There’s no way to get around it—raising a child is extremely expensive, and is only likely to cost more. How much more? To put things in perspective, raising a child born in 2015 will cost your average married, middle-income couple roughly $233,610 from the time they are born to age 17. And to think, this isn’t even including the cost of college, which is at an all-time high. Many parents will work as hard as they can to try and keep things going, but sometimes, it’s important to be creative as well. There’s a growing amount of parents out there creating “side hustles” so they can have two sources of income coming in at the same time. Here’s how to set one up for yourself.
It bears mentioning that there are different side-hustles out there, able to match any tier of effort. In some cases, like stay-at-home-moms, you may need something flexible that you can start or stop as time allows and work remotely. Freelancing is an example of something that you can do from home a lot of the time, especially for writing or graphic design. The nice thing about this as a side hustle as you can take or pass on projects as your time requires.
In other cases, you may want to do something more formal as a side hustle, like starting a business. A lot of the time, the root of a side hustle, like any business, is attending to a certain need. According to https://amazoncleaning.net/, a maid service in Atlanta, “One of the biggest culprits for dust catchers are bedrooms, and for this reason, many homeowners vacuum their entire homes every day. But if this is you, you might be overworking yourself. Many cleaning experts agree that focusing on vacuuming high traffic areas alone is sufficient to maintain daily dust and dirt. Rooms that are not typically used such as guest bedrooms need only to be vacuumed once per week. Doormats are also helpful in keeping dirt in its place. Make sure to shake them out periodically!
A common ‘dirt magnet’ in bedrooms is the very thing you put your face on every night – pillows. And the buildup of sweat and skin cells can be quite nasty! Give them a lift by throwing them in the washer and a thorough drying in the dryer. Any moisture left behind can collect mold, so test its dryness by inhaling into the pillow.” What does all this mean? That there are a lot of people out there who may know the basics of getting things clean, but still could use another tier of service. If you were to run a cleaning service of your own, this is a potentially great opportunity. These days, two parents working at some level is rapidly becoming the norm. This should be your target audience.
How do you get started with this as a side hustle? After you find a need that you want to address, you’re going to want to establish an online presence of some sort for yourself before putting together a business plan. The good thing about a side hustle versus just running your own business is that you have a little financial wiggle room if things don’t work out—but you still want to be careful how much you invest.
At some point, you may find yourself in a situation where doing something more with your side hustle is tempting. Should you leave your job and try to make money with this full-time? While that’s a dream for a lot of people out there, Nick Loper, entrepreneur and founder of Side Hustle Nation, explains how you always want to keep your original goals in mind. “Is it to earn extra money? What will that extra money afford you? Is it to exercise your creative side? Is it to try and build something meaningful in your spare time? Something that could eventually be your ticket out of your 9 to 5?” These aren’t always going to happen at the same time. For example, if you’re trying to build up a college fund, the guaranteed money from your job may make more sense than making a huge risk.
However, if your children are grown and retirement is close, it may not be such a bad idea. A side hustle is being seen as essential by many, but it bears mention that it’s also what you make it. Also see more about making money with these 19 Ways to Make Money Online and In-Person With Side Hustles
