Ben Hawes is a side hustle coach who is passionate about helping folks like you leverage their unique skills and talents to form a side hustle or small business. With 12 years of experience in building and growing small businesses, he’s nailed down the art & science of making businesses work. He’s based in NYC but works with side hustle clients all over the United States and has plans to take his coaching business global over the next two years.
Ben’s charismatic and non-judgemental approach makes coaching sessions fun, inspiring and productive, setting clients up for major success. Ben is your guy if you’re interested in turning your side hustle ideas into realities, or if you’re facing challenges making sales, building your social media strategy, or taking your side hustle to that next level.
What is Ben Hawes Coaching all about?
I started my coaching business because I wanted to help other people find, start and grow their own side hustles. I say this all the time, but I am truly obsessed with the process of entrepreneurship, the process of building businesses from the ground up, and I’ve gotten to a place where I’ve realized my passion lies in helping other people realize their own potential and their ability to build something useful, profitable and fun.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your business?
The first time I realized I was in love with entrepreneurship was when I was 17 years old. I had a web show on YouTube and I loved promoting my videos by testing different marketing strategies. One day I decided I wanted to sell T-Shirts with my show’s logo, and I ended up making a few hundred dollars in about a week of selling them. Since then, I’ve started countless small businesses and personal projects, and each time I’ve fallen more deeply in love with the process of coming up with an idea, putting it out there, getting feedback, making changes, and moving forward with it.
In the summer of 2018, I started my own Photo Booth rental company called Rent My Booth and it was a huge success for being just a side hustle. It taught me so much about attracting and signing clients, doing more serious marketing online, and the power of building something authentic to you.
Now, I’ve decided I’d like to help others do the same. I always found myself talking friends through their side hustle ideas and one day it clicked- I should start coaching as its own side hustle! And so far it’s worked out awesomely.
How has the pandemic affected you or your new business?
Before the pandemic, I was working in HR at a fitness startup in NYC, and running my own businesses on the side. It was a very busy life but I was in love with it. When the pandemic hit, all of that stopped. I got laid off from my job and became unemployed. Events weren’t happening, so my Photo Booth business had to take a pause. It was a unique moment for me to stop and think about what I actually wanted. I started a few personal projects– one was an online community for other people who got laid off due to the pandemic. One was a brand new Etsy shop where I sold mugs & merch with all the business jargon and Zoom humor you love to hate. I had so much time in the first few months and I really thought about what it was I wanted to spend my time on.
I knew I needed a day job, and I ultimately got one, but I knew it was my side hustles that would bring me the most creative fulfillment. Having so much time to myself, and spending my time off constantly texting friends and family about side hustle ideas, it clicked. 2020 helped a lot of people identify that they DO want to start that business idea they have. So there has been a nice appetite for the content I post on the internet and I’ve gotten a good number of clients. It’s been really cool to see folks step into their own power and start the businesses they’ve always dreamed of.
What was the biggest problem you encountered starting up and how did you overcome it?
The biggest “problem” I’ve faced is something that I encourage my clients to lean into and embrace. And that is working to find your product market fit (PMF). I believe that when you’re selling something if you want to make money, it has to actually align with what your target customer actually wants or needs. For me, I know that I am passionate about side hustles, and I know that I am good at helping people with their side hustles. But as the business owner, I have to make sure my services are something that people actually want to pay me for– otherwise, it’s a hobby, and not really a business.
The reason I put “problem” in quotes, is that this is a normal part of the process of starting a business– and I really believe in leaning into the process and allowing yourself to learn. Achieving product-market fit requires a mindset of testing. You have to be willing to put something out into the world, gather feedback on it, and make changes to achieve better alignment with your customers. It is this process, and only this process, that will help you find the right fit.
What were the top mistakes you made starting your business and what did you learn from it?
Mistakes are so important when starting a business– you have to make them and it’s the only way to truly learn, gather data, and move forward. In my business, the biggest mistake I have made is not building a roadmap for the projects and initiatives that I’ve wanted to pursue. I am the kind of entrepreneur where I have 100 ideas but only have time for 3-4 at a time. And at times I can be impulsive, so I will work on one thing for as long as it’s entertaining, then move to something else that catches my attention.
