A side hustle is an important tool for growing wealth. A side hustle is anything you do to make money that’s outside of your normal job. Side hustles are important for two reasons. The first is obvious, extra income. Clearly extra income will help you on your journey to wealth, assuming you use that extra income to build wealth and not increase your lifestyle.
The second reason side hustles are important goes beyond just an extra $200 per month. Side hustles encourage you to think differently about your income. When you start to train your brain to ways to earn extra money you open up your life to new possibilities. You will stop equating dollars with hours and start seeing the world in a new way.
Often times we have ideas that we know can make money but we don’t follow through because we don’t know where to start, or the project seems to big. You might be thinking, “I love to hike and I think my neighbors would pay for a hiking tour of our area but I don’t know where to start”. The best way to start is to just start. Put out a flyer and see what happens. You don’t have to have a big marketing plan and perfect pricing. Just start. You can make adjustments as you go along. If you charge $5 and 50 people show up then charge $10 next time and see how that changes things. Or if you start at $25 and no one shows up then maybe drop the price and see what happens.
Just about any hobby could be turned into a side hustle. A friend of mine raises chickens and had to pluck 15 chickens last weekend. She didn’t want to do it all herself so she posted in a local forum asking if anyone wanted to come learn how to pluck chickens (I didn’t even know they had forums for such things.) She got such a good response that she ended up charging for a chicken plucking class. Not only did she get all her chickens plucked, she made some money in the process. People PAID to come help her pluck chickens! Crazy.
If she didn’t have a side hustle mentality she would have missed that opportunity. It wouldn’t have ever occurred to her that she could get her chickens plucked for free, let alone get paid for it. The idea that you can get paid outside of a job is an important concept to building wealth. Even if you start a side hustle and it doesn’t work out it’s not a failure because you are practicing a valuable skill. That attempt will pave the road for the next idea.
You never know what opportunities will arise from being out in the world. Your side hustle might turn into your main hustle if you are open to that possibility. I have another friend who started house sitting on the weekends. He started with one client and one referral led to another until he had so many houses to care for that he started hiring people. Now he doesn’t even do the actual house sitting anymore. He takes “orders” and has his employees do the work.
Do you have a side hustle?
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I love my side hustle – blogging. But, I think it’s hard for people to think “side hustle” if they never had to hustle in the first place. There have been times in my life where I’ve head to work 2 or 3 jobs to keep the bills paid. Because I’m willing to work hard and jump right in, side hustling comes naturally to me. Just starting is the hardest part for those who’ve never thought “outside the box.”
I totally agree. Taking on more work initially can be overwhelming. However, if you think about, we often keep ourselves busy with less lucrative activities. How much better would it be to make some extra money on the side?! I have a ton of ideas side hustles. My issue is time.
It’s also a good method to learn something extra that can help with your main job (or two!). It’s how I got into the affiliate biz by running extras on home websites I’d built.
A long time ago, I started my business on the side while I was still working. I invested in income property. The entry into side businesses is much lower now and you can generate good income fairly quickly.
That seems to be the case. Where I see the difficulty is coming up with a realistic and doable plan. You can just start these kinds of things adhoc.
Glad to hear you were successful with your endevour.
I agree with Krants: the barrier of entry into side hustles now seems smaller. I think one reason for this is because we live in the information age, so there is an abundance of info that is readily available.
Agreed. Most things are now at our fingertips. If you need to know something you can easily look it up.
I agree that it is hard to have side hustle mentality when you have never had to hustle in the first place. In the UK it is even worse – any form of hustle used to be ‘sniffed at’ as ‘trade’ without realising that emulating the habits of the gentry may not be such a bright idea after all. We still very much thing in terms of career and emloyment…and that is it. We will have to educate ourselves.
Yes. There is room to learn more about this for sure and in some places side income opportunities are more sought out than in others. Making sure you do your research ahead of time can really pay off later.
I’m increasingly realizing that it’s prudent and smart to diversify your income sources. The recent economic turmoil demonstrates that traditional jobs are far from reliable…plan accordingly.
