‘Tale Alimi: 5 Reasons Why You Should Have a Side Gig

A side gig is a means to make extra money on the side apart from your normal source of income like full time employment. If you are already making a good income or/and working at a career you enjoy, then a side gig wouldn’t seem necessary to you.  However if you are like the majority, then here are some reasons why should have a side gig:

Earn Extra Income
If you want to make an additional source of income to cover some ‘wants’, then a side gig would be a good option. For example, last Christmas I wanted to treat my son and I to a multi-destination holiday and my ‘regular’ income could not fully pay for the trip, I was glad to get a side gig as a facilitator for a business conference in three states that provided the needed extra to make the trip possible.

Practice Entrepreneurship
Aa lot of people have dreams of one day owning a business and working for themselves, but why wait for one day? Why don’t you start a side gig today and get the required practice. The good thing is even if you fail or have challenges, you still have your main income to fall back on and you can easily make corrections without becoming stranded. Also with practice, you learn what and what not to do which boosts your confidence and gives you the required experience when you are ready to go all out.

Express Your Passion
Statistics has shown 80% of people are working jobs that they are not passionate about and stay with it only because of the income stability. A side gig is an opportunity to express your passion without quitting your 9 to 5. You can spend your evening and weekends’ fuelling your true passion so that you would have the motivation to keep at your job until your passion begins to bring in the big bucks. I know several people who are doing this. I met a lady early this year at a retail fair in Vegas; her passion was shoes, so she set up an online ‘shoetique’ while she worked her day job as a nurse. Her day job funded her passion and she hoped to eventually focus on her passion fully someday.

Start Creating Your Future Now
If you have ever used the cliché ‘when I grow up’ statement, then you don’t have to keep waiting to grow up, you can start creating your future now. If you plan to set up a school when you are richer or have more savings, why don’t you start with afterschool or weekend clubs now? I met a man recently who is trying to quickly set up a business because he found out that the multinational he works for would lay off staff soon as their margins had thinned substantially. You don’t have to wait till things become desperate, start way before you even need the additional income.

Create Your Plan ‘B’
One of the reasons why I advocate that people should have a side gig is so that you would always have a plan B when an uncomfortable situation comes up. I have heard of situations where bosses treat subordinates with disrespect; either a female subordinate being harassed by her male boss or a male subordinate being emasculated by his female boss. Most people endure such demeaning situations because they feel they don’t have a choice. However, if you have a side gig bringing you something to meet your basic needs, you can easily walk away from that situation.

Now that you have realized why you should have a side gig, the next step is deciding what your side gig should be. My immediate advice is, think about what you are passionate about, what you are good at and what you can do during your spare time. If you want some ideas, you can download my free ebook here: 10 businesses you can start on the side.

Photo Credit: Dreamstime |  Michael Zhang