Newsflash everyone! The future we’ve all been talking about is finally at our doorsteps. Songs have been written about it, tons of Hollywood movies have made attempts to predict it, “welcome to the new age.”

Well, regardless of what the ‘new age’ brings, one thing that hasn’t changed a bit over the years is the pure desire to make money, to spend it, and to make even more and more of it.

That feeling is somewhat immortal and remains unchanged regardless of where you find yourself in the world. With increasing technological advancements, skyrocketing population, and consequently unemployment rates, side hustles and side gig jobs have never been so crucial for survival.

According to a survey by CareerBuilder, 39% of millennials working full-time have launched a side hustle while working at their 9-5 to supplement their income.

They used their side gig income to pay for their passions of starting a new business. With this in mind, this post will review key side hustle factors to consider before venturing into one.

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According to a recent Bankrate survey more than 44 million Americans have a “side hustle, with young adults most likely to pick up a side gig outside their regular job. Unsurprisingly, Women are slightly more likely to have a side hustle than men.

As far as starting a side gig to make money goes, there are millions of ways you can earn money by doing side jobs to support your primary jobs. For many coming across the term for the first time, you probably have a lot of questions on your mind. So what is a side hustle, to begin with, and what are the best side hustles to engage in? Well, you’ve come to the right place for answers.

What is a side hustle?

A side hustle or a side gig is a means of making money that can be done alongside one’s main job or source of income. Side hustles have become increasingly popular in society around the world.

It doesn’t matter what kind of job you do. As long as it doesn’t interfere with your main job, and the income it brings can support your other financial needs then go for it.

There are tons of key side hustle factors to consider if you’re looking to diversify your income stream. According to Robert G. Allen, “In today’s uncertain economy.

The safest solution to be wealthy, maintain total control, and enjoy financial freedom for you and your family is to have multiple streams of income.”
 

Why do you need a side hustle?

Another question many people ask is, why do I really need a side hustle? Good question. Why do you need another income stream when you already have a job? For so many, side gigs provide extra cash to pay off debt or build rainy day savings.

For others, it plays money to buy for things you normally wouldn’t buy with your primary income. For instance, pay for much-needed vacations with the whole family, boost a nest egg so you could retire ten years early, or buy an investment property.

However, before you jump into a side hustle there are key factors to consider to see if there’s the best fit with the existing job.

There are so many factors fuelling the growth of side gigs in the country today including:

• Job stability problem. No matter what country you live in, job stability is not what it once was. One minute you’re gainfully employed, and moments later, you can be unemployed. Having a side gig gives you something to fall back on.

 

• Venturing into a side hustle open new doors to different career opportunities. Working in the same job for years becomes a boring routine therefore a side job offers new experience and opportunities

 

• Undeniable Need For More Money. Nobody is ever satisfied with the money on hand right now, not even the chief executive officer and president of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. The need for more money to feel secure in life is unquenchable to many also build up savings for a rainy day.

 

• The allure of earning a decent living while working on a side gig from home without compromising any aspect of your personal needs and lifestyle.

 

• The fact that you don’t need to worry much about “experience” as you would in a cooperate setting. You can start a side hustle job as a customer service representative with limited experience, unlike a corporate job.

 

 

Types of side gigs to pursue

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Now here’s the tricky part. There are tons of side-gig ideas and side gig jobs to choose from, so how do you know which one to delve into? Well, we’ve compiled a list of the possible side gigs you can consider starting:

• Side Gigs Online. The internet has opened another dimension for people to earn a living from the comfort of their homes.

You could sell your skills on freelance websites, become an online tutor, work as a social media influencer, or manage a blog, and earn some extra cash.

• Photography Side Hustle. Are you passionate about the arts? Do you enjoy taking pictures of your buddies kicking around or family? You don’t need an expensive camera to start a photography side gig as iPhone and Samsung phones have amazing cameras. From the start specialize in a specific area like family portraits or weddings.