Absolutely. It is sad to say the least but we need to be proactive in securing income sources. The more diversified you are the better chance you have of sustainability. I guess the same goes for investing.
A side hustle is a great idea…income diversification is being touted more now than ever before. I used to think it was impossible to find something else lucrative that I was good at, other than my day job that is. Blogging has been a great source of extra income for me.
Me too. I have had much more success with my blog than I ever imagined. It hasn’t replaced my income yet but even an extra few hundred a month can make a real difference.
I agree that side hustle can really help you accumulate your wealth. The problem is that many people have hard time coming up with this additional income outside of your main source including me. I tried selling stuff on ebay and it worked out in a small way. It was just taking too much of my time so I stopped. I guess there is no easy way to do this…
There is that saying that good stuff never comes easy and it seems to be true, at least in my experience. Yes, every side hustle will require some work in the beginning but with diligence it should be able to run itself after a while. I know a guy who started a window cleaning business who now has guys working for him and he doesn’t have to work. He has time for other jobs now. It’s great. It just goes to show that it is possible if you are willing to invest in it up front with time and money.
Blogging is my side hustle. I can’t wait for it to become my main hustle
I agree a side hustle might be the extra push to accumulate wealth. The problem is we come with all sort of excuses to not do anything – no time, no extra money and we think about all that can go wrong even before starting anything new. That is one of the reasons I chose blogging, low entry cost.
You are absolutely right. Many of us have this bad habit of talking ourselves out of something before we even try it when really we should just give it a shot. If you can find something with manageable risk, why not give it a try.
I am hoping for blogging to eventually become my main hustle too.
I feel you should start a side hustle because it can be your way to achieve your goals early. Nothing beats starting a side hustle in something you love. then looking up a few years later to realize your side hustle is a serious money maker. I have a few side hustles. Personal Finance, motivational speaking, blogging, and rental properties.
You sound like a pro at this. Good job. I am glad to see you have built in some diversification.
I personally really like landscaping and photography but I just haven’t gotten around to actually turning it into a hustle. I really should just stop making excuses and make it a priority.
Freelance writing has been my side hustle, and it has been much more lucrative to me than blogging even. My hobby and passion for personal finance has also been a driving force to turn something that I love into a future career (striving for my CFP) after I’m done with my first one.
Good for your Hank. It sounds like you have put some direction to make your side hustle happen. I am glad it has focus because this will help you actually make it reality.
I have done some freelance writing and it has paid decent but I just haven’t found enough time to do it enough to make a serious income at it. It is one of my goals though.
Good luck with pursuing your CFP. I know you can do it.
I am always amazed that more people don’t try to find a side hustle. It seems many people are content to work 9 to 5, and think they don’t need to do more than that without realizing what a side hustle can do for their finances. (Even better if the side hustle is something you really enjoy!)
Diversification can really help when it comes to income. It can take that pressure off of going to all limits to keep that corporate job. There are definite benefits to them for sure. I must admit though I haven’t found my niche yet. I really should make it a priority.
Another benefit of starting that side hustle is that it will allow one to become a better worker. People love to talk about the glory of entrepreneurship and how everything that you do should be done with the thought of building that future company, but the truth is that most people are going to spend a large portion of their lives as employees. When one learns to see some of challenges of running a business then it is easier to see how one can be a good employee and help the business run smoother. Being a better employee may not generate an extra hundred million, but it will help with promotions and with that bonus.
Great point. You are totally right. Learning how to manage things on your own and working hard can definitely have it’s benefits when you need to work for someone else down the road. I have never thought about entrepreneurship that way before.
I love how even blogging can be a decent side hustle….. Every little bit helps these days!
Absolutely. It all adds up in the long run. Glad you have enjoyed blogging too. I like the different people I get to meet the most.
Like most of the commenters my side hustle is my blog which has morphed into a few different online ventures. The reason I like them so much is I am home when I am doing them…maybe the wife has a movie on in the background…maybe the kid is taking a nap…etc
I hate when people ask how do you have the time? My question for those people is how don’t you have the time!
http://www.myjourneytomillions.com/articles/do-do-at-night-i-try-make-money/