Hosted exclusively on the fast-rising youth podcast platform, Stay by Plan, the premiere episode of the two-installment podcast series is themed ‘Turning Side Hustles into Full-time Businesses.’ The episode panelled the co-founder of Dance with Purpose (DWP) Academy and talent manager, Quables and owner of Wolf Autoworks, Edwin Amaglo, as both guests have successfully navigated the transition from side hustling to full-time business.

With young entrepreneurs and gig workers becoming a fast-growing demographic, Telecel Ghana believes the two-episode Connecting Hustles podcast conversation will connect with young business owners and individuals in the gig economy to help grow their SMEs.

Co-moderated by Citi FM & Channel 1 TV broadcaster, Jude Duncan and content creator and podcast host, Afi Tsegah, the Connecting Hustles conversation enlightens young entrepreneurs and practitioners in the gig economy on realistic and pragmatic ways to transform their side businesses into thriving full-time enterprises.

Small beginnings

Starting out as an automotive photographer purely based on passion, Edwin’s love for photographing vintage, sports and luxury cars using creative angles led him to pursue his business in automobile works. “I started out with an IT background and worked in tech support in a couple of companies. From time to time, I was selling car dash cameras and ordering other car parts for people on the side. Then I partnered with a friend and learned auto works in his shop before I got my workshop and it’s been fulfilling since. Each day, being able to solve people’s laundry list of auto problems and seeing them drive and enjoy their cars is gratifying for me.”

Riding on his popularity at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and technology (KNUST) as a photo model and social media influencer, Quables started the dance academy by managing a dancer friend, Dancegod Lloyd. His prior work experience in the advertising industry helped him to employ viral marketing and branding strategies to grow the dancer’s profile and that formed his business model for more dance talents.

“The driving factor was to get some form of fulfillment. My biggest achievement is changing the narrative in Ghana around dancing by helping young dancers to know they can make money from their talents and that dance can be a full-time job.”

The power of digital media

Digital infrastructure is central to the success of turning a side gig into a full-time business. Edwin and Quables both concurred that digital media has been a major force in the success of their trades.

“It is the lifeline of my entire business currently. Social media has been instrumental in my business by making it easy to get customers. Most of the clients I have now are people who saw my business online. I will advise any young person to use the internet and social media to help grow your business,” Edwin said.

As a trade that wasn’t paying, Quables sought innovative ways to monetise the dance skills of the talents he started to manage. Initially, he turned to YouTube to showcase their talents but struggled to gain a significant following. Recognising the potential of social media, DWP strategically shifted their focus to Instagram and TikTok and these platforms proved to be helpful in attracting a wider audience and gaining recognition from brands.

“Branding and digital strategy were key in DWP’s use of social media. We had to promote the academy and individual talents at the same time and that has helped us garner this massive following of millions online. If we didn’t have social media and access to the internet, I don’t know how we would have gotten here.”

Making the transition to full time business

Edwin advised young business owners to continuously learn and stay ahead of the trends in their trade or risk becoming redundant and not transforming their hustle into sustainable businesses.

“Honestly, if you don’t learn, you will be stuck and fighting for crumbs. Learn new trends so you won’t be stuck in the past. For example, new cars are moving computers so if I don’t learn constantly to keep up with new models and their software, I will be stuck with fixing old cars only,” Edwin said. “Also, find something you love doing and doesn’t feel like a chore. There should always be something pushing you to stay there and eventually, you start to gain money from it.”

Quables said young people should not prioritise money as the leading factor in the business they want to build. From his experience in the last decade, it is more important to be in tune with the value and purpose of your business first.

“Money shouldn’t be the main motivating factor because it is very easy to quit a path if you are money focused and you feel the profits are not coming through. There have been times that I had wanted to quit but I feel my life is intertwined with so many people and my purpose is to groom them to have careers that outlive their talents and be sustainable, even when they can’t dance no more,” Quables added.

Catch the full conversation

Listen to the full hour-long Connecting Hustles conversation in collaboration with the Stay by Plan podcast on Telecel channels on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Whether you’re dreaming of turning a passion project into a career or looking to refine your existing side hustle, the Connecting Hustles conversation delivers valuable insights that could shape your entrepreneurial journey. The final episode of Connecting Hustles podcast, centred on marketing for SMEs, will be released in the final week of September.