Side hustles are quickly becoming a regular part of life for many people regardless of status or income level.
More and more people are adopting this new trend for a variety of reasons:
To generate extra income.
To experiment with new ideas for a potential business.
To replace the current job you hate.
To desperately pay off debt.
To learn.
To pursue a passion in life.
Whatever your reason, it is a lot easier to get into a side hustle with the advancement of technology.
Today, you can easily start an online business if you have a computer or a smart device and an internet connection.
Even if you have no skills or don’t know what you want to do, you can easily explore to find what you love. Once you find it, you can learn the skills online by taking an online self-study course.
As easy as it is to start a side hustle or an online business today, the majority of new internet start-Up’s fail.
In his blog post titled, Why Are So Many Internet Start-Up’s Failing Today?, Chirs Ducker notes that more than 90% (Ninety percent) of all Internet business start-ups end in failure within the first 120 (one hundred twenty) days.
This is alarming. But it is consistent with the trend of business Start-Up failures in general. Chris goes on to point to the following four reasons for the alarming failure rate:
- Many don’t know the statistical probabilities they face.
- Many don’t see themselves as being part of the failures or they wouldn’t leap.
- Many are talked into things they are unprepared for.
- Many don’t know the basic tenant of — “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.”
From my experience in business, there are two things you can do to increase your probability of starting and running a successful side hustle:
Find your passion
First, start with something you love to do. Consider what you currently do effortlessly. Think about the questions that your friends and family members ask you all the time. And the time you spend researching and finding answers to these questions. Think about the things that get you excited to help others.
These will provide you with ideas on what you can potentially turn to a side hustle for income.
For example, I love the game of chess. It’s a game I took seriously during my university days. I was fascinated with the possibilities that existed on the chessboard. I love playing the game. I enjoy watching it and I love teaching it.
So, I started a business promoting chess events. I use my events to build a community of chess players. And I teach the players in the community how to improve their chess. When I’m working on my chess business, it often feels like play. I enjoy it.
Invest in yourself
Second, invest in yourself by developing the skills you need to run a successful side hustle. For a business to be successful, you need to generate income. You generate income by selling a product or service that people are willing to pay for. And you have to figure out where to find the people that will buy.
It sounds simple, but this is what most new Start-Up’s underestimate. And this is the major reason why the failure rate is so high.
So, invest in a great marketing and coaching program to elevate your skill level and guarantee a higher success rate for your side hustle.
Now that you know how to increase your success rate, here are 7 ideas to consider for your new side hustle:
1. Rent a part of your home
This is one of my favorite options as it comes with tax advantages. I invest in rental properties and currently rent a part of my home. You generate extra income, save taxes and help meet an important need in the market.
If you have an extra space in your home that you don’t use, consider making minor modifications to rent out extra space. You can do this as regular rental or simply use Airbnb for short-term rentals.
If you have an extra bedroom in your home, you can rent this on Airbnb without making major modifications.
If you have a garage you use for your junk, consider selling your junk in a garage sale. Then rent out your garage to the person that just bought your junk. You’ve now succeeded in making money multiple times on your junk! Smart idea!
2. Coaching
If you have a skill that will benefit others, consider starting a coaching side hustle. The coaching industry is huge and will continue to grow as more and more people seek self-improvement.
People hire coaches to help them do very specific things. You can use your skills to coach someone that needs help with what you’re offering.
You can be a money coach, a health or fitness coach, a leadership coach, a parenting coach, etc. The options are endless.
3. Get paid for your creative talents
Sites like Fiverr, Upwork or 99designs have made it easy for creatives to work and generate income as freelancers.
If you have creative skills, people need you. If you have special skills in writing, editing, graphic design, voice-over work, etc., there are people who need your creative mind to help them in their ventures.
These sites make it easy for you to quickly start and get your side hustle off the ground in minutes.
4. Sell products on eCommerce platforms
Platforms like Amazon, Shopify and Etsy have made it easy for anyone to start an online eCommerce store.
You can easily set up a store to sell your products or other people’s products on these platforms to generate income.
Products like jewelry, scarves, paintings, hand-lettered inspirational prints, and other things you make yourself sell well on a platform like Etsy.
Amazon and Shopify provide you with a platform to sell a variety of other products. With these platforms, you can get your business set up in days or even in a few hours.
5. Teach something
Do you have a skill that you can teach? Are you passionate about learning and transferring that knowledge to others?
If so, then consider teaching as a side hustle. If you’re a musician with the heart of a teacher, giving music lessons is an excellent side hustle. You can set your own prices and hours. And you can offer lessons online, in your home, rent a space, or charge extra to travel to the client’s home.
You can teach other things like English, Math, Chess, and various sporting activities.
It’s easy to start teaching as you’re offering your time and talent. Online tutoring companies like Tutor.com, TutorMe, and Studypool can easily hire you to start sharing your knowledge with students on a wide variety of topics.
6. Become an influencer on social media
This is trending with social media platforms that now pay you to create and post content on their platforms.
If you have a large following on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, you might consider becoming an influencer.
If you have at least 1,000 subscribers with 4,000 hours of watch time on your Youtube channel, you can monetize your channel to generate extra income.
7. Drive for Uber or Lyft
If you have flexible hours and need some quick cash, consider becoming a driver for Uber or Lyft. For this one, you will have to wait until the COVID-19 restrictions are completed lifted.
With this side hustle option, you can drive as much (or as little) as you want and set your own schedule.
Of course, the amount of money you make depends on your location and how often you can drive.
In Conclusion
A side hustle is now becoming a common norm in our society. More and more people are turning to it for many reasons. One of these reasons is to generate extra income.
To maximize your chances of success with your side hustle, consider starting a side hustle you love. And invest in yourself to develop the skills you require to make it a successful side hustle that can potentially replace the current job you have.
P.S. Join my mailing list here to be notified of how you can join my 5-Day 1-hour-a-day challenge starting on July 6. This challenge will put you on the path to financial freedom and help eliminate all your money worries forever!