• Side Gigs From Home. The essence of a side hustle is to earn money without the constraints of a regular daytime office job. Managing a blog, working as a website developer, programmer, graphics designer, recording voice-overs, transcription, and many other jobs can be done from the comfort of your home.

• Tour Guide Side Hustle. Do you live in a city with famous galleries, historic museums, waterfalls, national parks that attract tons of tourists? Consider offering your services as a tour guide to tourists. All you need is strong communication skills, enthusiasm, humor, be personable, outgoing, and strong knowledge of the area. Set up a website or an Instagram profile to promote your services or link up with the department of tourism in your city for cross-promotion.

• Side Gig For Teachers. Teachers can easily take their skills online and give video tutorials on websites like Vipkid, Udemy and Lynda .There are so many kids from countries like China looking to learn english online.

• Side Gigs For Mom At Home. A stay-at-home Mom doesn’t have to be just a stay-at-home Mom. There are tons of things you can do to earn money, such as selling on Amazon, flipping blogs, work as a virtual assistant, running an E-Commerce store, babysitting, tutoring, etc.

• Real Estate Side Hustles. Real estate is a career that is relatively flexible and you can customize your working hours to meet your needs. You can easily acquire a real estate license and become a realtor part-time. Most buyers work anyways so they’re available for viewing after working hours and on weekends. This career is pretty flexible to do around your primary gig.

• Service Industry Side Job. The service industry is a broad sector with lots of part-time job opportunities. In the current economy, you could find a part-time gig anytime around the clock. Many service industry side hustles mostly require excellent customer service and communication skills, for instance, call center representative, sales representative, Lyft, Uber or skip the dishes delivery drivers.

• Care Giving. Are you compassionate with strong communication skills and you like caring for others? Then consider a side gig idea as a caregiver for the elderly. As the population of baby boomers increases. It provides plenty of side hustle opportunities to take care of the elderly needing help with activities of daily living.
 

 

Related

• Gig Economy Side Hustles: Best Work from Home Jobs to Make Extra Income
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Key factors to consider before committing to a side hustle

Now here’s the most crucial part. There are so many tasty side gig ideas to choose from that one may end up lost at sea if not properly guided. Well, we’ve done some research, and here are the key factors to consider and questions to ask yourself before committing to a particular side hustle.

• Does It Require Extra Training or Certification? Starting a side hustle may seem pretty straightforward, but some side gig ideas require more training or professional certification before you can begin selling.

Example of such gigs includes graphic design and animation, coding, web design, and technical gigs. So ask yourself, does the side gig you’re considering require you to get more training?
 
• Do I Have Enough Time and Energy To Handle The Task Required? While recording voice-overs and blogging may seem to take little time and energy to do, others like going into real estate, junk removal, becoming an Uber driver, package delivery, and pet sitting will require much more time and energy.
 
• Is My Skill Set Right For This Gig? Most importantly, do you feel that your current skill set is appropriate for the side gig you’re about to choose? There’s no point in doing the extra job if you don’t even have the required knowledge to guarantee success.
 
• How Much Effort Does It Require? An analysis of how much effort the side hustle requires to be a successful income source is necessary. Be certain if it requires 24 hours of attention, or you can simply do the work a few hours weekly.

You will need to factor in the time required to decompress and for your body to recover after putting in 60-70 hours of working every week.

• Does The Pay Justify The Effort? It’s okay if you’re taking on a side hustle solely for the money. But ask yourself, does the amount of money you get from it justify the effort you’re putting into it? If your answer is No, then it isn’t worth pursuing it.

• Does It Require Overnight Travel? Starting a side gig as a travel blogger will be impossible for someone with a full-time office job. So if the side gig you wish to pursue requires you to travel overnight and go to your full-time job late, it will only get you fired.

• Do You Enjoy The Work or Not? When considering starting a side hustle, it’s important to be brutally honest with yourself. Do you really enjoy the work you’re doing or not? It might not matter now, but in the long run, doing a side gig you don’t enjoy will take its toll on you, especially if it’s a stressful gig. A key factor for a side hustle to consider seriously.

