Always dreamt of starting your own company? Want to branch out and earn money for yourself?

What if I told you that you could keep the stability of your full-time job and earn significant cash on the side by offering up your skills in your spare time?

That’s the spirit of a side hustle. You earn good money, but you don’t have to quit your job (yet).

You need motivation, inspiration, and the right mental attitude to make a success of hustling, but luckily there are loads of tools and communities to help you out. Below I’ve listed six of the savviest side hustles that you can start — giving you an additional income with minimal, or no, start-up costs.

1. Social Media Executive
Knowing the world of social media inside out may seem like an ordinary thing for you, but for some business owners who didn’t grow up in the internet age, it’s a whole new era that they just can’t get their heads around.

92% of marketers say that social media is important for their business, so your ability to operate various social platforms at ease can be a godsend to some companies.

Upskilling yourself to work as a social media executive isn’t that difficult to do — you just need to undertake some training in the strategy side of things, and ensure that you’re confident when it comes to using social media essentials like Canva and Bitly.

With handy tools like Hootsuite, TweetDeck and Meet Edgar, you can simply dedicate one day per week to working on branded social channels and the content will look continually fresh and updated. Make sure you keep your clients in the loop, and pencil in some ‘reactive’ time too.

2. Virtual Assistant
If you’re a highly organized individual and like to work independently, your skills could lend themselves very nicely to a virtual assistant role.

You’ll be completing basic admin tasks like answering emails, processing orders, taking phone calls — but remotely from the comfort of your own home (or Starbucks as most freelancers do). Basically you’re a PA without the office — and the hours can be very flexible, with some contracts starting at only a few hours a week.

3. Online Instructor
The internet is awash with people wanting to learn – especially things like a new language. So how about becoming an online English tutor?

It’s not as daunting as it might sound because for most roles, you won’t even need a formal teaching qualification.

They will require you to demonstrate a high-level understanding of the English language – but that’s usually by having a degree or equivalent qualification. Then you can complete simple online courses yourself to hone those teaching skills before you get going.

If you have impeccable English and fancy yourself as a bit of a mentor, this is the perfect option for you. Here are some great companies that you could work with.

4. Online Retailer
Setting up your own shop may sound like a huge task to take on, especially while you’re still in full-time work – but trust us, it can actually be pretty straightforward.

Indeed, with a few clicks and a little bit of time using their technology, you can have create a web based shop that looks as delightful as Yankara’s:

You don’t even necessarily need to build your own site. You could buy an existing store, using an online store marketplace to buy a website, then make some tweaks to it and tailor it to your own brand.

Forget hiring out a high-street space, ecommerce businesses are where it’s at. The stats speak for themselves and if 70% of Nigerians shop online at least monthly, then you won’t be short of customers.

By operating your consumer business online, you’ll be cutting out so many overhead costs. Plus, with the added benefit of dropshipping (which is basically when the manufacturer ships straight to the customer) you won’t even have to handle the goods – saving you time, space and money!

5. Blogger or Vlogger
It’s not too late to jump on the blogging hype. There are still niches out there that haven’t been tapped into.

Think about your passions and what you like to read online and transform that into your own blog.

If you’d prefer not to go down the writing route, vlogging is also a really cool way to get in on the action.

Once you become an established blogger or vlogger (which can happen relatively quickly in the whirlwind of the internet), you will then be able to charge brands for sponsored posts, book in paid advertising, and team up with other companies to bring in revenue.

6. Copywriter
Good writing skills are not to be underestimated. Every company needs the written word – on their website, leaflets, adverts, press releases and even on social media.

Therefore, at some point or another they are going to need someone with a great copywriting prowess – that’s you!

If a company doesn’t already have someone within the company who can execute this kind of work, they will hire a freelance copywriters to do the job.

You can look to charge a set fee per hour or quote them per piece. Either way, it’s a great way to earn some extra money on an ad hoc basis if writing comes naturally to you.

So, there we have it. It turns out that launching your own start-up side business isn’t that overwhelming after all.

Now that you’re feeling super-inspired, you’ll be ready to go out there and start earning money for yourself. Go smash it!


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