There are countless benefits to starting a side hustle. Not only can you make extra income during tough economic times, but you can also express your creative side by doing more of what you love. While side hustles can have their perks, they can sometimes be challenging to start.

If you’ve been playing around with the idea of turning your hobby into a side hustle, there’s no better time than now. Below are five easy ways to profit from your hobby and start a side hustle.

Make a master list

When I was first starting to play around with the idea of launching a business, the first thing I did was brainstorm ideas. I created a master list of keywords of my strengths, skills, and passions and put it all on a single page. Not only did this help me see my potential, but it also created a great starting point for picking my business ideas.

When starting this list, don’t be too hard on yourself. Remember that this is only the starting point, and you can always change and pivot from here. Add as many things as you want as they come to your head. The more you have, the more creative your business idea will be.

Conduct market research

Learning whether your business idea is profitable or not should be one of the first things you do before starting a side hustle. You wouldn’t want to invest time, money, and resources into an idea that was never going to go anywhere. Conducting market research can be a tedious task, but it can make the world of a difference in your potential side hustle.

Talk to your peers

We often overlook some of the easiest and most convenient resources we have in front of us. Talking to our peers about our side hustle idea can be one of the easiest ways to get outside input. Share some of your thoughts and ideas with people you trust. You’d be surprised by how much helpful input you can walk away with. Remember to take everything with a grain of salt. Outside input doesn’t have to mean application.

Start small

No business idea ever went from idea to execution overnight, and yours doesn’t have to either. Taking small, but consistent, steps in your side hustle can allow you to grow while you make necessary changes along the way. An easy way to do this is to challenge yourself to do something every day that can help you grow in the long run. Whether that’s learning something new or making a small change to your website, it will all pay off eventually.

Start selling

The biggest difference between a business and a dream is the profit. If you don’t make any money, then you can’t ever make the leap from your hobby to your side hustle. Start selling as soon as possible. Not only will it prove that your business idea is a good one, but it’ll also motivate you to keep going. There’s a lot of power in money, so making some as soon as you can will impact your side hustle journey.