• Is There an Overlap Between The Jobs, Time-wise? A side hustle is no longer serving its purpose if the time allocated to doing it overlaps with your primary job. This can get you in trouble or even fired from your main gig.

• Get A Greenlight From Your Employer Before Taking On Another Job. Have you discussed your side gig idea with your current employer? Did you tell them your intentions and got the go-ahead?

Your employer may be uncomfortable for you to work for the company you wish to work for due to conflict of interest or fear of passing trade secrets. This is a key side hustle factor to consider right before you accept the employment offer.

• Does It Open Up For You To Pursue Your Passion? Let’s be real, side hustles are usually more satisfying when they’re in line with your passion. Passion drives generate enthusiasm. So before you start a side gig, be sure that it allows you the chance to explore your passion fully.

• Does It Work With Your Present Life And Schedule? Is the side hustle you’re considering able to coexist with your daily 9-5 job schedule? Is the schedule flexible to accommodate your main job?

• Is There a Conflict Of Interest With Your Present Job? Even the best side hustles aren’t worth it if focusing your time and energy on it involves working against your main job or source of income.
 
 
Related side hustle post: 13 Legit Work From Home Jobs to Earn Extra Cash in 2020
 

Upsides of taking a side hustle

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Now that you’ve considered all the factors necessary before choosing a side hustle, congratulations! You’re well on your way to earning extra cash and becoming financially secure. Here are some of the amazing benefits of having a side hustle.

• Offers More Disposable Income. Imagine having extra cash to spend after-tax deduction and other mandatory charges. Having a side hustle increases your family’s disposable income to either save or spend on things that the income of the primary job can’t by itself.

 

• Opportunity To Meet New People. Your side hustle opens up new opportunities for meeting and dealing with your customers on a personal level, sometimes people from a completely different country.

 

• Expand Job Skills. Interested in starting a side hustle in which you don’t have the required skills? Then side hustles prompt people to expand their skills by enrolling in training classes and taking up online courses.

 

• Improve Multi-tasking skills. Picking up a side hustle and juggling it with a regular 9-5 job will help you improve on your multi-tasking skills.

 

• Multiple Sources Of Income. There’s no better feeling than having multiple income streams and always having something to fall back to whenever your main job hits rock-bottom.

 

• Test Yourself In New Light and Build Skills. Test your adaptability skills by trying a new side hustle that’s completely unrelated to your primary job. In that way, you’ll be exposed to change and build self-value with new skills.

 

Related side gig ideasMompreneur Lifestyle: 12 Best Business Ideas to Start Today
 

Downsides of taking a side gig

Everything with upsides definitely has downsides, and starting a side gig to make money is certainly no exception. Here are some disadvantages to starting a side gig.

• Side Gigs Affect your self-Care and Bring feelings of isolation. Most people who pick up coding, programming, and related technical jobs end up spending hours glued to the screens and isolating themselves. Try a coworking space to give you the needed change and scenery.

 

• Can Be Overwhelming. Working as a freelancer on popular websites like Fiverr and Upwork can become overwhelming when you have so many orders to complete and so little time to do.

 

• This comes from the overwhelming nature of the side hustle. When it gets tough, it could affect your performance in your main job if you’re not getting enough rest.

 

• Not getting enough rest from working extensively on your side hustle can significantly increase stress on your family. Many marriages have been destroyed because the couple grew apart.

 

Conclusion to key side hustle factors to consider

There you have it, all the things to consider before committing to a side hustle made available to you right at your fingertips. After all, it is said and done, it’s not all about making money.

The key side hustle factor to consider remains – choose an option that is flexible and offers enough hours around your main gig. Side hustles are perfect for a stay at home mom, techies, college students, and single moms.

Find a side gig that allows you to take time off so you can spend time with your family, not too stressful and that doesn’t require out-of-town travel. So what are you waiting for?

Become financially free today and unshackle the chains of your regular job by supporting it with a side hustle.

 
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