The Side Hustle

A Side Hustle is so much more relevant and important since Covid hit us. I'd never heard of the term Side Hustle until recently. For as long as I can remember, I and my friends have had side hustles (SH) that we called a part-time job or a business. SH has gone a lot further than the part-time job. According to a 2017 study by Bankrate 44 million Americans have a side business.

According to HRNews in the UK, students mainly set up side hustles as a way to gain experience in a field they are thinking of entering as full-time job and/or are looking to develop entrepreneurial skills. HRNews estimated that 60% of students had a Side Hustle. Learning new skills is the gist of Microsoft's CEO Nadella comment when he said, 'the learn-it-all does better than the know-it-all.”

It takes little investment depending on the product or service you take on, and it's a chance to be creative while earning some extra money. I became a photography hobbyist when I was young. I called it my avocation but over the years the enjoyment of it took over the passion I had for my day job so I turned it into my vocation. The side hustle became more interesting and certainly paid more money than my government job.

My focus is on a side hustle business, one that adds a higher level of income to your day job. I knew some guys who would import a container of ready-to-wear (and expensive) suits from Hong Kong every few months, park it on the side of a city street for a weekend and sell the suits right out of the container at a huge discount. 

My hairstylist would go to auctions and bid on 'sight unseen' boxes. When he returned home he would go through the 'junk' and post them for sale on eBay. Apparently, he made a good living for years selling one-off household items for a couple of bucks and making the money on the shipping and handling charges. 

Side hustles can be anything and they range from aggressive entrepreneur moves to a passive model where you simply do affiliate marketing part-time or invest in real estate. It's passive, yet although you may not be very active at it you make 'money'. A typical SH is where you earn money like a part-time job. 

Warren Buffet once said that you need to figure a way to make money while you sleep, or you'll work till you die. Scary but true!