By Kimberly Flanagan
In a country where unemployment sits at 29,1 per cent, finding a job is already difficult without looking at the numbers and the economy seems to be hanging by a thread all the time. It’s easy to fall into a trap where you are satisfied with any job that you can get, even if it is not your dream job and trust me when I say this, no one will blame you.
But can you do more? Having your full-time job doesn’t always pay all the bills and as I said before, that full-time job is not always the job you want or see yourself doing, so what do you do? You think of an alternative or you try and make a little more on the side. That’s where your side hustle comes in.
Fortunately, your side hustle can be whatever you want it to be. You are not always restricted by C.V’s and job applications when it comes to your side hustle. If you have a flair for design or home decor, you can start up a little business on the side where you can let your creative juices flow. Or if there is a teacher that lives inside of you that is screaming to come out, you can become a tutor and pour out your infinite wisdom on a young student.
There are many options in terms of establishing your side hustle and there is also the possibility of it turning into a full-time job if you really want it to and you work hard enough at it.
But if you just want something that is going to bring in some extra cash, you can also try the following without it impacting your full-time job.
- Renting out your car
- Buying and selling used items
- Becoming a dog-sitter or baby-sitter
- Starting an online business
- Becoming a tutor
- Renting out your room if you have extra space or even renting out your home as an Airbnb
According to entrepreneur Chris Guillebeau, having a side hustle is great because it gives you ownership over something and creating something for yourself. That is a great way to look at a side business because you not only have power over that business but you also have the opportunity to create employment for someone else.
Guillebeau also has an online business called ‘The Side Hustle School” that teaches people how to start a side hustle.
The important thing to note is that what you produce in your side hustle has to have value and fill a need. You need to do something that people will pay for. Start in your own community before trying to reach the entire market. It’s still a lot of work starting up a side job, you need to do research and find out what the needs in your surrounding area is and read up on strategies and lucrative ways that your side hustle will make you some extra money. We all own smartphones so find ways to upskill yourself on the internet by reading success stories and watching Youtube videos. The more skills you gain, the better chance you have of succeeding in your side hustle. If you are not willing to put in more work then don’t bother starting something you won’t finish.
Finding any job is tough enough and starting something on the side is not easy either but if we’re honest, money and unemployment are two commodities that are very hard to find and in some cases even harder to hold onto.
So if you are willing and you have the opportunity, create your own wealth, even if it just starts off with an extra R100. And if the opportunity isn’t there, create that too.
