Master the side-hustle
Convert spare time into cash by creating a micro-business to run alongside your day job.
KIDS are natural hustlers. The crushing pessimism of adulthood has yet to bear down on them, so they’re not paralysed by the possibility of failure.
When I was a kid, I sold icecold Raro cordial and driveway parking during busy events near my house, and supplied restaurants with hand-rubbed oregano. Later, I bought up bulk collections of CDs or DVDs from Trade Me to resell individually. While I never neglected school or play, I was always earning little bits of money here and there.
This is known as the art of the side-hustle.
Budget Buster usually focuses on strategies for spending less money, rather than earning more, because most people spend every last cent they earn.
However, once you’ve got the frugal mindset sorted, working on your income stream is a powerful move.
If you have some spare time on evenings or weekends, you can convert it into cash by working for yourself – creating a micro business that you can put as much or as little into as you want. Sounds great, right? The only question is – what makes a good side-hustle?
Let’s start with ruling out anything dodgy or snake-oily – forex trading, pyramid marketing, home-baked meth. I’d also avoid schemes with uncertain pay-offs, like blogging or writing romance e-books or recording an album.
The money gets concentrated in a tiny number of individuals who win big, while most people make literally nothing. If it’s your passion, do it anyway. Otherwise I suggest something more concrete, where you can earn money as soon as you have one customer.
Step 1: Brainstorm the skills you already have, and how you can monetise them. Keen amateur photographer with decent gear? Offer to document events for friends and family, and start building a portfolio and some references. Alternatively, take pictures to sell to stock photo websites.
Talented musician? You could give lessons, busk, or put together a covers band and start gigging for beers and a bit of pocket money.
Computer whiz? Your options range from helping old people figure out the complexities of Microsoft Word all the way through to part-time web design or development.
Generally brainy? Private tutoring for high school or university students pays pretty well, and it’s not difficult to land a few hours a week.
Step 2: Take an inventory of the resources you have available. Try and think laterally. If you’ve got a spare room, you could rent it out on Airbnb and become a parttime hotelier, or host foreign students for cultural exchange and profit.
If you have a tidy, late-model car, sign up with Uber and you can moonlight as a taxi driver whenever you have a few hours to kill.
Trees groaning with fruit, or a productive plot of land at your disposal? I used to spend many a Saturday morning helping my mumsell fruit, jams, preserves and baking at the local farmers market.
Step 3: If you don’t have any particular skills or resources, brainstorm the everyday tasks that people don’t want to do, or don’t have time for. Put out the word for baby-sitting gigs, or become a trusted neighbourhood dog-walker. Manual labour or gardening is easy to pick up, or if physical work isn’t for you, you could work as a gopher or virtual assistant.
These examples are only the tip of the iceberg. As the world gets more specialised and fragmented, the oddjobs market will only keep growing.
Busy people are outsourcing everything from lawnmowing to shopping to answering emails, which creates all sorts of juicy opportunities for part-time entrepreneurs. Happy hustling!
Got a burning money question? Email richard.meadows@thedeepdish.org, or hit him up on Twitter: @MeadowsRichard. 123rf