Something I’m working on for myself and my business is building out a monthly and even quarterly goal-setting process so I can know what I want to achieve, why I want to achieve it, and when I want it to be done. That’s hard when you’re getting started because there is so much you could do, but I’ve learned that it’s really the only way to go if I want to continue to grow my business.
What is one thing that you do daily to grow as an entrepreneur?
One thing I do every single day and with every project I work on is get intentional about asking for feedback. When I’m building something new I am constantly taking screenshots and sending them to my friends and asking them for their direct and specific feedback, good and bad. I know my friends are rooting for me, and I know if they give me critical feedback, it comes from a place of love.
I have worked to build a space with my close friends to help them feel safe giving me critical feedback. I tell them I crave feedback that will help me improve. So they know they can tell me new ideas to improve and I won’t take it personally. To me, that’s the key to growth as an entrepreneur.
What are three books or courses you recommend for new entrepreneurs?
- I am a huge YouTube learner, and my favorite content creator for making engaging Instagram content and building marketing strategies is Vanessa Lau
- I also recommend binging content by Gary Vaynerchuck. The reason I love watching his content is because he gives so many concrete marketing ideas, but he also helps people call themselves on their own BS. That’s so important to me.
- My favorite business podcast is “Masters of Scale” with Reid Hoffman. I always feel like he gets to the bottom of how entrepreneurs actually grew their business from zero.
What was your first business idea and what did you do with it?
When I was about 7 years old, I spent lots of Saturdays with my family at our town’s baseball fields because my older brother often had baseball games there. I loved it because my dad would give me my weekly allowance on Saturdays, which happened to be the exact amount I would need to buy a hot dog and a sprite at the snack shack that was set up. I was obsessed with the snack shack.
One weekend, I asked my dad and my grandpa if I could start my own snack shack on our street corner– and they said YES! My grandpa actually built me a little booth with a window-like space where I could serve food from. My dad took me shopping and we got all kinds of snacks and drinks– Oreos, Gatorades, all the best snack shack foods. And that summer day, I took everything to the corner in my red wagon, and I set up shop!
I absolutely loved the process of getting people the food they wanted and telling them about what we had– I remember the adults sounding impressed with my little business. I loved running my snack shack but it only really lasted that one day. What did I do with it? I kept the passion and the drive it would take to start my next idea.
What are you learning now? Why is that important?
What I am learning now is that I am capable of helping people. I’m learning that I have created a service that can actually change people’s lives, and it actually makes a lot of sense to charge for it. I’m learning that I’ve been working toward this for years, and my knowledge about building businesses is actually valid. It’s important because that is what I want my clients to know as well.
As a side hustler, you’ve likely been working toward this your whole life. We all have a different cocktail of skills and passions, and we actually deserve to be compensated and recognized for what we have to offer.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before starting your business?
What I’m working on most now is learning SEO (Search Engine Optimization). I believe that if you can make a website and show up first in search, that is a great way to spread the word and get new customers in your business. I’m okay with the process of learning, but if I could wave a magic wand and just all of the sudden know a thing, it would be all about how to rank on Google! And I’m learning so much that I can also share with my clients.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
So far, the most effective growth strategy I’ve worked on is Instagram content marketing. Some of the best minds in business have taught me that in your business, and across your social media, you should always be asking how you can provide value in your posts. What I’ve learned is that It’s not about me. It’s not about what I did that week or what I accomplished. It’s more about how I can make someone else’s life and business easier or more meaningful through my content. So I’ve really taken that to heart and built a content strategy that is truly focused on helping others– and that has resulted in growth in my follower count but also in the meaningful conversations I’ve been able to have with strangers across the world about their side hustles. I have so much to say about social media but making sure you are actually providing value has been my most effective strategy.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
If I had 1000 dollars to start a business, I would spend as little of it as possible, and try to come up with solutions that allow me to start the business for much less. I believe in keeping startup costs as low as possible until you’ve started to actually make some sales.I love talking about startup costs with my clients and what I tell them is that when you’re spending money to start your business, you should calculate how many sales you are actually going to need to make in order to pay off your startup costs.
So if you spend 300 dollars on supplies, and your product sells for $30, you need to make 10 sales to make that money back. Ask yourself then if it’s worth it to spend that $300. All of that said, the one thing I would spend the money on is a subscription (paid monthly at first) to Squarespace so that I could have a homepage where my customers could learn about who I am, what I offer, and why they should care.
