To ask what your "side hustles" are and if there really worth the extra headache/stress?

[Puddinandpie]

So Im a crafter/sewist and can make really pretty things and i have have been thinking about this for some time but not sure a)where to start and b) if having a side hustle is worth the extra hours, money invested and of course stress to make it work, how long does it take to get going, make a profit, please tell me your side hustles and if in the long run it was worth all the headache?
I hope any of that makes sense sorry had covid really recently and today I feel not with it everything is a bit foggy so my writing skills have gone out the window unfortunately!!

Not a side hustle, but have been working as a maker as my main job for many years. People have no idea the time and effort that goes into making things and very few are willing to pay what it’s worth. People who DON’T buy from me will often tell me I should charge more, but I don’t know where to find the customers who have all this money to spend.

If you enjoy marketing, social media, accounting and admin as much as you enjoy making, by all means give it a go. I’ve just packed it in for a NMW day job which is more than I was earning before for a lot less stress!

I’m in the middle of quoting for a job which will take me at least 3 days work. The materials will cost at least £150 and I’m looking at over £350 total but I know the customer will baulk at this price and try to barter me down to more like £200-250. I will have to cut out some of the work so she will feel short changed and probably still think she’s paid over the odds despite me earning less than £9 an hour for my troubles!

I thinknthe problem with handmade goods is often the price.

I know why, for example, a handmade cake costs £100+ For the time involved it should probably be more, but its value to me isn't really a lot more than a good ready made one for c. £30. Plus it's an awful lot of money to spend on cake.

@TheShoeLady yes that's what I'm worried about! People honestly don't know just how much effort goes into making items and i suppose i worry will people think I'm overcharging etc because I know what goes into making the items but they don't! I do love doing it, but worry others won't appreciate the time, effort and not to mention money that goes into my craft items! It really is a shame that all the other things that go into getting the items out there for people to see and purchase is just so boring and mundane and as you said clearly takes so much effort, that in the end it all feels a bit pointless!
Life I so much harder now!

Is there any other side lines that take much less effort and thought, but still keep your head above drowning in these very uncertain times?

@TheShoeLady I fell your pain I really really do

I don't think people do actually appreciate good quality, long lasting, handmade goods anymore.

I have a very rare traditional craft skill, but in all fairness, you can by a similar item made cheaply in most shops as a side hassle.

I do have a small pool of people who appreciate the craft and will pay the price for bespoke, individual items. They are people with more money than sense!
I could use my skill to repair said items, but then again, it would cost me more to repair, than for a client to replace the item with new or even 2nd hand.

😢

I have a website that has adsense on it. It makes a few hundred euros a month. I literally haven't looked at it in about 2 years. It was an effort to set it up when I first did about 5 years ago though.

[quote Puddinandpie]@TheShoeLady yes that's what I'm worried about! People honestly don't know just how much effort goes into making items and i suppose i worry will people think I'm overcharging etc because I know what goes into making the items but they don't! I do love doing it, but worry others won't appreciate the time, effort and not to mention money that goes into my craft items! It really is a shame that all the other things that go into getting the items out there for people to see and purchase is just so boring and mundane and as you said clearly takes so much effort, that in the end it all feels a bit pointless!
Life I so much harder now!

Is there any other side lines that take much less effort and thought, but still keep your head above drowning in these very uncertain times?[/quote]
I think you need to consider what it's worth the the customer more than what it costs to make.

If having it hand made is worth paying the considerable premium, then yiu may have a viable business. If you can get perfectly lovely mass produced versions, it's less likely to succeed.

If you're making things for fun, selling them is a nice bonus. I know people who make stuff and I at what they want to charge for them.

@Silverclocks yes I see what you mean, good point! the things i make are one of a kind pieces which you can't get anywhere else, I'm not sure if that makes it any better! Although from doing research etc I think the items are very unique , but the craft is more common in America due to the designs, colours, styles etc but still one off unique!

If you want to sell your handmade stuff for a good price then you have to make it bespoke, dahhling. Handmade, heritage, craftmanship, all words you want to bandy about if you can. It sucks, but you have to position yourself in a niche and work that niche as much as you can. NEVER get sucked into a downward spiral of looking at what other people are charging and thinking what you need to charge is too much. People don't value cheap things, trust me.

I make about £100 every month/6 weeks depending on how much spare time I have on Prolific and User Testing. User Testing is particularly lucrative for me because I can talk eloquently and that seems to be in my favour. The more you get rated, the more tests you are offered, so once you're in and they like you, you're winning.

You do have to declare earnings though, it's not 'free money.' But I can do a proportion of it while watching TV, so its not all bad.

I sell hand sewn items on Etsy. I do ok at Christmas but the rest of the year is quiet. I certainly don’t make a living from it though! I might be able to if I invested more time on instagram etc as theshoelady rightly pointed out.

