Not every business starts off with a big bang.

Many successful businesses started as side-hustles – just something fun and exciting to do on nights and weekends for a little extra cash, or maybe even no cash at all in the beginning.

Launching a side-hustle makes practical sense, as not every emerging entrepreneur has the opportunity to go all-in on a new business venture. Instead, they maintain a stable nine-to-five job, keep their income steady, feed their families and pay their bills, and dabble in a side business in their spare time.

While devoting your nights and weekends to starting a business on the side is a great idea, it might also be a bit daunting.

After all, managing a day job as well as a side-hustle is essentially pulling a double shift. Not everybody is cut out for that.

How can anyone expect to maintain two careers at a time? What about family and other obligations? These are all valid questions and concerns.

If you feel like you really want to start a side-hustle, but are afraid it will drain you and de-rail your life, or will just not be worth the effort, think again.

Here are 6 great reasons why you should start a side-hustle today…

1.    A side-hustle will fuel you.

You would think that given the extra time, energy, and focus required in launching a side-hustle, you might be left feeling depleted.

This is absolutely not true.

Probably the most surprising thing about launching a side-hustle is how rejuvenating it really is.

You might feel overwhelmed by your current job, or things going on in your personal life, but if you pick the right side-hustle, you will find that it will energize you.

The trick is to find a side-hustle that you are truly passionate about. It has to be something that you’ve always wanted to do, something that you are innately curious about, and something that aligns with your personal values and natural talents.

Doing something you are really interested in won’t feel like work – it will feel like play. And, play is a natural part of being human.

When you launch a side-hustle you actually care about, you will feel invigorated.

Suddenly, you will feel less resentment towards annoying things that happen in your day-to-day life, because you will have something more important to think about.

You will suddenly find the time, energy, and focus to devote to your exciting new project. It will feel like magic. But it’s not. It’s just what happens when people allow themselves to lead with their heart and do work that matters to them.

2.    You will learn new skills.

Having a side-hustle is great incentive to learn new skills.

When you have a specific goal in mind, you’ll be more motivated to learn new things.

You will certainly get skills that are directly related to your product or service, but you might be surprised how many other skills, especially business-related, you’ll rack up while launching a side-hustle.

For instance, you might be encouraged to learn how to design a business card or other marketing materials. You might learn how to build a simple starter website, or try your hand at social media advertising, or learn the ins and outs of buying and selling on Amazon or Shopify. You might have the opportunity to learn how to network, forge better relationships, or give presentations.

Really, the possibilities for your growth are endless.

Some of these skills might help you outside of your side-hustle. They might even help you advance your main career.

3.    You will become interesting.

Look, let’s be honest, not everyone can have an interesting nine-to-five job or riveting personal life.

However, if you launch a side gig doing something you really care about, all of a sudden, you’re going to become more interesting.

For instance, if you’re someone who likes to make pasta, and you decide to launch a series of cooking videos on YouTube, now all of a sudden, you’ve gone from being someone who likes Italian food to being a YouTube celebrity and influencer with their own brand and audience.

Now you’re multi-faceted. And passionate. And alluring.

Get ready for an ego boost, because everyone loves an interesting person!

4.    Side-hustles are fun and will replace your leisure activities

Worried your side-hustle is going to cut into your free time?

Down-time is a very necessary part of life – “all work and no play” is a one-way ticket to burnout and depression.

However, who says your side-hustle can’t be incorporated into your leisure time?

Start by seriously auditing how you spend your free time, and see where you can actively pursue your side-hustle while making it a fun activity with the people you love.

In all likelihood, you are a very busy person with little to no down time, but – if you are like most people – there is room to replace some activities that don’t really amount to much (such as watching television or playing videogames).

For instance, if your side-hustle involves buying and selling baseball cards or collectibles online, maybe you can bring your family to garage sales and flea markets on the weekend.

If your side-hustle involves blogging about the craft beer industry, bring your date to a micro-brewery, do some tasting, take some pictures, and write the whole thing off as a business expense.

5.    You will meet cool people.

Human connection is fast becoming a lost art in today’s world.

As human beings, we naturally crave connection – that is just how we are hard-wired.

Not just any connection, though. It has to be meaningful, mutually beneficial connection with interesting people.

Having a side-hustle will open your world up to interesting new people that you wouldn’t normally find in your day-to-day.

You will suddenly find yourself networking with people who work in new industries and have similar interests as you. They might not be from the same age group, social or economic demographic, or cultural background as you – and this could be very expanding for you and your world view.

As your social circle expands, so will you.

6.    Your side-hustle could become your main hustle one day.

Of course, we all hope that one day, our side-hustle will become our main hustle.

And when it does, it will be a fun, exciting, and aligned way to make a living.

While it’s important to keep the end goal in mind on this journey, it’s also important to smell the flowers along the way.

After all, launching a business is long, hard work. So, even before your side-hustle redeems itself and becomes your main source of income, make sure you appreciate everything else having a side-hustle has to offer you along the way.

Doing this will keep you happy and motivated, and your hard work will pay off sooner than later.

Having a side-hustle is hard work, but it can be incredibly rewarding – even before it becomes a major source of income. Having a side-hustle will fill you with more energy and positivity that will affect every aspect of your life. You will learn more skills and become more interesting and multi-faceted. You will meet cool new people and expand your business and social network. And of course, you run the possibility of promoting your side-hustle – something you are passionate about – to your main hustle one day. So, stop procrastinating and launch that side-hustle today!