One of the biggest benefits of having a side hustle is that it helps you earn additional income. However, this is not the only good thing that comes out of having a side hustle.
In a situation where what you make from your day job isn’t enough, your side hustle gives you that extra stream of income to help you meet up with your financial obligations and responsibilities.
If however, you already earn enough from your 9–5 job, you might as well choose to save the money that you make from your side job.
Without wasting any more time, let us delve into some of the reasons you might want to consider a side hustle as well as some of the things it has the capacity to help you achieve if you truly set your mind to it.
Makes Your Life Easier
The moment you are able to generate additional income from a side hustle, it instantly moves you closer to achieving your financial goals much faster than relying on a single income stream.
For instance, earning N300,000 from your 9–5 job will never be the same as having that job and earning an additional N200,000 from a side hustle. The side job moves your monthly income from N300,000 to half a million naira. This is a big deal because it gives you a stronger financial spine to do more, especially in line with your financial goals.
It Can Give Your Savings a Huge Boost
It is possible that your day job pays you enough money to pay your bills, maintain your lifestyle and still have enough to save a portion of it. If this describes you, then getting a side hustle means you will be earning additional income that you don’t necessarily have to spend.
This leaves you with money to set aside as savings over a period of time and puts you in a better place financially. As you already know, the more money you are able to save, the better prepared you would be to deal with emergencies.
Helps You Pay Off Your Debt
Repaying a loan becomes a lot easier when you have an additional income stream and this is a good reason to pick up a side hustle. If you find yourself struggling to pay back money you borrowed, having a side hustle can change the entire dynamics of repaying the loan.
Increases Your Capacity to Build Wealth
If you don’t need extra money to build wealth, then you might as well channel the money from your side hustle into building wealth much faster than a single income stream would have allowed. This can be done regardless of how you intend to go about investing the additional income coming your way. Over a period of time, you would have set aside enough money to dabble into more income-generating ideas
Helps You Test a Business Idea Without Quitting Your Job
If you are one of those with a longing to start a business of your own, a side gig offers you a safety net to test the waters. You probably have a great business idea but you’re unwilling to risk quitting your job to run it just yet. A side hustle would help you dip your toes in whilst you lay the foundation for building a business at your own pace.
For example, if you’re a graphics designer for a brand and you’re keen on starting your own brand, you could kick off by offering consultancy to some clients as a side gig before taking that huge leap much later.
Can Help You Pull Off a Career Change
If you find yourself losing interest in your current job and it’s not just cutting it for you anymore, a side hustle gives you an opportunity to try something new; something different and refreshing.
It could be that you simply desire a new area of specialisation that’s flexible enough to allow you to travel more or perhaps, one that would allow you to start a family. These are just examples. You probably desire a career change for reasons best known to you but if that ever happens, a side gig offers you a way out.
The side hustle can help you gain decent experience in a new field. It also gives you the opportunity to network and explore how things work without losing the security that your current job provides. At some point in your journey, you would have acquired enough knowledge to know if indeed, it is worth the transition.
It Can Become a Creative Outlet
There’s a popular phrase that says, “Turn your passion into profits”
In addition to using a side gig to earn extra cash or to test the waters, it could turn out to be a massive creative outlet for you; something that you thoroughly enjoy doing, which others will even pay you for doing.
There are people who have used photography as a creative outlet and have ended up learning how to edit and gone on to become professional photographers covering tons of events with a growing list of clients.
You might want to think of your side hustle as a unique opportunity to do something that you truly enjoy. Nothing beats expressing your creativity and getting compensated for it. It is an apex height of financial freedom that many aspire to reach.
Final Thoughts on Reasons to Start a Side Hustle
Before you kick off a side gig, it is incredibly important to ensure that the side hustle does not interfere with your day job in terms of productivity and expectations from your employer. If you can achieve this, then you can proceed to begin building a list of return clients and establish a steady income for yourself. At the end of the day, the ultimate goal is to build this side hustle to a point where the income it generates can effectively replace the monthly paycheck from your day job.