Etsy is a very crowded market place too. And honestly some of the items on there are very badly sewn.

If your primary problem is financial, making things probably won’t help, conventional paid work would be better.

I have 2 businesses.
Both started as a side hustle - business 1 is a 6 figure business.
Business 2 is still a side hustle but I’m working on changing this!

I would say that it’s more profitable teaching people what you do. You’ll have to have credibility and like previous posters have said, you need to understand marketing, social media , admin stuff etc - but I think you should always go for it!!

Better try and fail (and learn at the same time) than to not even try.

I ride badly behaved horses for other people and do a bit of instructing (mainly people on their own horses but if heavily bribed will do a Saturday afternoon for a friend who owns a riding school).
I really enjoy it but as I’ve got older have got a bit less brave on absolute lunatics, and in the last ten years I swear the standard of riding has nosedived, so I have a very small group of regulars who I teach and two horses who I school and don’t actively seek out extras.

@LadyOfTheCanyon you are absolutely correct

That's a very canny point @Orangesunflower (and congratulations on your business!)

Do you have a skill you can teach? I'm a florist by trade and its totally true that I can make more money teaching people e.g how to make Christmas door wreaths than it is to make them myself and try and flog them.

If you enjoy marketing, social media, accounting and admin as much as you enjoy making, by all means give it a go

This, all day long. I have a small business which i set up a couple of years ago and so far I've lost loads of money, most of the time i feel like i don't have a clue what I'm doing but i quite enjoy aspects of it (like very occasional craft fairs) The downsides outweigh the upsides but i still can't bring myself to pull the plug on it. Sunken costs fallacy i guess. People don't want to pay what handmade is worth, and to reach the small number of people who will pay, you either need to be very good at social media/marketing or be prepared to pay for someone who is. Making the stuff is one tiny part of a handmade business. Actually selling is very much another. I've had 400 visitors to my website this month. Posting on social media at least once a day, if not twice, email marketing, paid ads. Sold nothing. I've paid for ads to get people to my site so this further reduces an already small profit margin. Some days I've started on the business at 6.30am, then started my actual job, then back onto the business after work until bed. People tell me they love my products, love my branding, and USP but that doesn't mean they're willing to buy it. That's 400 people that have seen my stuff and not bought it. My stuff is incredibly fairly priced and if i may say so, well made as well. I've seen a heck of a lot worse.

In terms of personal growth, it's been worth it. I've proven to myself im a lot more capable than i ever gave myself credit for. But in just about every other way, especially financial and stress wise - no. Don't do it. Or at least go in with your eyes fully open.

I used to write freelance as well as my day job. I stopped recently because taking on projects I had no interest in for the money and having to meet wildly unrealistic client expectations was taking any enjoyment out of it for me.

Having said that, do you have the skills for alterations? A woman I know does that on the side and makes a fair bit - I imagine it's (possibly) easier to get clients as there's a direct need there, rather than buying handsewn goods/clothes or crafty bits for pleasure if you get me?

If you want to make handmade bespoke items then you need to find a market where people will actually pay for that - dolls house people seem quite keen to pay for something that is a one off so you might look at that. I had a side hustle for a bit buying up vintage dolls house dolls and dressing them, making miniature patchwork quilts etc but you need good eyesight for that!

You definitely won’t make enough to cover your time. And I say that without even knowing what your craft is.

I do surveys on my phone. Requires zero skill. I can usually make around 80-100 a month without any real effort, I just fill them in when watching tv or waiting outside school/brownies etc. time I would have traditionally frittered away on social media so it doesn't feel like effort. I use Qmee. They pay into my PayPal instantly and you can cash out any amount don't have to wait for thresholds etc. it's paid for phone bills and dancing classes this month, can see it paying for fuel next month right enough 🥴

qm.ee/F04EAEA4

Oh I might try qmee- I used to make a bit on Prolific but I’ve totally stopped getting surgery’s for some reason

In terms of personal growth, it's been worth it. I've proven to myself im a lot more capable than i ever gave myself credit for. But in just about every other way, especially financial and stress wise - no. Don't do it. Or at least go in with your eyes fully open

Good point Twinkle - there is more to it than just making money if it’s something you love doing and you will gain confidence and other skills from it. But generally a side hustle - especially at the moment - needs to bring in the bucks pretty quickly to earn its keep.

Sorry for being so negative about it! I have enjoyed being able to make my items and getting wonderful feedback from people who DO buy, but it really has shown me that even doing it full time, having been on a business development course and joined the networking groups etc I still struggle to make ends meet.

I think teaching your craft could be a good way to go and is something I may also consider…!

Interesting that people say about teaching. Its something I've considered too. People do seem to be willing to pay for one day courses around here.