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!!

I designed an app with a friend. It was about a month's intensive work and has earned us about £750 each so far which isn't much but it will keep earning about £200pa and I have to do absolutely nothing any more so eventually it will have been worthwhile.

[quote LCD39]@Hunderland out of interest, how do you find content writing work? I work in print publishing but really want to try and do some freelance writing for websites but wouldn't have a clue where to start finding the work. [/quote]
@LCD39 do you mean how did I start initially or how do I find doing it?

@Hunderland haha, sorry I should have been more specific! How did you find your freelance work content writing? Did you approach websites you wanted to write for? Or did they contact you? And also, how do you find it generally? Do you enjoy it?

I have a couple!

I do surveys like Populuslive (now YLive) which gets me £50 every 2/3 months.

I manage the social media content creation for a previous job, which brings in £120-150 a month for three ish hours a week. I love the company though and really enjoy it.

I also started a housekeeping business last year just before Christmas. It was initially meant to be management only but now I do some of the cleaning too. It brought in (total, not profit!) £415 in February, £595 in March and I’m set to do £1100 this month. About a quarter of that stays in my pocket now I’ve taken on some of the cleaning myself too.

@LCD39 my advice is decide on a specialism and approach agencies with clients in that field.

Be 100% reliable and never ever miss a deadline.

Find the company's voice and write like them.

Some pieces are more interesting than others and I really like being paid but as I said, I prefer my proper job. I couldn't write that stuff all day every day, I'd go mad...

My side hustle is make up, usually wedding. I trained professionally and used to do it a lot more several years ago before my main career really took off. Nowadays I am very fortunate in that I can rely on word of mouth/helping out my freelance MUA friend who gets fully booked very easily, and keep prices competitive to do so, rather than rely on it for a second income (though obviously pandemic changed that somewhat). I'd be exhausted if I had to do it all the time, or keep up a massive social media presence.

If you love what you do, and you're good, then give it a try, but I do think I'm lucky in that the nature of it means that I can feasibly say that I'm too busy and can't do a date, but I definitely wouldn't have the time to make and send away things around my Mon-Fri job.

After materials, I don't make a massive amount of profit but pre-covid I would ramp up work in the summer, when I'm more quiet in my main job, in order to pay for a holiday, which is when it becomes worth it financially. But I mostly keep my hand in it because I find it enjoyable.

Last year my side hustle on Etsy made me 12,000 in profit, I work it along side my job, I did invest in courses and equipment which were fairly costly but, definitely worth it.

Selling NFTs. Again you need to be sharp on social media marketing to make it work, but there is decent money to be made.

@seensome wow that's impressive and very positive, can I ask what is your side hustle?!

I provide mentoring services to other professionals in an industry that I work in full time

I used to make flowers from sugar paste for occasion cakes. One wedding cake (I made for love) the flowers alone took over 150hrs to make. No way would that be sustainable for a business.....but teaching others to do it .....now that's a different story. I made more doing that than at my day job (also teaching)

Low risk casino and matched betting. Make on average 500 a month with very little effort.

@MaraScottie

Low risk casino and matched betting. Make on average 500 a month with very little effort.

V interested please can you give some more information on what it entails?

There is a gift shop near me that sells artisan stuff....socks at £77, scaves at £65 - not hand made.....

hand made incense at £22....etc....its been open for 3 years so must do well.....i have never bought there as find the stock very ' beige and bland '....and think its very expensive but some people must buy there...?

I bake cakes. I WFH 3 days a week for my office job so can do most of the stuff before work/ during lunch and ice after work.

I only offer 3 types of sponge and restricted designs (basically what's popular) I don't offer dietary substitutions no vegan/GF ....I make that clear in advance. But I have a pretty steady stream of customer's. Sadly not enough to make a permanent living though

Following.. i'm dabbling with starting a generalist craft YouTube channel.. just not sure if I've missed the boat!

I used to walk dogs for £8/HR, but that was pre-having-children. Would never dog sit, got bit by a Staffie and bit by a Jack Russel in my time, and recently watched a documentary about a poor girl who got her face ripped off by a couple of dogs

I'm not sure if this really counts as a 'side hustle' but I make a bit of money by doing online surveys. I have made £47.32 from them so far. I started in January.

I hope you feel better soon by the way!

Those doing surveys do you have to declare that income ? I'm interested in doing that but I couldn't be bothered with the paperwork for only £50 a month

@OutlookStalking

Wow Im running a holiday club for less than that 😳. I need to find other avenues of employment!

They pay me more than everyone else because I'm a teacher. It does seem unfair on the other staff.

This is what I find so frustrating. People will spend £4-500 on a piece of art to hang on the wall and the artist might make minimum wage off that, maybe more with prints but if you put the same hours into a dress or cake or anything else there’s a massive blind spot about hours, skill and value.

I’m a knitter and artist/designer. I’ve no trouble selling art for £300 that I’ve spent a day on but no one will spend that on a wool jumper I’ve spent the more time and materials cost on and will last a lifetime of cared for well. Unless it’s from a branded shop. I despair sometimes and mates rates don’t pay the bills!

I watch art painting how-to videos on youtube - some of the better ones carry ads.

Could you make money there?

I made a load of games on Tinytap for my own students. They got bumped into premium a few years ago and I’ve earned about $500 a month (less than 500 in euros) since.

Very easy to make even with basic tech skills. If you have an eye for making things attractive and well laid out the play numbers can go through the roof.

Anybody who has had a young kid of their own would know what game play would appeal to kiddos, and the learning content that parents would find helpful.

I use it for young adults & adults too. Somebody wanting to teach their craft / skill could make a series of “games” (you can include videos) with knowledge checking sections (multiple choice, identifying key material or tools etc.). You can bundle a series like that into a course and set a price for it, or just turn each game to premium to earn income.

Worth a whirl for anybody with an eye for attractive design and knowledge of a skill or subject. I could make more money if I did the whole SM and marketing thing. But I can’t be arsed. I use the time I’d be doom scrolling on SM to make extra games instead. Which is better for my mental health. Especially since Covid hit us upside the head.

I'm a part time jeweller (I make from scratch with silver) and have an Etsy page. For me, it is not viable as a side hustle as I'm competing with mass produced "charms on a chain" from Ali-Express which people are able to sell really cheap. Very rarely will someone pay £40 for my solid silver seahorse when there is a plate one for £2 advertised next to it.

I gave up worrying about it turning a profit years ago and now I just have it as somewhere to try and sell a few bits and if someone does buy, great, can use that money to buy more bits for my hobby.

The problems with side hustles is that the market is saturated with wax melts, makeup, perfume, jewellery and resin crafts to name but a few. Mostly they are mass produced and just sold on so for genuine crafters it's really hard to compete price wise.

I have a side hustle, but only because I have a day job that pays the bills. I make pretty much nothing from what I do. I just love doing it. I am a bagmaker. I also teach bagmaking at the local fabric shop.