Clever Hustle Ideas For Entrepreneurs

How would you like to learn about some clever hustle ideas for entrepreneurs? It’s always nice to have some extra money heading in your direction.

Even as an entrepreneur, you need additional cash to pay your bills, furnish your debts, pay off student loans and fulfill other financial needs arising here and there.

Many people keep their full-time job secure, and on the sides, pursue small but lucrative businesses to grow their wealth.

A side hustle from home can make you a little stronger both financially as well as professionally.

It will not only add additional income to your existing stream of funds but will also provide you an opportunity to transform this hustle into a bona fide full-time job or a fast-growing startup business later on.

This is a great way to become your own boss and produce passive income on the side.

Side Hustles Are On the Rise

Now, in 2021, more than ever, having a second job or side business has become a necessity.

As the world witnessed an unprecedented virus hit the global economy so badly in 2020, many people lost their jobs or had to experience a sudden income crunch.

Some struggling business owners or even working employees lost their primary streams due to lockdowns and COVID-19 restrictions.

With our lives changing significantly every day, it only makes sense to secure your own income and financial future through a safety cushion. Or a side hustle that can supplement your needs and put you in control.

This can also be a savvy way to start testing out ideas for your own business, without going all in until you’ve proven it works. Here are some clever hustle ideas for entrepreneurs looking to make some extra money.

1.Dropshipping Business

Dropshipping is an innovative and technology-driven business idea that is on the path of accelerated growth these days. For an entrepreneur or business owner, it is a great way to create a side hustle.

Dropshipping is a business that allows you to sell products directly to customers. What makes it different is that you do not have to maintain a stock or have the capital for a lot of inventory.

With no requirement to buy inventory and products to sell, you do not need big warehouses or showrooms to store your stocks. Dropshipping reduces your start-up costs and lessens the risk of loss.

As a businessperson, you act as a middle party who only markets and services the clients. When the customer orders a product, you simply purchase it from the manufacturer and the manufacturer gets it shipped directly to the customer.

So, as a seller, you do not physically handle the product. People with strong marketing knowledge and capabilities have an edge in this type of business.

Using your entrepreneurial strengths and enthusiasm you can sell in any niche using a dropshipping business model. Though you have to be creative and work on products that are in demand and attractive to the customers.

2. Start Freelancing

Although freelancing has been around for some time now, it is still one of the best ways of earning some extra cash.

Whether you have a predictable or unpredictable income stream, using your professional and personal strengths and skills you can start as a freelancer anytime you want.

Being a freelancer means that you do not work for a single company rather provide your expertise as an independent individual.

It is a side hustle that empowers you with flexibility, personal control, and the emotional satisfaction of being self-employed.

You can pursue freelancing full-time or part-time depending upon your own priorities. You can also choose between temporary freelancing and long-term freelancing commitments.

With so many technological advancements and innovations, freelancing has become much more easy and simple than it was in the past.

Sitting in a remote location of your choice you can work independently as a paid professional, working according to your own schedule.

Today’s economy has a large percentage of freelancing gigs and businesses worldwide are opting for freelancing professionals for their companies rather than full-time employees to cut down operational expenses.

It’s one of the most clever hustle ideas for entrepreneurs.

Would you like more information about how to become an entrepreneur? Check out this video I have created with some practical tips on how to make it happen.

3. Become an Affiliate Marketer

Affiliate marketing is a clever side hustle for entrepreneurs that pay off well in the long run. However, you do need to have a little knowledge and understanding of this business before getting onboard.

You can improve your learning curve by opting for formal and informal affiliate marketing training programs and learn about ways and means of making money through this growing business.

Affiliate marketing is the process of earning a commission by marketing other company’s products and services. You acting as an affiliate will promote the product and earn a slice of the profit when any sales occur.

It is mostly an online arrangement where the sales are trackable using affiliate links provided by the manufacturer company to the marketer. To be successful in this endeavor, you need to carefully select the product or niche you want to serve.

The brands that you choose to sell for should also be reliable, reputable, and worth making the efforts for. In many technology-based companies, affiliate marketing is a fast-growing and lucrative opportunity to make huge amounts.

4. Become a Blogger

Living in the era of information and technology, it would be a great loss if you are not earning online. Blogging is one of the most attractive and clever hustle ideas for entrepreneurs of today. It is comfortable, convenient, and offers great returns.

Blogging is a great way to build your personal brand and make it a profitable asset for yourself. It refers to writing, presenting, and posting different types of media files in a self-publication online.

Derived from the word weblog, it allows you to log on to an online platform and write diary-style entries and share information with your users. What started as an individual practice has now become a corporate necessity.

Most big brands and websites now run their own regular blogs for frequent updates, informal product promotions, and getting positive engagement with their customers.

You can select any niche that you are passionate about and start reaching out to a target audience through attractive, engaging, entertaining, and informational content on your online website.

