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In today’s gig economy, career paths are varied. Thanks to technology, people are more empowered and enabled to market their skills and products to audiences around the world.
As a result, many working professionals are turning to side hustles to pursue a passion or hobby, and gain a better work-life balance, as well as a healthier bank account.
A side hustle is essentially a way to make money outside of your 9-to-5 job or main employment arrangement, providing you with additional income.
Many use this extra cash to pay off debt, save for a big-ticket purchase or to boost savings. And because you decide when to do it, the flexibility and freedom of a side hustle allows you to work at your leisure.
Keen to make some extra income in your spare time? Here are seven side hustle ideas you can follow to get that cash flow going.
Teaching is one of the biggest side hustles Australians benefit from. Whether it’s tutoring a university student, teaching conversational English to non-English speakers, or instructing skills like cooking, art or music, many professionals find it easy to pick up a few students on the side.
One-on-one or small group teaching can be quite well paid, you can do it from home (either online or face-to-face), or meet people at their homes, or around your neighbourhood. All you have to do is market your educational offerings on social media and other online platforms. Otherwise, if you are targeting locals, you can create flyers or posters for the old-fashioned analogue mailbox drop or noticeboard display. It all depends on your audience and how they will be able to find you to be able to learn that new skill.
Are you handy with arts and crafts? Perhaps you’re great at home-brewing or jam-making. Maybe you’re a 3D printing aficionado with a cool idea. You could be a crafter creating the latest décor trend in your own special style, or a carpenter, toymaker, furniture up-cycler. The possibilities are endless.
If you create a product you enjoy making, not only can it be a fun, creative and relaxing way to unwind, you can also get paid well to do it.
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Perhaps the easiest side hustle jobs you can get paid for are found by joining platforms like Uber, Airtasker or Airbnb. The barriers to entry here are relatively low (though you will need to pass certain criteria), you set your hours and availability, and you often don’t need any specialised skills. All you need to do is sign up and get verified, and often the jobs or customers will come to you.
It’s also a great way to meet new people you otherwise wouldn’t. Whether they are travellers staying in your home or passengers in the back of your car, you never know who you might connect with and what opportunities that might spark.
Another easy way to get a side hustle is to be a freelancer on the side. Many people take on freelance work in their own field, such as side hustle accounting or marketing for independent clients. You’ll have to ensure there’s no conflict of interest with your employer. Typically, if you’re chasing a different type of client, you shouldn’t have a problem doing just a little more of what you already do.
Of course, you don’t have to sell a service that’s related to your career. You can also sell a service that is entirely different and be a great way of challenging yourself, as well as keeping old skills sharp or learning new ones.
Do you know something most people don’t? Whether it’s related to your career – like a specific skill or how to get hired – or something very niche or specific, if you’ve got useful knowledge that has a demand, you can sell it by packaging it up in a book, creating a course, or making entertaining YouTube videos. This might be anything from how to cook to knowledge about a specific period in history. Other ideas include fitness courses, makeup tutorials or how to invest.
Unless you’re bound to a non-compete clause with your employer, there’s no reason why you can’t start using your expertise to take on freelance jobs in your field on the side.
One bonus to this approach is that you already have the skills needed to get started, and you might even have people in your existing network who are looking for support on a freelance basis.
If you're comfortable with taking on a little risk, investing in shares can be a great way to make extra income, when you earn a profit by selling shares for a higher price than you paid for them. Some companies also pay a percentage of their profits to shareholders every year, which means you can make passive income at regular intervals.
Whatever your passion, there are plenty of ways to earn some extra cash with a side hustle.
But if you’re looking for a higher salary in permanent or temporary capacity, talk to a Michael Page recruitment consultant about opportunities in your field.
