What Is Start Your Side Hustle & Why Did We Start It?
When I graduated from university in 2013, I didn’t really think about what I wanted to do or who I wanted to be. That’s something you have to figure out real fast once you’re wearing grown up pants. I, like many others went for whatever job I could find, and didn’t think much of it.
Over time, I was getting frustrated with work and needed a change. Initially I was told that you just have to “live with it” or this is a millennial problem but that did not seem like a solid argument to me.
I spoke about this openly and was surprised to find many people feeling the same way. It felt reassuring to know this was a problem bigger than me, and it got me inspired to learn what others were facing and how they solved it. So I did what any inspired person would do, I googled the sh*t out of it.
What came out of my research was HUGE. Job & workplace dissatisfaction is a massive problem in many areas of the world. People hate their jobs for a multitude of reasons, but these 3 are the most common.
- Job Flexibility: The 9–5 work life is clearly stone age. People want to have a greater control of their time and work-life balance.
- Financial Wellbeing: Income is not increasing as fast as expenses are. Big life events (a marriage, baby or home) usually cost quite a bit. A majority of people called personal finances their biggest cause of stress in 2018.
- Meaningful Work: The industrial age is over. People expect to receive something more from their jobs than a paycheque. In fact 9 out of 10 people are willing to earn less money to do more meaningful work.
In short, research and studies done by a myriad of companies like this one have pointed out that change is now necessary. The graphic below rates countries where employees are really thriving.
The problem has gotten popular enough to be dissected and featured on Forbes, Harvard Business Review & The New York Times. One of the fastest growing solutions that more and more frustrated people have been getting on board with is the gig economy. Side gigs or the more popular term, side hustles are jobs and small businesses that offer you a supplemental income while you still keep your day job.
Freelancing, part time jobs, starting a business on the side, weekend temp work are all part of the gig economy. A recent report by the gig economy index estimated that people with side hustles and side gigs contributed more than $1.4 trillion of the total US income and that’s just one country..
What Got Me Into Side Hustles?
I’m the kind of guy that asks “How” or “Why?” when I learn about something. Once I learnt about the gig economy and making money on the side, I studied people with successful side hustles and mirrored what they did. This was in 2014 and the goal was to try out one of their strategies to see if it actually works. One thing I learnt quite easily was buying things and flipping them for a profit.
I immediately started flipping products in industrial markets around Dubai for quick cash. I got really good at it with automotive products. After a few really lucrative months of flipping, I learnt the basics of Digital Marketing and convinced an events company to pay me a monthly salary for handling their ads! Soon after a friend and I teamed up to launch a few more side hustles including a creative event with some award winning speakers & a digital consultancy that grew to 18 clients in 12 months!
We’ve had so much fun starting things on the side that We now teach people how to!
After working with more than a few startups, small businesses and people; we’ve built an online course that takes you from idea to order without any fluff. There’s no magic here. This is not a “get rich quick” scheme, in fact it’s the opposite. It requires time and commitment especially in the initial months. But once you get it up and running, you’re likely to create a side income on something you enjoy without losing your weekends.
Is it too good to be true? You can be the judge of that.
If you have questions, feel free to reach out to me at hello@startyoursidehustle.co or comment below!
