There are many reasons people decide to get a “side hustle.” These reasons include wanting extra spending money, working on a passion project, saving for a big purchase, among others. Another significant reason to find a side project is to diversify, Diversifying your income streams improve your financial wellness. Having only one source of income can leave you vulnerable if something happens to your full-time job. A side hustle can bring you financial security as well as peace of mind.
I’d like to share an example. I have a client, Matt (not his real name), who is a perfect example of why multiple income sources are vital. Matt is a successful dentist and owns his own solo practice. In addition to his practice, Matt owns the building where his office is in and rents out spaces to other businesses. In addition to the building and his dental practice, Matt is also involved in an orthodontic device and spends time teaching other dentists on how to use this device for their patients in their practices. Right there, he has three income streams: dentist, landlord, and educator for an orthodontic appliance. Matt was secure and had a healthy financial picture until March 2020. He had no control over the fact that his dental practice was shut down due to the pandemic. He could see patients for emergencies, but that did not come close to the income he relied on. His tenants had their businesses shut down, and a few were unable to pay the rent to Matt. Because of legislation, Matt could not do anything about the tenants who were not paying their rent, a source of income. Matt still had to pay the mortgage on his building.
He had taken all precautionary measures and had his practice and the building adequately insured. He even had business interruption insurance, which would have paid out had his business been shut down for a fire destroying the company, but nothing would pay for loss of income due to a pandemic. Here he was, a high-income earner who overnight lost two of his three income sources through no fault of his own. Thankfully he had the third source, which was teaching other dentists. He was able to continue virtually training through this time.
In addition to financial security, the extra income helps you reach your financial wellness goals faster. Are you looking to pay down debt? Build an emergency savings account? Fund your retirement? All of those are great goals to have and are all necessary to achieve financial wellness. The difficulty is that achieving all of those goals can be difficult when you only have so much income coming in monthly. Having a second or third income source in the way of a side hustle can accelerate your financial goals when you use the additional money to go strictly towards those goals. There are many side hustles where you can earn an extra $1000 per month. Imagine the impact that has on helping you to reach your financial goals faster!
Real, legitimate side hustles can bring in that sort of money. I’m not referring to a particular class of business where people speak of outrageous sums of money that they make working very part-time from home, on their phone. There are reliable and legitimate side hustles that just about anyone can do that consistently earn $1000 or more a month for minimal hours.
One example of a reliable side hustle making that sort of money is another client who decided to work for Door Dash. Door Dash is a food delivery app that you can turn on and work for whenever you want. This person consistently makes between $25-$40 hourly. To make an extra $1000/month, she works around 35 hours monthly on the side hustle. Think about it; approximately eight to ten hours extra a week to achieve your financial goals. I understand we need downtime, but carving out an extra eight hours a week is doable. Sometimes its a matter of keeping your eyes on the ultimate prize of reaching your goals.
Anyone can do a Side Hustle.
With an endless amount of hustles available, there’s no reason you cannot have a successful additional income source. While there are jobs that require license and professional training to earn income, there are also many that do not. Technology makes achieving your goals easier than ever.
There’s no reason you have to wait to start! Side Hustle Essentials and Side Hustle Inspirations will teach you everything you need and want to know how to create and find the perfect side hustle to fit your schedule and skill level.
