Maybe you’re holding down a job at a corporate establishment, but you would like to diversify your income by taking up a side-hustle. It could be that you don’t think you earn enough at the moment, or perhaps you just need some extra to stock up for the rainy day.
Whatever your reason for deciding to add an extra gig besides the regular job you have, there’s a lot of options you can chose from. The fact is most 9-5ers will need a backup to their formal employment, because the demands they have to meet are often greater than what these primary sources of income can provide. It’s what partly accounts for the ‘diversification’ buzzword that’s been going around for a while now.
What’s more, the side hustle is often the starting point of what eventually becomes a full blown business. Many top businesspeople built their large companies from occasional small-time venture status. Maintaining a job at a formal establishment while sculpting what could become the next industrial giant has to be an alluring idea.
Below are ten side hustle examples you could consider.
Side Hustle Options
1. Catering
If your cooking and baking skills are up-to-scratch (or excellent), you could put them to good use and make some money for yourself in the process. There’s demand for this service. Public events and private ceremonies will want to be supplied the small chops, cakes, local dishes and drinks they need to fill their attendees’ bellies. You could be the one to pug this gap.
Here’s an article detailing the steps you could take to building your own catering business.
2. Social Media Management
This role is best filled by someone who’s savvy with social media, and loves creating content for various platforms. They should also know their way around the almost innumerable digital alleys that exist; understand how it all works, and what audiences are present and most active on each major social network.
If you tick these boxes, you may be what some company or busy individual wants to pay for right now. Look into what is required to be a smart social media manager; master the art; and start seeking opportunities in this area.
3. Graphics Design
Here’s another gift from digital technology- making cool graphics with design tools for clients who are willing to pay you for doing so.
Even if you don’t know how to use graphics design software at the moment, you can begin learning how to do so now. If you have a good laptop and a love for creating things, you could start cracking at it immediately. Of course you’ll have to get the software for this purpose. The good news is there’s a fair number of really great graphics design software you could download for free.
4. Driving
How about running a taxi service with your car on some of your free time?
Even if you aren’t comfortable with doing this the traditional way, you can register with ride hailing companies like Uber and Taxify (or any of the more prominent) and pick up passengers when you can. It’s one way to gain extra income on weekends and free hours on weekdays.
5. Freelance Writing
Do you have a flair for writing? Can you weave words that capture your readers’ attention and pass the message you want them to get? If you answer in the affirmative, maybe you should think about taking up freelance writing as a side hustle.
Content mills like Fiverr and Upwork are among the most popular options for part-time freelance writers who want to land paying gigs. Those platforms take a small percentage of the pay, but most of the remuneration for the work done goes to the freelancer.
6. Drop Shipping
The drop shipping business involves you acting as a front for a manufacturer or wholesaler online. You display their product on your site; people see it and place orders; you transmit the order to the manufacturer or wholesaler; and they deliver the product to the customer who demands for it. You reward will be a cut from what the customer pays for the product.
7. Home Tutoring
Let’s say you have a few hours on a Saturday to spare. You do the 9-5 thing on Weekdays, but you know you love teaching too. Plus, you do have a better than average knowledge of some academic subject. If all these were true of you, home tutoring might be something you could try out. And if you’re already a teacher, the home tutoring looks like your most straightforward choice for side hustle.
8. Web Design
Admittedly, you’ll need programming skills to design a website that’s easy on the eyes and easy to navigate. But like most other things, coding can be learned. I fact, you can learn HTML, and CSS programming languages fairly quickly if you’re an averagely smart person- and those are important for the purposes of designing a website. Whatever else you need, you can pick up as you go along.
Having the right skills for web design should put you in the position to pick up a few gigs now and then from individuals and small businesses that need a website. And there are a lot of them these days.
9. Editing and Proofreading
This one’s also from the text line of things. While scanning manuscripts for typos and fixing grammatical errors can be conveniently lumped in with writing, it requires skills that aren’t exactly the same as what you’ll need to be a fine writer.
Not everyone knows how to stay the course with punctuating scripts for more than a few minutes. But if you’re both a perfectionist about such things and willing to spend the time that it takes to rectify them, you might just make some bucks off these peculiar strengths of yours.
10. Selling Fashion Accessories
You probably know someone who sells clothes, shoes, bags and jewelry (either self-made or purchased), in addition to their formal job. There are a number of ways you could go about this, including marketing and taking orders for these items on social media. Instagram happens to be a favorite social networking platform for small-time businesses of this type, so you may want to try advertising your wares there.
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