Creating a side gig has never been more important than it is today. In the face of volatile market conditions and hyper-inflation, putting all our eggs into a single basket is no longer a viable solution.
Gen-X and Boomers may relate to this. When we were growing up, we were taught to go to school, get into university or college, graduate, get a job, work that job, and then retire. Many of us bought into that script – hook, line and sinker. After all, our post-Industrial Revolution education system was geared to create workers, not entrepreneurs.
Unfortunately, that script is now beyond dated.
5 Reasons Why You Need A Side Gig
While I hesitate to produce hustle porn (fetishization of long work hours, the glorifying of being a workaholic), the reality is that for most people, costs of living have far out-stripped our earning capacities if we just stick to that one-job script. So here are five reasons why:
- Market Volatility. With the advent of technology, things are changing so rapidly in the marketplace, that job security today is ephemeral at best. A friend once asked me to look at her daughter’s Bazi Chart. Her daughter had just secured a new job (post-graduation), and my friend wanted me to see if the job would be stable. My answer to her? You’re better off looking at the boss’s chart to see if anything is threatening the stability of his business!
- Hyper-Inflation. As I write, prices are going up astronomically in Malaysia. There is just simply no way a fixed income can keep up.
- Contribute To Your Savings. A second income could provide a nice little nest-egg (provided you manage to keep your budget steady).
- Pursue Your Dream Job. Not many of us end up with our dream jobs. In fact, it’s normal for many of us to not even know what our dream jobs are. Remember that script? We were just told to get a job! Nobody said what job. So most of us start our careers with any offering that is expedient. Creating a side gig can help you take the first step in the right direction – towards achieving your dream job.
- Transition To A Second Career. related to the point above, the existence of a side gig takes away many of the uncertainties that come with a sudden change of career roles.
3 Prices You Will Need To Pay For A Side Gig
As mentioned, I really have no intention of adding more to the online noise surrounding the hustle culture online. Therefore, I’m going to flat out inform you that, should you decide to embark on a side gig, there will be sacrifices to make. Three, in particular, are inescapable:
- Money/Capital. Depending on the nature of your side gig, you will need some capital to get the business started. Even if you intend to start an online coaching business, you can still expect to spend a certain amount for a laptop, software, perhaps some live-streaming equipment such as a web cam, microphone, and lights.
- What Work-Life Balance? During the initial stage of your side gig, as you build this business, expect work-life balance to literally fly out the window. You will be shouldering the demands of your full-time job, as well as the grind of getting your side gig off to a start.
- And when you succeed… The best ‘price’ or problem of them all… there will be times when your two worlds clash – when the demands of your full time gig and your burgeoning side gig overlap. This is when you really must ensure that you are appropriately compensated (monetarily) for working like a drudge.
Making Your Side Gig Work
- Start from your base. The easiest way to get a side gig started is to begin from your own power base. By that, I mean, pivoting your core skill and making it an integral part of your side gig. Example: if you are an accountant by profession, then perhaps your side gig could focus on helping people manage their debt. Another example: if you are a customer-service hotline operator, perhaps you can consider training others in the skill of managing customer complaints. This is the fastest way to gain momentum. If you need to learn a new skill before you start the side gig, it will simply take up too much time.
- Consistency trumps passion. Build consistently. Every day. Give yourself two hours every night to build your side business. Only two hours. No more than that. You would be surprised at how much you can accomplish in the course of a month or six.
- You do you. Forget about what everyone else is doing. You are unique. You do what drives you. Because most important of all, a side gig must not be a drag. It must, at the very least, be rewarding. For it to be rewarding, you must enjoy the bulk of what you are doing.
In this series, I would like to share three ways we can use your Bazi Chart to determine a suitable side gig for you. However, please bear in mind that, having not spoken to you in person, these suggestions will need to be very broad so as to be translatable to as many people as possible.
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