Are Side Hustles Necessarily a Good Thing?

There are seemingly more and more Gen-Z and millennials who are open to the idea of side hustling in today’s day and age. Perhaps the motivation behind their decisions might not be as foreign to many of us.

It doesn’t help with the fact that resale housing prices have been climbing higher ever so steadily with a 13.2 per cent year-on-year increase in the prices of resale flats from June last year.

Coupled with rising costs of living, jobs market being hit by the pandemic (albeit recovering) and perhaps, boiling down to an individual’s desire for more wants and finer things in life. But who are we to judge right? These factors indeed play a huge role in many Singaporeans decision to start off their side hustles.

Aside from all the possible upsides and additional money you can earn, today we want to take a step back and consider some limitations and possible warped perspectives that can fester when the concept of side hustling becomes a part of your daily lives.

1 . Side Hustles Does Not Equate to Passive Income

For most part of it, it would be a fallacy to think that your side hustles automatically translate to passive income. Perhaps some of us may have been caught up and disillusioned by youtube ads featuring wealth gurus and showing how you can make a 5 digit income every month with a “proven” system on online e-commerce/dropshipping platforms…

While I try my best not to discredit such claims by some of these “wealth gurus”, I do think some of their marketing claims are questionable and probably too good to be true.

With just $100 and little to no effort proven blueprint find a cheap product and sell it at a higher price????

I mean… everyone would be a millionaire by now, no?

The truth, however, is far from that. At least from what we have experienced.

There is work to be done and it is a wrong mindset to think that you instantly get passive income with minimal effort. In all fairness, sure, you put in minimal effort, you get minimal returns. Life’s quite fair.

Side hustles can come in all forms and factors and starting one (or a few) generally means that you are committed to putting in effort to sustain this additional source of income! One of the side hustles that Kym and I commit upon is by coaching, albeit different sports. Sometimes, the most boring and realistic ideas of side hustles effectively garners you enough demand for it to take off! And with this case in point, EFFORT is being poured into our side hustle to sustain the time taken for weekly classes to take place.

Little to no effort? – Not really Proven blueprint? – We learn how to work around our schedules Need to sell a product? – Must it always be a product? How about a service? Earning a 5 digit income per month? – Wew… quite a stretch there

2 . Trade Offs With Your Main Income

Another point to stress upon would be the cost-benefit analysis with your main job.

Would pouring in too much effort and time in building your side hustle affect your work in your main job? I think this is a common mistake that many of us (including me) would make.

Ultimately, the name “side hustle” suggests that it occurs and functions ON THE SIDE. A priority and the bulk of your efforts should still be focused on your main job employment because that’s where the bulk of your income is from. And sure, if your side incomes start to overtake your main income, then one should probably reconsider making your side hustle your main source of income.

Learn to work around your schedules and know your priorities.

3 . Getting Burnt Out

When your side hustles feel like a chore and something you dread doing, you should probably reconsider if the extra effort is even worth it.

Going into something you aren’t exactly passionate about just for the sake of more money really isn’t the wisest thing to do. The effect of burn out is real and when money is your main motivation to sustain your side hustle, this mindset can spiral and lead to many negative impact on your mental health.

Side Hustles = Passion

Perhaps the concept of a side hustle should be re-thought.

If your sole purpose of side hustling is just to have more money, then MONEY becomes your central focus, not your idea of side hustling.

When one is passionate about something, it goes a long way. You love doing what you do and that becomes your focal point. Monetising it then becomes secondary or seamlessly aligned to what you have been doing. While this might possibly take a longer time to firm up, it definitely helps in helping you negate some of the pointers above.

I also think that setting a purpose and goal for starting a side hustle would be challenging and ideal too. Such as what are you going to use the additional money for? To pay off your education loan? Additional money for investment? Using that income for your monthly expenditures?

We hope you find your purpose in starting off your side hustle journey!

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