Life Before Joining HPA
Harshi was a brilliant student in school but despite scoring well, she wasn’t able to get into the college of her choice. Because she had to settle for an average, local college for her higher studies, she decided to do something that would make her feel better and more confident about her career. That’s when she made up her mind to earn money while studying in college and started exploring options online. During her research, she came across Saloni’s YouTube channel and started following her.
Why Did You Decide to Enrol?
Harshi says that she really liked how Saloni created her content and she could feel connected with her, especially because of her simplicity.
While finding a source of income alongside her studies, Harshi had started an internship that required her to write content and manage social media. And when saloni introduced the content writing course, she decided to take that.
After that, HPA happened and she decided to convince her mother to let her take the main course that taught everything about starting and growing your side hustle. It was her trust in Saloni that basically pushed her into enrolling in the course.
The Experience of Working as a College Student
When you are working when your fellow students are focusing on the fun of being in college, of course, there is a fear of missing out on the fun, but we are assuming that was not the case for Harshi. This is what she wanted and she expressed her happiness while stating that she is able to pay her college tuition fee and take care of her trip expenses.
But did this come easy to her? Absolutely not. She shared that the first client she had gotten for content writing, even before she joined HPA, paid her INR 2000 for writing 25 to 30 blogs of around 700-800 words. That was what she got for a month worth of work.
She had to learn, improve, pick up a career as a social media manager, and grow this side hustle alongside her studies after that to finally reach where she is today. And the hustle hasn’t come to an end even now. There is still a lot that needs to be learned, explored, and done.
Finding Clients as a Social Media Manager
When asked how difficult was it for her to find clients as a fresher, she shared her opinion and answer that she usually gives to her coaching students and fellow freelancers as well. We loved her response and would like to quote her.
“I know this is a roadblock for a lot of new freelancers and people who are already into it and find it difficult. A lot of people think that the market is already saturated and will they be able to find clients or not. I tell them, as a freelancer, there is a certain limit that you can take up to like 10 clients in a month. So whether the market is saturated or not, you focus on your 10 clients if you can get those 10 clients that’s it, things are sorted for you. Leave whether the market is saturated or not. Anyway, it is going to be saturated. If you see the stats, 80% of the people will be freelancers by 2030 so now is the best time and then you focus on the 10 people that can pay you.”
This is the mindset that can get you clients. You don’t have to care if people are interested in paying new freelancers or not, your job is to reach out to them and offer your services, leave the decision-making to your potential clients and focus on outreaching more so that you can get clients.
Current Revenue and Future Plans
Right now, Harshi is making around INR 50,000 to 60,000 a month from her side hustle. She believes that the process is slow for some and fast for others. For her, it has been slow because she had to invest around 1.5 to 2 years in her side hustle to finally start making 50,000 every month but she says it can be fast for you.
In the near future, she is aiming at growing her current income so that once she is done with her studies she can convert her side hustle into a full-time business. Along with that, she is also launching her coaching business where she will be catering to other freelancers and helping them start and grow through her own experience. We wish her nothing but success.
Parting Words
We asked Harshi if there is something she would like to say to people who shall be looking up to her for inspiration. She said and we quote, “Join HPA and thank me, Saloni, and the whole HPA community later. If you are willing to take the action, please go ahead with HPA and freelancing.”
If you have been looking for a sign to start your freelancing journey and turn your hobby into a side hustle, consider this a sign and join HPA now. We promise you we can guide you through every level and phase of starting and growing your side hustle.
