and commit to that schedule.

See the schedule you create for your startup the same way you see your schedule for your current job -- as non-negotiable. Otherwise you won't see any progress and you'll quickly get discouraged.

Avoid spending money before you actually have demand for what you are acquiring.

Allow yourself to be inefficient until you have enough work to make greater efficiency truly matter. 

If you want to spend on something that doesn’t affect the customer, give up on it.

Spend what money you have where it makes a real difference to your customers -- because without customers, you don't have a side hustle.

If you just want something -- and there's nothing wrong with that -- don't use starting a side hustle as an excuse to buy it.

Plenty of failed side-hustlers admit they started their business as a way to rationalize the purchase of something they had always wanted to own.

To avoid having to work for years before turning a profit, start a side hustle you can fund through savings or that you don't need to fund. Provide a service that only requires the tools you already have.

Prove to yourself that there is a market -- and that you can serve that market -- before you take on any debt. If you can't find a way to start your side hustle without going into debt, find a different idea.

Don’t be tempted to think about, dwell on, or even work on your side hustle when you're at your full-time job, because this is wrong and may cost you your job. When you start a side hustle aim to be great at your full-time job and your side hustle.

So even before you start your side hustle, work as hard and efficiently as possible. Get more done than anyone else, if only so you can leave on time without regret, and without raising concerns about your performance and dedication.