We live in the world of side jobs and hustle. Where it’s driving for a company like Uber, Lyft, or DoorDash in your after work hours or doing Freelance Graphic Design on websites like Upwork or Fiverr, there is no shortage of more ‘jobs’ available to help you earn some extra cash when money is so tight these days, but something seems wrong here.
With there being more money available in the world today than ever before, and the world economy at it’s best ever, why does it seem that money seems to be shorter than ever? It seems like we’re always a day late and dollar short and these ideas of more jobs that you can do in your free time are pushed on us through our social media like facebook, youtube and Instagram. In fact, after playing around on some apps designed for teens like tik tok and snapchat, it’s quite apparent that these side jobs are pressed more heavily on teens and young adults than on apps where the user base age is a bit older on apps like facebook.
At first you might think this is strange, but it makes perfect sense. We are a consumer centric world and in 2020 we have more free time than any other society ever had. We have so much free time that most of us don’t even recognize the extra hours we waste watching shows or browsing social media as actual free time. Insert the “side hustle.”
While “making more” in dollars, we also make less than we have ever before after adjusting for inflation. You see, without going into too much detail, every time debt is spent by using credit cards, money is “created” from thin air. Literally, the money didn’t exist before. Anytime you have more of something the value goes down. This means that although we may think a minimum wage of $10,$12, or $15/hr is good money, it’s really peanuts. My grandfather who worked as a manager at Kroger in 1940 for $2/hr actually made more money than you because adjusted for inflation that’s about $35/hr! (https://www.dollartimes.com/inflation/inflation.php?amount=2&year=1940)
The problem with these side hustles is that they don’t get you any closer to being rich than holding a second job would have in 1920. They are still jobs. You’re still trading time for money and your money is worth less than it ever has been in history!
If you never had the pleasure of running your own business, then you might not understand that the profit potential of doing so is so much higher than working a ‘side hustle’. Of course there is risk, usually a small risk upfront (in cash and time) and the overall risk of not making any money at all. The security of trading an hour of time for $10 might be more appealing for most, but when you realize you can easily make $100 in an hour or more if you set it your own business or more, you might begin to reconsider.
There are business models out there online that make it relatively easy for individuals to enter into this realm offered by companies like Amazon, Wix (website creation), Shopify, and many others. These companies allow you easily take other people’s products and sell them for more than what you paid for a profit. Much like the old style of buying products and opening a store, except without all of the overhead of rent, electric and storage bills. In fact, with drop shipping, you don’t even have the over head of paying for the products upfront, or the risk of losing money if they don’t sell. There are plenty of stories of teenagers making $30,000 – $100,000 per MONTH!
It sounds so easy, so why aren’t more people doing it? We’ll the truth is, it requires work and no one is going to hold your hand through the process, so if you have no idea what I’m talking about the chances of you jumping in are virtually 0, but if you are one of those who is willing to take a chance on yourself and make more than you ever dreamed of there are a few things you need to know about extracting money from the market in 2020.
- There’s a lot of competition out there
With such a low barrier to entry a lot of people are giving these new business ideas a shot and flooding the market. This means that if you’re not paying for your websites or ads to be optimized through Search Engine Optimization, the likelihood of your website even getting clicked on is dramatically reduced. Not to mention that with more scams on the internet than ever before people are more likely skip right over your ad even if they do see it!
Not to worry! This just means you need to be really diligent and study your market. Basic principles of business come right back into play here. Define your market, how old are they? What do they like? What are their interests? How much money do they have? Where do they live?
With a little bit of market research you can increase your odds of having a successful online business dramatically!
2. People want to give you their money!
As mentioned above, we are definitely a consumer centric society, this means that people WANT to give you their money! They want to consume, they just don’t know on what yet!
By taking the time to do your diligence on market research, you are on your way to figuring out how to convince them that you’re the person they want to give it to!
The idea here is to give more value than anyone else is giving!
3. Define your business, increase your value!
Now that you have come to terms with their being more competition than ever and that people want to give you their money, it’s time to start inventing and implementing a plan of action!
What is unique about you? What makes your product or service better than anyone else’s out there? Are you faster, nicer, less expensive, more fun?
The majority of the failed businesses out there never define exactly what it is that they are or do!
Take a few minutes and figure out exactly what sets you apart from everyone else and clearly define your business.
Naturally, what comes forth will after doing so will emanate these qualities and whether they realize it or not, your customer will be able to tell the difference, instantly making your seem less scammy and more likely that they will buy from you over someone else!
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