A way to expand a side income in t-shirt design is to become energy management certified so that your side-hustle can be as environmentally responsible as it is fun and lucrative. Energy management is small businesses is a great way to stand out in a crowd, attract a responsible and mindful client base, and ensure that your side hustle isn’t a drain on our home planet. In short, energy management is the proactive, organized and systematic use of energy.”
This can apply in many cases to facilities – ensuring that buildings consuming a great deal of energy doesn’t drain resources and doesn’t compromise work processes. Maybe this means solar water heating, photovoltaic systems, air-tight building. Maybe none of these apply to your side business because you work out of your home or a co-working space, but they are elements of which to be mindful even in everyday living.
Logistics may apply much more to your goings-ons. This is the management of resource flow between where it starts (your home or office) and where it ends up (a softball field? a bar trivia night? a family reunion?). Mindful transportation of goods is relatively easy to consider and has a significant yield. Green logistics may include shifting to ecofriendly transport carriers, route optimization, and using IT support as often as possible to limit the amount of individual travel.
Production is another element to keep in mind: what does it take for you to create your product? How is it powered? Is it possible to share that power between projects/tasks/companies? Are you taking up any more physical space that you need to and how can you limit that?
Furthermore, it may be a good idea to get certified so that your business can benefit from your expertise. Not only is it trendy to buy responsibly and use mindful production, it’s a great business approach. There are probably dozens if not hundreds of t-shirt manufacturers in whatever city you live in – you need to stand out for something besides your great design. And if you’re the only manufacturer in your town, don’t you want to promote mindful consumption for your friends and neighbors?
This certification may also allow you to start a side gig consulting for other companies that want to use some of the same tactics in their practices. Find training and certification, education, accreditation, and a network of likeminded businesspeople who want to encourage mindful practices. Sharing tricks of the trade is imperative to self-improvement. Gaining this certification allows access to an annual conference and exposition covering the integration of commissioning and energy management.
Maybe your side hustle slinging t shirts will, over time, develop into a side hustle as a professional consultant!