If someone asks how your side hustle is going, do you change the subject?
Maybe you’ve been working on it for months, or even years. You’ve learned a lot and built a lot. But when the question comes, you know what they really want to hear, and you don’t have a good answer yet.
I know that feeling well. For years, I kept my side hustle almost completely to myself, even from my friends.
Here’s why I hid it, what finally changed, and what I’d tell anyone who’s quietly building something and feels embarrassed by the results so far.
Up Before Sunrise, Telling No One
For a long time, most of my friends had no idea what I was doing before sunrise every morning.
While everyone else was asleep, I was at my computer building websites, writing emails, creating landing pages, and trying different ways to make money online.
That habit started years earlier. I was working with a business coach for my main business, and one of his core teachings was something he called the Prosperity Power Hour: spend the first hour of every morning working on something positive. It could be meditation, working out, reading, or a money-making activity. That way, no matter how the rest of the day goes, you know you’ve already accomplished something.
It’s one of the teachings that has stuck with me ever since, and one of the most productive habits I’ve ever built. When I committed to my side hustle, that hour (often longer) became my time to work on it. Without it, I don’t think I would have found the time to really build it.
It isn’t easy, though. Have you ever gotten up an hour early every day to work on something? Waking up at 5 a.m. is hard. I think that’s where commitment to a goal matters most. It’s what keeps you consistent when something takes months or even years to show results, like an online side hustle.
And for a long time, those early mornings weren’t making much money.
I’ve been growing my main business for 19 years, so I’m used to working hard and seeing results. My side hustle was different. I could put in month after month of early mornings and have very little money to show for it.
So I didn’t talk about it.
I was sure that if I told people what I was doing, they’d think it was a waste of time. Or worse, a little foolish. A grown business owner getting up at dawn to chase online income that wasn’t showing up.
I told myself, “I’ll tell everyone once it actually works.”
The Question I Dreaded
When the subject did come up, there was one question I dreaded more than any other:
“So, how much money are you making?”
It’s a fair question, and the most natural thing to ask about a side hustle. After all, most people measure success by how much money something makes, right? But it was embarrassing to answer when I knew how many hours I’d put in.
I didn’t have a number I was proud of. And because I was measuring everything by that one number, I felt like I had nothing to show at all.
What I Was Missing
It took me a long time to see this: I was measuring my side hustle with only one number.
By that measure, I wasn’t doing very well. But one day I looked around at what I had actually built.
I had a website and a blog. An email list. Automated email sequences. Opt-in and landing pages. Content. Products I could offer.
And I could do things I had no idea how to do when I started.
A lot of what I’d learned, like marketing, writing emails, and understanding how people make buying decisions, had already helped my main business. The side hustle wasn’t paying me much directly, but it was making me better at things that mattered, and those skills apply to almost any business.
I still wanted the income. That never changed. But I realized I wasn’t standing still nearly as much as I thought.
There can be a big gap between making progress and making money. Progress usually comes first, and it’s easy to miss if money is the only thing you’re watching.
Why I Stopped Hiding It
About three years ago, I got serious about building my side hustle and joined a coaching and mentorship program. That’s when real progress started: my first email subscriber, my first online sale, my first dollars from selling digital products.
It’s still not where I want it to be. I’m still working on hard problems, especially getting enough people to find what I’ve built.
But somewhere along the way, I stopped feeling like I needed to hide it. There is a certain amount of ownership that comes with telling someone what your goal is. There is a different type of “skin in the game”. When you don’t tell anyone, it gives you an out to stop at any time, because no one will ever know that you were doing it in the first place. But when people know about it, you don’t want to tell them that you quit. That’s just as embarrassing as admitting you aren’t making any money.
In fact, I now share the whole journey publicly, on this blog and on TikTok, including the parts that haven’t worked. That’s a big change from the guy who wanted to wait until everything was a success before telling anyone.
If You’re Keeping Your Side Hustle Quiet
If you’re in the same place I was, here’s what I’d suggest.
1. Measure progress, not just income
Early on, income is usually the last thing to show up. Skills, assets like a website and email list, and your audience grow first. If you only watch the money, you’ll feel like you’re failing even when you’re not. I wrote about this in detail in Why I Thought I Was Falling Behind Building My Side Hustle.
Not sure what to focus on first? The free training that helped me understand how an online business fits together walks through the four core areas, in order. Watch the free video here.
2. Have an honest answer ready
The “how much are you making?” question gets easier when you’ve decided how to answer it ahead of time. Something like:
“Not much yet. Right now I’m building the foundation: my website, email list, and audience. The income usually comes later.”
It’s honest, and it reframes what you’re actually doing.
3. Tell one person first
You don’t have to announce it to everyone. Pick one person you trust and tell them what you’re building and why. Saying it out loud often makes it feel more real, and less like something to be embarrassed about.
4. Know what you’re building
If you’re chasing quick cash, it’s natural to judge everything by this month’s income. But if you’re building something you can keep, like your own online business, you’re playing a longer game. Early months of little income are part of that game, not proof that it’s failing. I wrote more about this tension in The Entrepreneur’s Dilemma: Fast Cash vs. Long-Term Growth.
If You’re Where I Was
If you’re up early or staying up late working on something nobody knows about, and wondering whether it’s worth it, I understand.
Your progress may not show up in your bank account yet. That doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.
Keep building. Keep track of what you’re learning. And when you’re ready, let someone in on it. You might be surprised how much lighter it feels.
Where to Go From Here
If you’re building an online side hustle and aren’t sure what to focus on first, start with the free training that helped me understand how all the pieces fit together. It’s from my mentor, Dean Holland, and it’s designed for beginners, even if you don’t have an audience or products of your own.
This training is from my mentor, Dean Holland. If you later buy one of his programs, I may earn a commission.
Related posts:
- I Thought I Had to Know Everything Before Starting My Side Hustle
- Why Doing More Isn’t Growing Your Online Side Hustle
- The $1,000 Daily Recurring Income Blueprint