The tips and tricks which see side-hustlers succeed
A growing rank of Kiwis are finding a second income stream to help them get by. Georgia Weaver meets some of the side-hustlers.
Andrea de Vries’ garage is packed with furniture – and her collection is growing. It’s not some sort of obsession or hoarding. She’s making money from it.
The Invercargill woman has joined a growing number of Kiwis by starting a side- hustle or second income stream to counter the economic uncertainty brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thanks to the lockdown, people throughout the country found time to put into new ventures.
Facebook group Chooice (formerly New Zealand Made Products) was born, giving people a platform to make a little extra cash on the side, as well as the added bonus of being able to support local.
The key to a successful side hustle, most say, is to find the gap in the market.
De Vries has worked in events for 12 years and noticed how difficult it was to hire furniture.
‘‘While I was over in Perth, I noticed the different levels that events were at. There was so much effort and thought put into the design and seating arrangements that we don’t necessarily do here.’’
Back in Southland, she found she was quite limited with what furniture could be hired. So she decided to fix that with her side business Borrow + Event Society.
But, as the saying goes, starting was the hardest part.
‘‘ I was held back because I didn’t really feel like I had a purpose to go out and buy all that stuff. It felt like a bit of a risk to do.’’
Her business took off after she bought furniture for her wedding.
Her advice to someone think
ing of starting their own business is to talk to someone in the know.
‘‘You can only learn so much from the internet. I’m still learning as I go through every day, so I don’t have all the answers. But it was a leap of faith.’’
Research commissioned by the Noel Leeming Group shows at least one in five New Zealanders are starting their own side businesses, and more than a quarter of those people are based in the South Island.
Noel Leeming Invercargill tech solutions specialist Daniel Ryan said some people trying to set up their own business think they are being held back by technology.
Luckily for Invercargill jewellery-maker Anna Kirkwood, she already had some knowledge with the technological side, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
She started up her side business Morrison Five in early March, designing and handmaking earrings.
‘‘I already had the knowledge of how to set up the blog side of it, so it was just turning that platform into an e-commerce platform.’’
Kirkwood put a lot of time into Googling how to set it up, what the best site was and how to go about making it an easy process for her consumer.
Looking back, she now realises asking the right people for advice would have sped up the process and made it easier.
‘‘Technology is an absolute minefield. There are so many choices on what is on offer, and every website is trying to sell you another piece of technology you need for your business.
‘‘Having someone make that process simple, and sharing what the basic things you need to start an e-commerce site would be really helpful.’’
Kirkwood was pleasantly surprised with how quickly her sidehustle grew, particularly because of her initial worries on the current financial environment.
She sells her designs on a website and some stores, and has plans to get her goods into more shops and tackle wholesale.
‘‘One thing I wish I knew about earlier was pricing. You need to cover all expenses and value the time that is put into it. I don’t want to make earrings for 16 hours a day.’’
‘‘You can only learn so much from the internet. I’m still learning as I go through every day, so I don’t have all the answers. But it was a leap of faith.’’ Andrea de Vries