Whether it’s serving up the best cupcakes in town at the local market stall, helping people reach their full potential with online coaching or starting a blog on mastering the art of juggling, many Aussie’s dream of making their side hustle dream a reality. If you’ve been contemplating using your skills to start a side hustle but need a little bit of inspiration, then you’ve found the right place.
To help get you started on your side gig journey we’ve got the top 5 business ideas to transform your skills into a business.
1. Freelancer
If you have experience and skills in fields like graphic designing, writing and web development for example, there are always companies that are on the look out to hire talented freelancers to help get the job done.
Freelancing gives you the flexibility to choose your workload, while still being able to manage holding down your day job. It allows for you to chip away and build a solid portfolio of works that could eventually lead to a full–time gig working for yourself.
If you haven’t already, get a website up and running to showcase your skills and share your previous projects. This is also a great platform to share any client testimonials you may have received. Think of your website as your interactive resume, selling your talents to potential clients.
Once you have the groundwork in place and have a few examples to share it’s time to find those jobs and pitch your skills!
2. Online educator
If you are an expert in your field and have a strong skill set, then you may want to consider sharing your pearls of wisdom by becoming an online educator. While it may not be the ideal gig for everyone, you will need a good amount of patience and be prepared to help guide others with their challenges.
It’s no secret that teaching and coaching in any discipline takes up a lot of time, from creating the learning materials, hosting classes/one-on-one tutorials, marking assessments and everything else in between. Being organised and having some good time management skills will definitely come in handy!
With many people now working from home and with the boom of online based education, there are many online teaching platforms available. Websites like Skillshare and Udemy are just a couple examples of platforms that offer an array of different courses across many topics.
3. Blogger
One of the most popular side hustle gigs is blogging. While it may take some time before you build up your readership and can earn a few dollars from it, the prospect of being able to write from anywhere in the world on almost any topic has a lot of appeal.
Blogging is more than just being an expert on a niche topic and sharing your articles, you also need to be good at making connections to build your reader base. Creating a community with your readers on a specialised topic can lead to being well-respected and followed in your area.
Some tips before you start your blog:
- Do some research before you start your blog to get some insights into both your potential readers. Take note of what others are writing about on your topic of interest.
- Choose what platform you will host your blog on
- Create any supporting social media accounts to help promote your blog
4. Run an online store
Opening an online store has never been easier! There are plenty of online store platforms and e-commerce programs designed to streamline and make your business work effortlessly. All you need is products to sell, a dedicated space to store your stock and manage your store and some catchy marketing to get your store out there and known in the marketplace.
Keep these things in mind when setting up your online store:
- Check your internet. Check your limits and speed as these may need to increase with the needs of your online store
- Make sure your computers are secure and updated with security updates. Invest in a VPN and make sure all your anti-virus software is updated.
- Create an inventory of all your stock with an economical system to manage the levels and time frames for shipments.
5. Market stall
Having your own market stall is a great way to get your products out to customers on a small scale without having to spend a massive outlay and opening a physical store. If you do have grand plans to one day open a store, this is a great way to test the market, experiment with managing stock and finding out what works best.
Before you set up your stall there’s a few things to think about like payment systems, logistics, and having business insurance in place.
It’s a common requirement for stallholders to have their own Public Liability insurance* in place as a form of protection. Public Liability insurance is designed to provide protection for you and your business in the event a customer, supplier or a member of the public are injured or sustain property damage as a result of your negligent business activities.
You may also need to consider Product Liability insurance*, designed to protect your businesses against claims by third parties relating to property damage or personal injury caused by your products.
Protect your hustle from hassles
No matter what kind of side hustle business you decide to pursue, having the right kinds of business insurance in place to protect it is something you need to consider. Different types of businesses will require different types of insurances to protect from varying risks. From life coaches giving professional advice to photographers with expensive camera equipment, business insurance is there to cover all kinds of businesses risks.
To find out more how business insurance can help safeguard your side hustle get in touch with BizCover today. Jump online or call our friendly team of agents to access multiple quotes from some of Australia’s leading insurers in minutes. Experience hassle-free insurance without messy paperwork and confusing insurance lingo.
