How can I be professional about having a growing side business while job hunting?

After being rejected at every job I’ve tried to go after when I finished up UG even though I was top 1% of my class (small non-target school). I decided to go to a good grad school and start a side business to get some income while in school.

So the business started slow, largely due to lockdowns and other more established competitors doing deep discounts to liquidate stock making it hard to penetrate the market. I sell products that are essentially B2B, think beauty salons or at home salons so none of them could work for months in the UK, which is my main market. 

Last month, I did over £2000 in revenues. I started selling about 3 months ago. My profit margins are close to 70%. And this was during the lockdown. Now it ended and I’m projected to have revenues of around £2500-3000 in April. I think I can grow it even bigger if I just focus completely on it since I’m also balancing a MSc finance.

I’m currently getting job interviews. I didn’t expect myself to do so well as it’s just a side hustle that was an extra income stream. But I also can’t guarantee it will continue to grow. I’m not sure if I should even disclose this information or what. I don’t want to be deceptive and get an offer next month just to see that I can turn this side hustle into a legitimate full time thing and turn it down. But I’m also afraid to mention it as they might think that I’ll just turn it down or can’t fully commit to the job. It's currently not even on my CV or Linkedin. 


I'm primarily going after jobs in buy-side, particularly in PWM. Some have told me having an entrepreneurial mind and experience can actually be a plus because many clients in PWM are also entrepreneurs. But I don't want it to work against me as I want to have a few options and at least a secure offer for a job graduating in June. 

 

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