10 Side Hustles to Earn Extra Income in Nigeria
Having a side hustle in Nigeria is the norm, as it is uncommon to see an individual without a side job alongside their main job or business. Infact 88% of Nigerians are self employed either in a side hustle or business of their own.
However, over time, the side hustles that people engage in have changed from traditional jobs to digital gigs that are more financially rewarding.
When choosing a side hustle, you need to go for low-hanging fruits; that is, work you can easily do without affecting your main source of income. A good place to start is to assess your natural skills and talents to uncover what you already have in your hands that can be turned into gold.
In this article, we examine the top 10 side hustles you can engage in to earn extra income in Nigeria, to rise above inflation, and increase your earnings.
Top 10 Side Hustles You Can Start Today
Here are some of the top side hustles individuals engage in to earn extra cash and combat the rising costs of living, inflation, and other financial difficulties in Nigeria.
1. Virtual Assistance
Virtual assistants are online Personal Assistants who help individuals with their day-to-day work. They do administrative work for their clients such as schedule management, calendar management, travel itinerary planning, and general research.
As a virtual assistant, you work remotely with your clients and can work with as many clients as you can handle and get paid lucratively.
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2. Freelance Writing
Freelance writing is another lucrative side hustle you can use to earn steady money if you’re good at it. Ranging from articles, blog posts, marketing copy, and short ebooks, freelance writing is in much demand by both individuals and businesses to communicate with their target audience. It is not a cost-effective side hustle, as you can use your phone if you don’t own a laptop yet.
To get started, search job boards or freelance marketing platforms like Upwork and Fiverr for gigs. With proper time and schedule management, you can merge freelance writing with your main job without hassle.
3. Social Media Management
With the rise of digital marketing, social media management has become widely demanded by businesses for selling online, increasing brand awareness, and online visibility in their niche. So, if you are good at this, you can make it into a steady source of extra income.
To succeed as a social media manager, you need to know how to create content and understand how various social media platforms work. Before getting your first gig, you can start experimenting with your personal social media pages to serve as your portfolio, then talk about how you can help other businesses online manage their social media profiles. This will help you build your reputation and experience which will aid in landing your first paid gig. You can get paid social media gigs on LinkedIn, Fiverr, Terawork, etc.
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4. CV Writing
With the rate of job competitiveness, it takes extra effort to stand out to a potential employer, and having a quality CV can help achieve that, which makes CV writing a lucrative side gig. You can also add cover letter writing as an added service for additional revenue generation.
All you need to start is a phone or laptop, then you can start telling people around you and on social media about your services to attract customers.
5. Online Tutoring
If you are good at a subject or field of study, online tutoring can be a way to make extra cash aside from your main job. With many secondary school and university students needing extra help with school work, assignments, projects, etc. you can be an online tutor teaching multiple students and helping them ace their academics.
To start this side hustle, there are a lot of online tutoring websites you can apply to to get paired with students and start earning. You can decide with your student on a schedule that works, helping you manage your main job and side hustle efficiently.
6. Graphic Designing
Companies of all sizes need stunning graphic designs for social media, event flyers, brand communications, and more, making graphic designing a side hustle option you can pursue as a creative person.
To get started as a graphic designer, you can learn on platforms like Udemy, Coursera, etc, and begin to practice with tools such as Canva and Adobe Photoshop. Afterward, build your portfolio by either volunteering to create graphic designs for people or experimenting with personal projects. Then build a portfolio on a platform like Behance to showcase your work and start applying for paid gigs.
7. Handmade crafts
If you possess skills like bead making, crocheting, leather works, etc, that is a goldmine you can tap into to make money. With people loving handmade products because of their unique designs and quality, you can create a sustainable side hustle from this skill that can grow into a full-time job.
First, start making products with whatever handmade skill you possess, then post on social media to attract customers who love these types of products. And while it may not be rosy at the beginning, with consistency and diligence, people will come to appreciate your craft and pay for it.
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8. Affiliate marketing
I am sure you’ve used financial applications where they asked you to refer a friend to use the app with your referral code to earn extra cash. Affiliate marketing works similarly. With affiliate marketing, you are required to sell a product to someone else and receive commissions based on how much you can sell.
To win at affiliate marketing, you need good marketing and sales skills to convince people to buy a product/service using your affiliate link. With a mobile phone and access to the Internet, you can sell to a wide group of individuals interested in the product and make good money based on the commissions agreed upon with the seller.
9. Online Coaching Services
If you have specialized knowledge in a field of study and can teach people, you can join the billion-dollar coaching industry to make good money.
Whether it’s a life skill, such as parenting, productivity, emotional healing, etc., or digital skills such as content writing and graphic designing, you can make money by coaching others and impacting them with your knowledge.
10. Event Planning
If you’re highly organized and have an eye for details, you can start a side hustle as an event planner for weddings, birthdays, naming ceremonies and other kinds of events. Nigerians love to party, making event planning a lucrative side hustle that can fetch you a lot of money.
To start, volunteer to plan events for family and friends or work as an intern under an established name in the industry to sharpen your skills and build your reputation as an event planner.
All you need to start your side hustle
Side hustles are in different categories such as skill-based, service-based, creative-based, etc. Whichever side you choose to build from, it all depends on the skills you possess and your interests. So, assess your skills and capabilities to know what you already have in your hands that can fetch you money.
At Triift Africa, we make it easy for you to start a side hustle and grow it into a booming business, enabling you to leave your 9-5 to focus full-time on the business.
With access to our business resources and community, you get access to expert insights on how to manage and scale a business without breaking a sweat.
Ready to start that side hustle but confused about where to start? Book a session with us to get clear-cut insights that will elevate your business mindset and point you in the right direction.
