side hustle

There are years you ask questions and years you answer them. Well, 2020 is the year of asking, and the major question I have is – How do I start a side hustle?

See, if you are like me, chances are that before payday you are already so low on cash that if you forget your change with the bus conductor you have to trek to the office.

Is this lifestyle sustainable? No. Am I willing to do something about it? Yes.

So, I have decided to seek out alternative sources of income outside of my 9-5 because nonsense must stop this year. Poverty leave my trouser 2020.

These are some of the things to consider if you are with me on this journey

Who send me message?

This seems like a captain obvious moment but it isn’t. For me, the major driver for considering a side hustle is money because let’s be serious. Deciding your drive for starting will determine how much effort and time you should put into it.

If the hustle is supposed to replace your 9-5, you would put more effort into it than someone who is doing it to find meaning and purpose.

Passion may not feed you ohhh.

Forget all these pursue your passion and aspire to perspire people. Is your passion viable? Can it bring money? I won’t do anything people aren’t willing to pay for because it will end in what? Passionate tears.

Research before you leap. Passion can’t pay bills.

Money is a validator.

If you are in it for money, the easiest test of viability is how quickly people are willing to pay for your services. Once you have something people are willing to buy, a buyer, a means of collecting money, you are ready to go.

The amount of money you make in as short a time as possible should make you know whether to call it a side hustle or passion.

Patience is a virtue.

If you are as impatient as I am, you want instant gratification. Start today, bloom tomorrow, and quit your day job the day after. Laughs in reality.

We waiting good this year and giving our babies time to grow. This means long hours and patience with the process. Can I hear someone say amen?

Don’t get fired at your 9-5.

May our village people not finally get us. Because side hustles require a lot of time and effort, it’s very tempting to neglect the employer’s work to focus on building your own thing. This always ends in unemployed tears. Imagine no more day job to finance pursuing your extracurricular hustle. Tragic.

I have decided that in my spare time after work and on the weekends are when I will pursue my side gig to prevent “I thy known.”

Was this helpful? Let me know in the comments section. Also, incase you missed the epic story on resigning, you should read this. You either resign a hero or drag it out long enough to see your oga become the villain.

Dear Zikoko fam, watch this space. Zikoko is starting stories on personal finance like this and a series on hustling and what it means to earn a living in Nigeria. Tell a friend to tell two other friends.

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