Yewande Jinadu: Is Starting a Side Hustle the Right Move For You?

When devout career-minded professionals hear the word ‘side-hustle’, they can only think of that employee who may have gone astray and probably shouldn’t bother having a career. Many career-minded people think they don’t need to be entrepreneurial.

I used to think that way even before I finished my BSc. I always said not everyone was meant to be an entrepreneur (which is very true). I used to feel it’s best to only focus on career and not bother about doing other things (even if it means following your passion) that may possibly affect your job.

This pandemic has been an eye-opener for a lot of career professionals out there. The pandemic has caused sudden job losses from unexpected sectors. On a normal day, when you’re analyzing lucrative sectors that would most likely never run out of business due to the available market, you won’t think about some particular sectors that Coronavirus has crippled (e.g hospitality).

Sometimes, when people hear ‘side hustle’, they automatically think about owning a store where they sell clothes, wigs, shoes, etc. They also feel that a side hustle will always conflict with their current business/job. Your side hustle should never ever be in competition with your job, what this means is that you shouldn’t provide similar services that your organization provides on the side.

How would you feel when your employee is using your productive time (which you would pay for in full) to engage in something that can also bring profit to your own company. It’s best to route personal business through your company (since they are paying your salary anyway). If you have plenty personal opportunities that compete with your current job, it’s best you resign and work as a freelancer. Your current job can even engage you as a consultant while you’re free to get other gigs.

I saw an image of how to treat our income as a table. A table with one leg would collapse if the leg is broken while a table with 4 legs may still wobble but remain strong. That got me thinking hard. For those who have been made redundant, it would take some time for them to think of a business idea, do market research before they start building a customer base pending when another job comes in.

If they had been proactive about building another ‘potential’ source of income, all they would have to do is pursue their dreams and have something to keep them busy.

Here are some potential side hustles to consider. You can do this on weekends and after work hours so that something extra (even if it’s little) can come in after your salary:

Monetize Your Skills

Start selling some of your skills on freelance websites like Fiverr etc. If you can write well, you can be a copywriter, you can help edit and proofread books for people at a cost.

Freelance Social Media Manager

Online is the new gold. Even during the pandemic, organizations are still investing in their social media and lots of busy SMEs ( or even fellow side hustlers like you) don’t have time to manage their social media accounts, you can offer that as a service. You may be a social media addict so why don’t you make it profitable for yourself.

Bulk Cooking and Snacks

This is for foodies that already love cooking. You can start with your office and family members. Even during the pandemic, people were still eating. You can dedicate your weekends to shopping and bulk cooking and bring it to the office for those who want to buy them. It shouldn’t affect your job. Some people also have sweet-tooth and are not on diet, if you love baking, convert your hobby to something good.

Photography

I need not explain how lucrative it is. Your weekends and public holidays can be dedicated to that. Do you know how much good photographers charge?

Teaching

Gone are those days when our lesson teachers collect like 5-10k per month. Now people are cashing out from their teaching passion even with a full-time job. You can start with your church/mosque members’ children. People make as much as N4,000 per hour per child.

Typical Instagram Shops

This one is just online buying and selling and it shouldn’t affect your work. Items range from phone accessories, clothes, shoes, bags, hair, perfume, etc. Just find what your immediate market needs and begin to sell.

Blogging

This may take more time than others before you can start making money but when you eventually do, it would be worth it.

There are lots of other lucrative businesses that you can do. Every career professional out there needs to think beyond the now and start thinking about the future of your income.

Will you have something to keep yourself busy if you’re asked to leave your job today?

Think about it and don’t see side hustle as a taboo. Embrace it and ensure you balance yourself well so that your work or your personal life doesn’t suffer.