How is it a hustle for entrepreneurs? Well, you can make money with blogging by adding affiliate marketing links in your content, promoting other people’s products and services on your blog, and by running your own or someone else’s dropshipping business through this blog.

So, a blog is actually a medium of promoting other side business hustles and helping you grow your customer base by reaching out to a larger online audience.

Running a podcast or YouTube is a similar concept. Only in a different medium.

5. Teach a Skill

You are an entrepreneur. You have the knowledge and expertise and in many cases professional experience as well. Using this treasure of work specialization you can teach others about business and the corporate world.

Or it may just be something that has been a hobby that you happen to be really good at.

Taking advantage of technology and the internet, you can provide online classes to remote students and charge a nominal fee for your services.

This hustle can also be extended to working professionals by offering them training workshops on various skills and technical expertise that you might possess.

Apart from online courses, you can also engage clients by providing them pre-recorded tutorials and other information resource material on various topics.

The key is to select the right subject and niche and target the people looking for effective teaching resources to gain knowledge. If you can nail that, it’s one of the most clever hustle ideas for entrepreneurs.

You can also start a chat group or discussion session and incorporate the input of other professional experts as visiting speakers.

6. Become a Social Media Influencer

Who doesn’t like to be famous? It is everybody’s dream. But it’s not that simple to gain fame. In the past, actors and actresses, TV show hosts, sportsmen, and other media personalities were regarded as stars of fame.

However, with the digital revolution in full swing, the parameters of being popular have changed. Today, personalities that have a large number of social media fans and followers are the ones that rule the quests for stardom.

Your presence on the social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube gauges your success as a popular personality and influencer of society.

Now you must be wondering how being a social media influencer is a good side hustle. The answer is simple.

With the power to affect the buying decisions of your fans and followers, you have the authority, position, and knowledge that your audience cherishes.

For using it as a side hustle, you can simply choose a niche of your choice based on your skills and talent and grow your fan following on anyone or several social media platforms.

With a strongly established social relationship with your audience, you can promote and market the products of others. Using this platform to earn an income is done by monetizing your Instagram or YouTube account.

You can generate money by engaging in sponsored posts, takeovers, and selling products on your own website.

For every post that you put on your social media account, you can charge the product seller a set amount of money. It’s ingenious and another of the most clever side hustles for entrepreneurs.

How to Start a Side Hustle

Well, now that we have provided you a few of the most attractive and clever side hustle ideas for generating some extra income, here are some tips on how to start this process effectively and ensure progressive success.

List Down Your Interests and Skills

Anything that you decide to work on must have your heart and soul involved in it. Only then you can gain success in the long run. A side hustle is something that is done in your free time and outside of your primary office job.

Therefore, it will require some extra willingness, motivation, and energy to stick to it. If you are not interested or passionate about it, you are most likely to let go easily.

So, when you are looking for a side-line business to start, make sure to brainstorm for ideas by listing down your personal key areas of interests and skills.

Assess the Investment You Need

One of the key characteristics of a side hustle is that it should not require a lot of investment from you to start. However, you do require some amount of money for every business.

Plan your financial requirements and spend according to a budget. Do not consider this business as unimportant because whatever you spend on it comes from your hard-earned savings.

You may not want to be putting in all your earnings from one job into growing the other.

Manage Your Time

Time is valuable for the success of a side business or secondary job. You need to proactively plan your schedules to allocate time for daily activities both for the primary day job and the secondary hustle that you plan to start.

Remain organized and plan well. Always allocate and schedule your time according to your priorities. Outline your daily activities and do not forget to take out time for family and relaxation.

You do not want to get drained and exhausted from this extra income.

Raising Financing for Your Venture

At some point, you may need to raise financing to fund your side hustle if the idea takes off and becomes successful. Here’s what you need to do next.

Keep in mind that in fundraising storytelling is everything. In this regard for a winning pitch deck to help you here, take a look at the template created by Silicon Valley legend, Peter Thiel (see it here) that I recently covered. Thiel was the first angel investor in Facebook with a $500K check that turned into more than $1 billion in cash.

Remember to unlock the pitch deck template that is being used by founders around the world to raise millions below.

Conclusion

With the existing pandemic situation leading to layoffs, distressing lockdowns, and , many people across the globe are facing financial problems.

To fight off this turbulent situation, we need to find out ways and means to generate an additional income stream. Having a few clever side hustle ideas for entrepreneurs is an effective way to stay afloat in these challenging times and even after that.

You need to select your secondary income source carefully and base it on your interests and existing strengths.

It will not only help you grow financially stable but also enable you to learn new skills, build on your existing brand and achieve professional independence in life.

You may find interesting as well our free library of business templates. There you will find every single template you will need when building and scaling your business completely for free. See it here.