A side hustle is an entrepreneurial venture you undertake outside your normal day job so as to earn you some money. Side hustles can be done out of necessity or entertainment.
Due to Covid 19 pandemic, most people lost their jobs. Which has caused a loss of their income and leading to depression. The pandemic taught us the benefits of having more than one source of income. Relying fully on one job is one step from falling to poverty.
Having different sources of income not only provides one financial security and freedom, it also enables one to pay their debts. It also prevents them from getting in any other debts. It further ensures economic growth and family stability. Also, it enables you to buy things you need or want.
Side hustles gained popularity in Kenya and the world with the breakout of the Covid 19 disease. Many people had to look for work elsewhere or engage in different economic activities provided it earned them some money.
With the growth in economy and people’s salaries still the same, it is becoming difficult for day jobs to accommodate the rent, food bills, transportation and even school fees for kids. There is an increase in peoples needs with the resources to fulfill them being limited. Therefore side hustles provide a solution to these problems.
Home side jobs are preferred because they are flexible and save on costs like transportation or parking fee required to get to these places.
The best side hustles for beginners include:
1.Waitress/Bartender
Many young professionals including students have embraced waitressing to earn them some cash. Most of these alcohol brands hire young energetic people to advertise and market their products in clubs or at events. They hire young people to do the activation.This side hustle can earn you ksh2000 per day.
These jobs are very flexible for college students as most of these activation’s take place on the weekend. They therefore don’t interfere with your classwork and enables you to earn money to sustain you through the coming week.
2.Selling accessories and clothes as a job
Kenyans know Gikomba as the place you can access all the clothes you need. Many people buy these clothes in bulk and then hawk them around either in campuses or estates to sell them to people.
The clothes are desired by most Kenyans as they are unique and affordable. This side hustle is guaranteed to earn you some money as not everyone has the time to go and purchase the clothes themselves.
In addition, there is online shopping where you don’t need to hawk the clothes. Instead, you can post good pictures of the clothes you want to sell. Also provide the mode of delivery and payment with a good description of them.
Online selling is very convenient and allows you to earn extra with little sweat or struggle. You can use Jumia to sell your items.
3.Event planning
Events happen on a daily basis even with the ongoing pandemic. There are always wedding celebration, birthday, graduation, funerals, work parties that take place on a daily. These functions require expertise of event planners to enable a successful event.
As an entrepreneur with services such as catering, tent provision, decorating, entertainment, investing in event planning is a wise idea guaranteed to earn you some extra cash.
In Kenya this side hustle can enable you earn an average of Ksh 20,000 per event.
4.Freelancing Side Hustle
Freelancer is a person hired to offer some services for short duration of time. You work independently without any connection to the business or organization. Freelancers work under contract basis and have the freedom to choose which tasks you can offer or organizations you can work for.
With introduction of new jobs and growth in different fields such as design, writing, data entry and many more freelancing is on the rise.
Freelancing requires some specialization or skills in particular subject before one can get the job. A person with the skills and experience required for the job can therefore go ahead and do this side hustle.
Your skills can determine how much you earn. Payment is also done once one has completed the task or per project.
5.Blogging
People are always in need of information concerning particular issues such as politics, religion, education, traveling, food, fashion, wildlife among others. You can therefore choose a topic you are passionate about and start blogging about it.
To grow traffic to your blog, you can share it to your friends through social media apps like Facebook, Whats App, Instagram, twitter and linked it among others.
Maintaining consistency on this blog by constantly developing relevant and involving content will ensure your readers keep coming for more.
With an increase in traffic, you can then monetize your blog by placing ads and even selling your own products through your blog.
Ads and sponsorship and the general blog will earn you some extra money making it a desirable side hustle. If you need tips on blogging just click here.
6.Online Tutoring As A Side Hustle
Education was abruptly cut short with the Covid 19 pandemic. To ensure continuity of education, Online tutoring came into play. It involves imparting knowledge to students via the internet.
If you are a teacher or you have the necessary skills, then you can coach students on a one on one basis and get paid. This is flexible because you together with the student agree on the best time that works for both of you.
Payment agreement is also negotiated between both of you and as a tutor you have more say on how much you get paid for your services.
7.Affiliate Marketing Jobs
For people who have managed to create social media accounts and generated a huge following on these platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, twitter as well as your blog, you can create partnership with different top brands and advertise their products and get paid.
By also providing honest opinion about the brands enables your followers to view you as credible and even purchase those products. When they make buy, you automatically earn your cut.
For those with blogs they can use their email list to do this. They contact the target audience and advertise your product through email.
8.Taxi business
If you have a driving license and a car, you can easily register it at Taxify or Uber. By using your own car. The commission you pay to these brands will be little and they will also offer you customers/clients who are in need of your services.
The more the customers you serve the higher your income. This side hustle is recommended for people who have cars and at times don’t even use them.
9.Cleaning services
Most people are busy with their work they barely have time to clean. These people are likely to hire you to perform cleaning services for them. If you have freedom, then you can make a schedule that works for both you and your client.
You can arrange to do it on the weekends when both of you are free and available.You therefore earn easily from this side hustle once the job is done.
10.Sell your photography as a side job
If you have camera and Photoshop skills then this can become your side hustle. You can take pictures of different things like people, your city, farms, local vegetable gardens and sell these to local publications or even a blog.
Sites like Foap allows you to sell pictures on its platform and make money with every photo you sell. You can also be creative and add your pictures to T-shirts, hoodies, bags and canvas and sell them.
Conclusion
Side hustles can help you make extra money and help you develop new skills and build your personal brand. It is therefore recommended to take a risk and start a side hustle.
Thank you for the article. I find it quite interesting.
This is a really good piece. Quite informative. First time I’m hearing about Foap.