Have you ever thought about starting a side hustle?
Written by konex on 01 March 2021
Is the salary you receive from your 9-5 job the only source of income you have? No investments? No rental property? Nothing of this nature?
In case you haven’t thought deeply about this topic, we’ll cut to the chase: having multiple sources of income is important. One reason that underlies this importance is the changing landscape of the economy due to the impact of the global pandemic. The overall economic situation has become a lot more unpredictable and layoffs and businesses folding are becoming more frequent.
However, if we can put the pandemic to one side, it’s also simple math. The more income we have, the easier our lives become. More income makes our standard of living more stable, as the income earned could pay off debt or build wealth.
There are many ways to earn passive income and, even though some ways such as owning a rental property may seem unattainable today, you could slowly work towards this goal and build up enough wealth to be able make this investment. However, there are ways that you could get there quicker – especially if you had multiple revenue streams.
In a previous article, we touched on the topic of changing work trends. Millennials in particular tend to aspire towards the life of a freelancer as opposed to traditional careers associated with long-term commitment to a single employer. This is known to many as the “gig economy”. In the US, approximately one third of the working population has a second job. As for Japan, that number is around one in ten, and steadily rising. Many other countries are also moving in this direction, so if you have the time and energy, then it’s worth considering.
You might ask the question, “outside of the extra income earned, why should I look into a second job?” If you like the flexibility to choose your own work hours, or the stability that extra income brings in, that could be enough reason for you. However, if you have aspired to own your business, then a side hustle could be the perfect chance to do so. These days, it is much easier to get started as there are many platforms to help you get underway. Not only that, but starting your business as a side hustle could be a safe way to test your idea to see if it has traction before you quit your job. It could also help you to master a new skill or help you transition into a different field. Have you thought about tutoring over Zoom, creating YouTube tutorials, teaching a language or becoming an Uber driver. These are all viable side hustles, but they all take up a lot of time, the pay may be only so-so, and they are not as scalable as you would like.
It would be better to find a side hustle that utilizes something you already have or can already do. Something where all you would need to do is leverage your social network in order to connect them with hiring companies could be something worth considering. This is because companies are always looking to hire good people, even in a pandemic. If you had a friend that was looking to change jobs, all you would need to do is facilitate this introduction. If this was conducted over the konex platform, then you could earn up to JPY 4000,000 (approximately USD $3,800), and your job seeking friend could also be rewarded as well.
If you could make say two to three successful introductions over a 12-month period, then you would earn USD $7,600 - $11,400, which would be a lot less resource intensive as working a labour intensive second job. Naturally, if you were successful with more introductions, then you could earn more.
What do you think about konex as a side hustle?