One of the secrets to discovering a highly profitable side hustle is to identify a high-income skill … [+]
No one is exempt from needing a side hustle to survive.
Even if you’re among the privileged few who don’t need to worry about battling the rising costs of living and inflation to live comfortably, having a side hustle provides an essential boost to your career. It future-proofs you against unexpected emergencies that could threaten your income, such as layoffs or feeling tied down to toxic job because you need your salary to survive.
Additionally, building and maintaining a side hustle helps expand your breadth of knowledge and skills, particularly if it’s within the same or similar industry that you work in your main job. Approximately 73.3 million Americans were freelancing in 2023, and many are considering making it their main source of income in the future.
As the gig economy rapidly swells to a staggering $14.39 billion industry by the year 2030, and is on track to be the largest contributor to the overall workforce, with more professionals turning to side hustles, this number can be expected to rise. If you already have a side hustle or are thinking of starting one, you might be wondering, How can I make enough money from this so I can earn at least the equivalent to what I’m earning from my employer now?
The answer to this question lies in a three step process: your DEC (demand, experience, and convenience).
If one of these three ingredients is missing, your side hustle will never be profitable or significant enough for you to even consider leaving your job if necessary. Let’s look into each step in further detail:
Demand
The wealth of experience and knowledge that you accumulate over the years through your education ongoing training and professional development, and the industries and jobs you’ve worked in, uniquely contribute to who you are today. Your career path and the skills you’ve acquired along are a goldmine of potential that can be tapped into, to help you earn money outside of your main job. Sit down and make a list of all the transferable skills you’ve learned and mastered over the years. This can be a combination of technical hard skills, and soft skills.
Once you’ve made your list, identify a skill that is in high demand. To understand which of your skills are in high demand, conduct some market research and analyze previous and current trends in your target audience, the economy, and your industry, to gauge if there is a sustained upward trend in demand. Your skill will need to address pressing needs and solve problems—also known as “gaps” in the market.
Experience
One of the factors that significantly contribute to your own potential from your side hustle is your expertise. The more niche and specialized you are within your field, the more justifiable and feasible it will be for you to charge higher fees for your services, and the more your potential clients or customers will be willing to pay a premium for your work.
For example, consider a general practitioner or primary care physician versus a cardiologist or surgeon. While both make a high income, the latter earns significantly more because they are specialized and have had niche-specific training. To ensure you can continue charging a premium for your side hustle, continually invest in yourself, improve your skills, build a strong portfolio to showcase your expertise, and remain knowledgeable and relevant with industry trends.
Convenience
Finally, convenience plays an essential role in ensuring your services or products are accessible to a wider audience, especially if serving customers globally. Think about ways you can place your product or services directly in your potential clients’ hands with minimal hassle. Consider how you can streamline your process, from acquiring a customer to completing your work with them, and find the right tools and technology. to make your work easier. This way you can earn even while you’re sleeping, and make your offerings convenient for clients to access at any time, integrated into their lives.
The more attention you pay to developing your industry awareness and skills, the more credible you … [+]
Once you have these three ingredients in place—demand, experience, and convenience—your side hustle has a better chance of being successful, and you will be able to position yourself to a wider market as an industry thought leader.
Source: 3 Steps To Discover A High-Income Side Hustle Idea In 2024
