The Side Hustle Boom

What is a side hustle and how common are they?

A term that has fully entered the common lexicon in recent years is side hustle. It’s been in usage occasionally since the 1950s, but since 2010 it’s entered our everyday vocabulary and the reason is obvious — huge numbers of people are doing it now.

In 2021 the Bank of America did a survey and found that 62% of Gen Z and 56% of millennials have started some kind of side hustle, or separate income stream, since the pandemic began. Largely to supplement the income they already get, or just to give themselves a little extra spending money, young people across America and the World are increasingly seeing the earnings of a standard day-to-day as insufficient.

Some people have made money from rental/sharing services, others from resale marketplaces. But the biggest chunk (41%) have used an existing hobby to earn extra money. It’s interesting, but we’re not surprised — it’s something we’ve seen time and time again on The AnyTask™ Platform. Many of the talented freelance Sellers on the platform started out doing it for fun. They got interested in video editing, or graphic design, or creative writing — and before long they realised that they were good at it, and other people needed their services.

There are, of course, sellers that freelance as their main or full time income. But a large chunk are hard-working side-hustlers, increasing their disposable income and improving their quality of life by selling their skills on AnyTask.com.

For some, the side hustle has offered them a way to get out of a career they didn’t like. For example, designer anupkumarsarker.

“I started out as a freelancer after graduating from university and then found a full-time job, dropping all my freelance work at the time. After a year or so, I hated the full-time work, so I gave two weeks’ notice, and left. I started freelancing again with no transition.”

Having the side hustle as an avenue to earn money meant Anup could quit a job and start freelancing with no hassle.

Anup particularly likes freelancing on The AnyTask ™ Platform because we don’t charge freelancers fees, and they get paid right away. “…The AnyTask ™ Platform sends my payment instantly when my order was complete via cryptocurrency (ETN).”

Some freelancers on our platform had a hobby, that turned into a side hustle, and eventually turned into their main source of income. Take jyoti360. She’s a talented WordPress developer, and for her it started as a fun hobby. “I started learning making website as a hobby. Then I think to make money with my hobby.” She is a student, and makes all her income from selling her coding skills on AnyTask.com.

Or Sikiru, who writes copy under the username bestcopywriter. Sikiru took a gradual approach to converting a side hustle into a full time career:

“I started freelancing as a side hustle. When I originally started 6 years ago, I had a difficult time moving from regular work to freelancing full time. At first, it was quite difficult to stay focused and effectively manage my time. As a result, I had to take things slowly before I was truly able to dedicate full-time. I worked part-time for several years, and I am glad of that because it helped me understand my working habits. I was able to gain a better understanding of my body and discovered when I was most productive. I learnt how to concentrate on tasks at hand and prioritise work despite a lot of distractions and I was able to create work environments that allowed me to be more productive. It wasn’t a simple task, I made numerous mistakes, but I’m glad I went through that because it helped me become better at what I do. Now, working as a freelancer gives me the freedom to work from home and at my convenient time.”

For Sikiru, like Anup, AnyTask.com is the best platform out there due to the lack of freelancer fees: the “AnyTask ™ Platform is unique among other freelancing platforms because they allow me to keep 100% of the money I earn through the rendered services on their platform.”

There are lots of different ways to approach and make the most of a side hustle. For some it’s a monetised hobby. For others it represents the potential to work for themselves, on their own terms, full time.

Why Do So Many People Have Side Hustles?

It’s no secret that real earnings have stagnated for many people across the world in the last two decades. Since the financial crisis, earnings have stalled for workers. In the UK real wages are expected to be lower in 2026 than they were in 2008. In the US, the minimum wage has not changed since 2009. For people who don’t have major appreciating assets like property, who tend to be younger, that can be frustrating. So it’s not really a surprise that so many people, especially younger people, are looking at ways of working for themselves and earning an extra income. And this has only accelerated through the pandemic — new business formation rose 42% in the US in 2021.

And not only does a side hustle give you more income — it gives you more confidence and bargaining power. If you know that you’re able to earn a good income outside your main job, the next time you have a discussion about a raise you’ll be in a much better position to insist. If they don’t give you the raise you want, you can leave and use the side hustle income to tide you over until the right role comes around.

Should employers be worried?

As this article in Forbes suggests, side hustles don’t necessarily detract from full time job performance. Research indicates that having a side hustle improves energy, happiness and overall well-being — which also has a positive impact on job performance. ​ It gives people a sense of independence and empowerment which they actually carry through into their day job.

And we’d encourage employers to think about this the other way, too. The boom in side hustling can not only help your employee productivity, but also give you access to vast quantities of potential freelancers who can support your business without incurring the costs associated with full time employment such as tax, benefits etc.

How to start a side hustle

The great thing about starting a side hustle is there’s no pressure. You don’t have to, and you shouldn’t expect to, succeed the first time. You can try out driving for a ride-hailing app, or start buying and selling on Facebook marketplace, or building an ecommerce business. Or, you can take a look at what you already do for a hobby and find ways to monetise it.

Take a look at the categories on AnyTask.com. There are so many ways people have used the platform to turn a hobby into a side hustle — maybe you could do too. ​ And if you need help getting started, maybe the Sellers on AnyTask.com could give you a hand with Tasks ranging from Graphic Design to Video Editing. Make it happen with AnyTask.com.

Originally published at https://news.anytask.com on February 25, 2022.