I never really thought about it until I started reading personal finance blogs a couple of years ago, but I?m a chronic side hustler. I?m always looking for unique and fun new ways to bring in extra money in addition to my main income source, which up until recently was a full-time office job.
Needless to say as a chronic side hustler I?ve tired quite a few side gigs out in the past with varying degrees of success. Everyone?s experience with these side gigs will not be the same, but I wanted to share with you four side hustles I?ve tried and why they failed for me.
Babysitting
I used to make all of my money by babysitting. Not to brag, but because of my high level of maturity I was able to start making money with this side gig at age 10. Granted, at that age I pretty much only babysat my brother and my little cousins, but it still paid (occasionally).
I got my first real babysitting gig at age 12. There was little expense on my end since my parents, or the parents of the children I was babysitting drove?since I couldn?t drive yet. Even still I was a pretty in-demand babysitter. The reason this gig failed for me was that I don?t especially love children. As?I got a little older I didn?t want to spend every evening on the weekend hanging out with little kids, I wanted to hang out with my friends instead. 🙂 While babysitting can be a great way to earn extra money, it’s not for me.
Cleaning Office Buildings
This is a more recent side hustle I took on while I was working at my full-time job. My office?s janitor quit unexpectedly and I was the replacement. I cleaned the building for just over a year before I was forced to quit due to having too many irons in the fire when my freelancing business took off.
The pay of this side gig was great and it didn?t take up that much time, but cleaning isn?t very fun and the people in my office are not very respectful, so it made me resent them a little bit more since I was stuck cleaning up their messes.
Part-Time Retail Job
As a high school student this was my only job, but then in college I started working my retail job only on the weekends and I continued that all through college and for just over three years after I graduated. I quit this side hustle earlier this year after growing tired of working for just over minimum wage and having to deal with so much drama in the workplace.
Not every store is the same, but the retail store I worked in had more drama than a girl?s bathroom at our local high school. I finally figured out that my time was worth way more than what I was getting paid at that retail store.
Selling Products
A couple of years ago I get recruited into a pyramid scheme. Luckily, I haven?t lost much money on the deal (yet), but I haven?t made a ton of money either. This is mostly due to the fact that I?m not a great salesman and the company I joined is already way oversaturated in my small town.
I am still semi-involved in this side gig, but mostly so I can get my own products for free?from the sales I do make to my customers.
Have you tried any of these side hustles with different results? What side hustles have you tried and failed at? Why did they fail?
Photo courtesy of: Caitee Smith
Wise Dollar
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Kayla, I have tried selling products, but it was not the right side hustle, which I could excel. That said, the experience was really meaningful as I discovered that I couldn’t succeed in sales. So, this made me look for another side hustle (blogging), which I am happy that I found one and lucky it lead me to more side hustles.
I agree – I don’t consider these failed side hustles to be all bad because I learned things despite not succeeding at them.
When I was younger, it was all about collecting coupons and sending them in for money. I failed at that one. I think I might have made a couple dollars. Not sure to this day if it was a scam or I just didn’t have enough coupons to make it worth it.
I have sold a few coupons on E-bay, it was allowed per their terms, but it didn’t feel right to me.