Side hustle or all in? How much of a plan do you need before going independent?

How concrete does a plan need to be before you start? Is it realistic to build something as a side hustle, or does it need an all-in commitment to stand any chance of success?

The honest answer is that it can start smaller than you think, and you will not feel ready either way.

I did it in the wrong order

I left in 2025 with no clients and nothing built on the outside. I did not build optionality until I needed it, so I started from zero.

I did it in the order that feels obvious: leave, then work out what you are selling. It took months. None of it was hard to find out. It was all just sitting on the other side of a decision I had already made.

I would do it the other way round now.

And I did not feel ready. Not when I started, and not eight months in. You do not get ready first and then start. You start, and readiness follows the evidence.

How much plan you need

Less than a business plan. More than a feeling. Before you commit, you want three things:

1. One sentence: who you help, and with what problem.
2. Evidence that somebody would pay: two or three conversations where people asked what it would cost.
3. Your runway: how many months you could cover if nothing came in.

You can collect all three while you are still employed, within what your contract allows. That is the side hustle phase, and it is not a lesser version of the real thing. It is the testing that the all-in version usually skips.

Energy is the real limit. After a full day there is not much left for a side project, so keep it small: one conversation a week, one note a day on what people came to you for. My own twelve-week programme runs at lunchtime, once a week, for exactly this reason.

The point to go all in is when the evidence says so, not the calendar. Clients waiting, or a runway you are comfortable with, or both.

For what to do this month, read thinking of leaving corporate to go independent? Do this before you quit.

Your next step

My free masterclass is ninety minutes, at lunchtime, and built for people still deciding: Where on earth to start when becoming a solopreneur, and where AI actually helps.