Why we LOVE side hustles!
Sometimes side hustles get a bad rap. For instance, we were surprised when this article about a 26 year old who set and achieved a goal of making over $100 a day from over a dozen different side hustles got posted on Facebook. The comments were scathingly negative, mostly from people who had never even bothered to read the article.
Those people missed the entire point, which was to illustrate that there are lots of ways to make money independent of a job, even though the woman in the article chose to keep her job and used the side hustles to make extra cash for a down payment on a house.
While we sympathize with the tired people leaving negative comments on that Facebook post who must work multiple jobs to make ends meet, that was not at all what the article or this woman’s goal was about! And it is sad that they wrote it off without further investigation because there are some important lessons here, especially if you are neurodivergent.
4 Reasons Why We LOVE Side Hustles!
When successful they can replace your current job.
They let you follow your passions or current obsessions.
There’s a side hustle that fits with any type of neurodivergence and every type of person.
You can start small and grow. Meaning you can build your new business slowly while keeping your current job until you can afford to quit. And if you don’t have a current job, a side hustle can be a great use of your time that gains you valuable skills and might just replace the need for a job at all.
Here at ND Works, we love side hustles. Not because we want you to work multiple jobs. But because they can be important stepping stones to a much more satisfying job/career and a significantly improved life!
Really, a “side hustle” is nothing more than a small business or freelance enterprise you can start and run in your spare time. That’s an opportunity, not a negative!
We may not like the economic fact that some people need side hustles to survive. But we do LOVE the fact that a good side hustle can sometimes be the fastest way for neurodivergent people to finally find career success and financial independence.
Entrepreneurship and self-employment can be a good match with many forms of neurodiversity. That’s because there are so many different businesses, services, and independent ways to make money. Not to mention so many ways of doing them.
No matter what kind of accommodations you need for your divergence, there is likely a profitable side hustle/potential business you can build around it.
If you don’t have any ideas, check out one of our favorite podcasts, The Side Hustle Show, for tons of extremely diverse side hustle ideas and how to get started with them. There is something for everyone in the show’s archives and even if one of these exact ideas is not for you, learning about what other successful entrepreneurs have done is an excellent way to get your own creative juices flowing and come up with outside-of-the-box side hustle ideas that will work for you.
Not sure if entrepreneurship is for you?
While freelancing and entrepreneurship works for many ND individuals, it isn’t for everyone. If you’re on the fence or unsure if this would be a good path for you, take our free Entrepreneurship Assessment and find out. It takes just a few minutes to complete, will help you determine your best course of action, and comes with a free follow-up call with ND Works CEO and mentor Kate Lynn.