For a lot of us, especially those of us who are parents, the balancing act of making enough money and having enough time is a rough one to keep up. There are, simply, not enough hours in the day for the ideal balance, which is why it is so essential to have a flexible approach and a way to earn some extra income that offers convenience and minimal setup. The aim is to maximize your incomings, minimize the amount of time you have to commit to, and save money on overhead costs. An ideal “side hustle” will allow the best balance between these necessities.
Selling handmade or customized goods
One attractive element in a side hustle is the ability to do it from home. If you are skilled with crafts, this can be an advantageous way to make a start on earning extra cash. Handmade items can be whatever you’re best at: making bespoke bags or accessories, creating art prints and so on. You may also be skilled at customization and personalization. Personalized gifts have always been popular, but a 2020s spin on the idea may be customized phone cases, where potential customers ask you to add a touch of bling to a standard case – adding their name, creating a logo or replicating a beloved piece of art.
Platforms like Etsy are a good place to start, both in terms of inspiration for creative items to sell, and as a way of monetizing your skills. If audiences prove to be receptive, you can scale things up as far as you are comfortable, make more items and make more money.
Providing local services
One of the few certain things in life is the fact that people will always have needs that are sprung on them in the moment. They may need childminding services in a hurry, tutoring that has to be complete by an imminent deadline, or even personal shopping. Often, the value in these gigs comes from the fact that you can deliver professional-level services at short notice, which makes it important to be skilled at marketing and promotion.
It’s beneficial to have a website advertising your services, making a point of the fact that everyone has moments when they need help in a hurry. Using local SEO techniques and simple content management systems, you can be the angel that comes to help anyone who searches online for “[service] near me”. Being able to accept contactless payments with your phone will make this even better. Because let’s face it, emergencies don’t tend to ask whether people have cash on them.
Monetizing a hobby
All of us have things that we like to do and are good at. Often the key to a successful side hustle is the path of least resistance – if you can get paid to do something you are good at and would already be doing it anyway, then you could have the perfect hustle ready to go. Maybe you enjoy baking, photography or gardening; all of these can be turned into side hustles with the only change being the scale at which you do them. Call around local stores to see if they would be interested in selling artisanal baked goods from your kitchen; offer your services to local realtors; advertise as a local gardener in the small ads and online. Obviously these services need to fit around your existing responsibilities, but you already have proof of concept.
Side note: Could you make your side hustle into marketable content?
If you watch much YouTube or have any social media footprint, you will have noticed that there are increasing quantities of short-form videos showing how someone knits the perfect scarf or creates superb cupcakes. The truth of the matter is that there are so many things that can be marketed, it needs to be seen to be believed; witness the trend for videos that literally show people stocking their fridges or organizing their storage. While this kind of hustle won’t be for everyone, it is worth considering whether your hustle could also be used as marketable content. After all, if it’s something you’re already doing…
Let’s be clear; making money from a side hustle when your time is already being stretched by everyday life isn’t easy. But if you can find a way to make your own skills pay, it’s something that can end up being the solution to a lot of problems. Sit down with a pen and paper, or your laptop, and see if you can sketch out a smart side hustle for yourself.