I do believe that having a website or a landing page outside of Instagram or Facebook is crucial to starting and growing your business– and Squarespace is an easy, professional and affordable way to make it happen.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
I notice that many new entrepreneurs are paralyzed with the fear of what other people will think about their business. I notice that lots of people are scared to start because they worry about their reputation, or they don’t want people to think they take themselves too seriously. If that is you, my advice is to find a way to not care about what people think. If that means blocking your haters on Instagram, do it.
If it means asking your closest friends to give you feedback before you actually launch, do that too. But the ugly truth is that it’s very unlikely that someone can start a business, never tell a soul, never post on social media, and make hundreds or thousands of dollars. You can’t go around judgement, you can’t go over it, you just have to go through it. So find a way to get rid of that fear that feels strong, authentic, healthy, and kind to your mind.
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
Lean into times when you’re feeling productive, and go easy on yourself when you’re not. It’s so hard to force yourself to be productive if you aren’t in the mood. For me, I find myself getting super inspired late at night, and when that happens, there is no stopping me. But ask me to wake up at 7 am to work on my side hustles? It’s not gonna happen. Find those waves of inspiration for yourself, and when they arise, plug in, focus, and enjoy the ride!
What is your favorite quote?
“Happiness is the joy we feel striving for our potential.”
– Shawn Achor
It shows that it’s not the huge milestones that make us happy– it’s everything in between as we strive toward our dreams.
What is your definition of success?
The definition of success is (and should be) different from person to person. For me, success is having the freedom and resources to spend my time doing the things that I love. For me, I love connecting with people, I love getting to flex my creativity, and I love getting to see progress in my personal projects. So the more time I can spend doing those things, the more “successful” I will feel.
How do you personally overcome fear?
Thinking of times I’ve been most afraid of something, it’s because I don’t feel prepared. If I’m afraid for a call, it’s because I don’t actually know what I’m going to say. If I’m afraid for a presentation, it’s because I haven’t practiced the content enough or I don’t actually know the material. If I’m afraid that someone will judge me for something, it’s likely because I haven’t yet turned that thing into something that I’m actually proud of. Fear is born from a lack of preparation– if you can give yourself the time to prepare for something, get grounded in it, and become proud of it, the fear will wash away.
- YouTube. You can learn virtually anything on YouTube and learning is my key to growth. As a small business, I don’t want to spend lots of money on courses, and it’s actually very helpful to hear from dozens of people about their strategies for getting past whatever challenges I’m facing.
- Squarespace commerce. In my business, I am selling both coaching plans as well as a side hustle handbook that helps new side hustlers find and start their side hustles. It’s been so cool to learn about how to list a digital product on Squarespace and actually enable new customers to pay me for my goods and services.
Mailchimp Integrations. Mailchimp is the platform I use to build my email subscriber list. Having an email list is critical for folks who are growing a business. But I’m leveraging integrations with things like Squarespace and Calendly (my scheduling service) to collect emails for my list. I offer free resource downloads, a free audio training on how to start a great side hustle, and I offer free 20-minute coaching sessions — all of these things help me collect email addresses of leads who may be interested in my future products and services.
How is running a company different than what you thought it would be?
A new concept I’ve recently become more comfortable with is being a one-person company. In my earlier entrepreneurial days, I always envisioned running a 300 person company with a huge beautiful office and being featured in Forbes and Fast Company– but I’m learning that while that may happen in my future, I’m also comfortable starting and growing a business where I am the sole contributor- and that is not only okay, it may ultimately even make me happier, give me more freedom and bring in even more money. I’m “running a company,” and I’m the CEO, but at the same time, I’m just a guy with something cool to offer that people are willing to pay me for– and that is something I am increasingly excited about.
How can readers get in touch with you?
If you are looking to find, start or grow your side hustle or small business, I’m here for you! I post daily side hustle ideas over on Instagram, but I’d also love to connect over a free 20 minute coaching session on Zoom. I love talking to people about their side hustles, and I’d love to talk to you about some strategies to build an awesome business. I’m also free to chat on email at benjhawes@gmail.com if that’s your jam– hit me up!
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