Reality Check: Should 996 Workers Really Start a Global Selling Side Hustle?

First, let me clarify - if you fall into these categories, this article doesn't apply to you:

1. You already work in global commerce and use company resources and skills for your own side business.
2. You have a very relaxed job with minimal actual work, no workplace stress, and some savings.
3. You're extremely disciplined with boundless energy, able to work after getting home and continue through weekends without needing personal life.

High Bar! What Are the Real Requirements for Running an Independent Store?

I've previously discussed the five essential qualities for solopreneurs. Running an independent store for global selling is one of the higher-barrier business directions. Let me break down the more specific requirements:

Skill Requirements

Basic English Proficiency: If you haven't passed CET-4 or CET-6, I'd advise you to think carefully before entering this field. Even with AI tools like ChatGPT reducing language barriers, you still need to understand and verify what AI generates. From product descriptions, blog posts, social media content, ad copy, to customer service communications - these are all fundamental tasks. You also need to use English to search Google and various English communities for problems you encounter.

(I've sent over 700 English customer service and collaboration emails)

Basic Video and Image Editing: Global selling relies on "borrowing" content, but you still need basic photo editing and video cutting skills.

Aesthetic Sense: Your store's visual system, product images, videos, and social media content don't need to be super professional, but they shouldn't look repelling either.

Market Insight: Some people just can't select products - lock them in a room for 48 hours and they still won't come up with anything.

Marketing Understanding: Independent stores aren't platforms. On platforms, you get traffic just by listing products. If that's not enough, you can use platform advertising tools for relatively easy traffic. But with independent stores, after building your site, you face the harsh reality of zero traffic. Operations and marketing are the core competency requirements for independent store owners.

The list isn't exhaustive, but understand this: being a solopreneur means doing a whole team's work by yourself. Think about whether you have that capability, especially if you want to do this as a side hustle???

Resource Requirements

Time Resource: The difficulty of independent stores lies in the time and energy needed for daily operations. I'll break this down in detail.

Capital Resource: Honestly, there are different approaches to global selling independent stores, but at minimum, you need about 5,000+ RMB for basic infrastructure (not including costs for courses, services, or getting scammed). Additionally, you need at least 3,000+ RMB for advertising to test and get results.

Busy, Busy, Busy! Real Daily Work of an Actual Solopreneur

First, let me explain - although I do global selling "full-time," about 60% of my energy has been focused on global selling content creation - the articles you're reading now. I share tutorials on social media daily. Second, I prioritize work-life balance (okay, I'm lazy) and don't push myself that hard. Third, my scale is tiny!

With that context, let me share my daily, weekly, and monthly work routine for running an independent store. This is just the operational and promotional routine after infrastructure and store setup - the startup phase would be even more painful.

This is to give those fantasizing about side hustles a reality check:

Fixed Daily Routine: Morning

1. Product Packaging: Pack and ship products sold the previous day. Time varies depending on sales volume, but at minimum 30 minutes: printing shipping labels, product packaging, taping, attaching labels, scheduling pickup.

2. Customer Service: Check email and WhatsApp for return requests, shipping inquiries; I'm quite responsible - when customers genuinely want to return items, I help them order return labels and guide them through the process step by step. With ChatGPT this has gotten easier, but it still takes at least 30 minutes.

Fixed Daily Routine: Afternoon

Normally, I start working on content creation - writing, recording, editing takes 2-3 hours. But if I'm not creating content, I work on these business tasks:

1. Finding blogger collaborations - searching one by one, writing emails one by one.
2. Optimizing ads - checking Google Ads backend data, making adjustments.
3. Social media operations - posting on Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube, checking analytics.
4. Product selection - browsing Amazon, AliExpress, other independent stores, 1688.
5. Website optimization - fixing things that don't look right, improving conversion rates.
6. Other tasks - handling disputes, payment issues, logistics problems.

Fixed Daily Routine: Evening

I usually relax in the evenings - watching shows, reading books, watching movies. But if there are urgent matters like customer complaints or logistics issues, I still handle them.

Weekly Fixed Schedule

Monday: Review last week's data, plan this week's tasks.

Tuesday: Focus on blogger collaboration matters.

Wednesday: Focus on social media operations.

Thursday: Focus on ad optimization.

Friday: Focus on product selection.

Weekend: Rest or handle miscellaneous tasks.

Summary

If you're a 996 worker thinking about starting a global selling independent store as a side hustle, think twice. It's really not that simple. You need:

1. Sufficient English ability
2. Sufficient video and image editing skills
3. Sufficient aesthetic sense
4. Sufficient market insight
5. Sufficient marketing understanding
6. Sufficient time
7. Sufficient capital

If you have all of the above, you can try. If you don't have them, or only have some, I advise you to stick to your day job.