I’m Albert Larter and I am the co-founder of Wakuda, which is an online marketplace where you can discover and shop with over 300 UK black-owned brands. I’ve been running side hustles for 6 years.
I started running side hustles by using everything I learnt from being in digital marketing. Working a 9-5 wasn’t stimulating enough for me, I wanted more.
My idea of having a side hustle was to make it as passive as possible so I can get along with my 9-5 without having too many issues. Little did I know that nothing is passive. Work has to be done in order to get it to the stage where it is passive enough.
When having a side hustle make sure it is doing something you enjoy so that it starts off as a hobby. My passion for digital marketing gave me the impetus to learn how to create a deal website in Australia. I enjoyed building the website, adding content, then adding affiliate links to it, and optimising daily to get it to rank on the first page of Google. Having worked in the affiliate industry, I had built good relationships with brands who would pay me for driving them traffic through my site.
There are many different side hustles one can do, however I choose this because what I was learning in my 9-5, I can put this into my own website to help it grow. After a while I then invested in a number of HMO and single let properties. This meant I now had two side hustles that were bringing me a monthly income.
Having two side hustles was not going to stop me from taking on another. I now have three, however Wakuda, the most recent has taken up most of the time whilst the others have become very passive. The best thing here is that it’s not run solely by myself. Me and my co-founder Nathaniel Wade have built Wakuda to where it is now, both having a 9-5. The impact Wakuda is having on society is enabling more black-owned brands to be seen by a wider audience.
Now time is always a factor, not everyone has the same 24 hours. You may finish work at 5 or 5.30PM, and your commute is probably an hour long. Then you got to figure eating. Before you know it’s almost 8 o’clock. Where do you fit in the time? Never put too much pressure on yourself when doing your side hustle, an hour or two every evening, depending on what it is, can be good enough to help it grow. Remember it’s a marathon and not a sprint.
One thing I learnt is that burnout is real. I learnt to listen to my body and to not stress myself out too much. Rest when you can. Take an evening or two off. It helps you to be able to work more efficiently when you get back to work. No days off and working all night whilst others are sleeping, is not healthy when you have a 9-5.
As I conclude, my top tip for running a side hustle and a 9-5 is to make it work for you. Enjoy the process as it can be fun and rewarding. Listen to your body as rest is very important. Enjoy family time and hanging out with friends and get your mind off working. It’s all about finding the right balance on how to make it work for yourself.
About the authorAlbert is the Co-founder of Wakuda. The online marketplace where you can discover and shop with UK Black-owned brands. With over 10 years experience, there is no doubt Albert has a strong passion for digital marketing. Working with startups and global brands on their strategies to acquire new customers at scale, using various digital marketing techniques and managing six to seven figures budgets to help brands meet their marketing goals. Albert has also built successful websites in Australia and has invested in a number of HMO and single let properties over the years.
