Where can I find some side hustles?!

The interwebs are well known for cheesy Americanised side hustle ideas. Some of these include:

• Dropshipping – which would’ve worked if we had an okay post office or amazon shipping here
• Starting a blog – because anyone can turn an opinion into money
• Shopify – which we fully trust the post office and other money-making fees payable due to red tape in SA.
• Sell your life on eBay

I want to look in a different direction – what side hustles could work for you in a South African context? I would like to add a few disclaimers –

I don’t endorse any companies here, and I wouldn’t get paid for anything like that from this post. I do think that some of these are worth a bit of investigation.

I also perceive loads of people asking for some of these services on some groups on Facebook, like ‘I know a guy’ and ‘Eks van die ooste’ in Pretoria, which leads me to the conclusion there’s a need for some of these things.

Remember to work out some profitability on these!

Let’s get hustling

Foodie hustles

• Frozen dinners – This is an economy of scale thing. The more you make, the cheaper it will be. It’s also fiercely competitive, thus I suggest get a niche. Note that this idea might take quite some time to get off the ground!
• Baking pastries and other goodies – people do want their cake and eat it

Property hustles (some capital needed)

• Rental property – This is a bit more long term, but can pay off owning one of these babies.
• Fixing up properties – Often you can pick up a really old property for an okay rate and then fix it up and or rent it out, or sell it.

Training hustles

• Many industries in South Africa require trained people to do work. Think IT, graphic design, accounting, BUDGETING and so forth. This is a great opportunity to teach people what you know
• Consulting and training people with your skill – As a mobile developer, it’s a cool skill to teach other people (Note to self, maybe I should start a mobile app team development programme in Johannesburg)

Tourism hustles

• Airbnb a room out – yeah, I hope you’re in the perfect spot!
• Do experiences for people – I recently saw people offering their servicer on AirBnB for food tours, surfing, safari tours etc. easy money for an afternoon of doing what you love

Artsy hustles

• Graphic design services – These days anybody can do a logo or a business card
• Photography – offer services on groups on Facebook and to friends and family
• Web design and marketing
• Social media marketing on the side – post updates for your clients, monitor their pages and give them a report with suggestions every month.

Other (Possible) ideas

• Herbalife, Avon or other HELPFUL MLM companies – People do use their products and want to buy it. Why not become a distributor? Note – though not a fan, I can see the value of these ‘solutions’. I do recommend buying into something useful, not trinkets or odds and ends.
• Specialist products – if you are a specialist in some area, such as jewellery, precious stones, collectable banknotes or antiques – this might be an opportunity to resell products. Note – this is not for clueless people like me, you might lose loads if you don’t know what you’re doing.

 

Conclusion

These are just a few ideas I have. I oftentimes think the ideas are not the issue – it’s the implementation of things. People read things but they don’t do things.

Also, remember that these are loose thoughts and not financial advice – not that most sideline businesses don’t make any money within the first two years.

As in personal finance and frugality – saving R 10 will not make a difference. But saving R 10 repeatedly will make a large difference in the long run. It’s the same with a side hustle – it might be low impact right now, but if you continue and slowly grow it, it might give you some handsome returns!