courtesy of Desai
- Aneri Desai started her career-coaching business as a side job before taking it full-time this year.
- She aimed to pay off hundreds of thousands in debt while helping immigrant women find jobs.
- Here's her advice on building a business while in debt, including how to invest your time.
When Aneri Desai started her job hunt after college in 2013, she faced many barriers. She received nearly 300 job rejections and had difficulty finding a company that would sponsor her visa as a first-generation immigrant, she said.
Simultaneously, Desai's arranged marriage fell through and she had accumulated hundreds of thousands in debt, she said.
"I found myself in a situation where I was so dependent on others who were running my life, making decisions, calling the shots," she said. "I just felt like I was not good enough."
After working her way up the ranks for nearly 10 years — landing a job as a senior project manager at the insurance firm Unum — she decided to help other immigrant women who may be experiencing similar difficulties finding work.
In 2021, she launched a career-coaching side hustle, Aneri Desai Coaching, that aims to help immigrant women craft their résumés and find networking opportunities. So far, Desai has coached more than 100 women and left her corporate job to run her business full time, she said.
For aspiring founders, she said now is the time to start. "In the current economy, extra income and a safety blanket can go a long way," Desai added.
Desai earned $68,000 in revenue in 2021, which Insider verified with documentation. Last year, she earned more than $200,000 in revenue, quadrupling her income from her former corporate job, she said.
Desai shared her advice for building a business while in debt. This is an as-told-to story based on an interview with Desai. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Take charge of the situation you're in
courtesy of Desai
Anyone in a tough financial situation should take an in-depth look at their job and lifestyle. If a new business venture is going to help you get out of debt or turn your finances around, you need to find the strength to go big with it.
Now is a great time to start a side hustle that requires little to no investment. Consider monitoring your hobby or creating service-based offerings with your existing knowledge.
I never intended to become an entrepreneur, but when I noticed the number of women losing their jobs early in the pandemic or looking for additional income, I knew I could help them.
At the same time, I knew that my husband and I had debt we needed to get out of. With this opportunity in front of me, I refused to keep doing my bare minimum by making my corporate paycheck and waiting for a promotion that might not come.
I started helping friends improve their résumés or LinkedIn profiles and connected them with people in my network. Then, my mentor pitched my career-coaching services to somebody in her community and suggested I charge $900 for 10 coaching calls.
Having my first paying client was really exciting and nerve-racking, but it showed me there was business potential.
Invest in what moves the needle
It's important to invest money into the aspects of your business that can help it grow.
For example, my time as a CEO or coach is extremely valuable, and no one else on my team can do those things. On the other hand, I'm not the only one who can reply to emails or Instagram direct messages. As a founder, it's your job to come up with innovative ideas to significantly bump up your business' income. Delegate anything else that takes you away from that growth.
I looked at each task in my business to determine what moved the needle forward — like increasing the number of clients, strengthening the brand, or planning the business strategy.
For other founders looking to make the most of their cash, play with your numbers: Decide how much your time is worth, set your expected take-home income, and then determine which tasks to invest in to help achieve that.
Know your numbers
courtesy of Desai
Before I decided to take my coaching full time, I looked at historical data and income trends from my side hustle. After mapping out the minimum I'd make as a full-time coach, plus estimates for how much more I could earn with extra time put in, I got a lot of confidence to jump in.
When learning your numbers, determine how much you need to earn to maintain your lifestyle, cover monthly bills, and pay off debt. In terms of paying debt, it's important to account for more than the recommended amount. Especially with compound interest adding up, try and pay it off ahead of the due date.
Once you have those numbers, work backward to determine how much you charge per client and how many clients you want to take on at a time. Set these financial goals for yourself and constantly reevaluate.