Put your free time to work: Here are 8 lucrative side hustles for you to explore in 2022

In this day and age, having just one income is no longer as safe. To be financially independent faster, a side hustle is a way to go to reach there.

A side hustle generally refers to a way to make money outside of your nine to five job. They are usually freelance, part-time, or hobby-related jobs.

Side hustles allow you to have more than one stream of revenue. With multiple streams of income, it empowers one to have either more savings or have the freedom to buy the things he or she needs and wants with less financial worries.

As we close the chapter for 2021 soon, we take a look at a couple of side hustle ideas that you can consider as you start planning your new year’s resolutions.

For those who don’t plan resolutions, you can always take the time to see the various opportunities to earn a side income in our list below. For all you know, it might just be something of your interest and you might want to know more about growing that into a money tree.

Home-based baker, online food store

Know how to cook a mean meal of laksa? How about some high-level baking skills that make your friends always show up unannounced?

Home-based food businesses have been on the rise due to the pandemic. People who used to bake or cook only for their families are trying out selling food via their own Instagram, or Carousell. Why? Because it’s just so easy to do it.

Many people have also turned to cooking during this period to destress (guilty as charged) and in that experience, they realise that they enjoy working in the kitchen.

You can start small, by making food and products for friends and family first. Then start charging for the food that you make. Many home-based food businesses started from their neighbours, friends, and family too.

You will earn your keep according to the demand of your food, so take nice pictures and get customers to post their reviews early on as a head start.

Food delivery rider

The food delivery scene is not going away. The fact is shown by the latest e-Conomy report from Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, which showed that the food delivery sector in Southeast Asia grew 33 per cent in Gross Merchandise Value from a year ago.

In Singapore, it’s easy to sign up online to be a food delivery person. You can start making money on the road by signing up on the food delivery companies’ websites online and downloading their mobile phone apps.

What’s great is that it is fuss-free as you get to collect and wear uniforms from the food delivery companies and use their food storage bags to transport food. The resources are provided for you, you just need to do the work.

You’ll get to take home around S$10 to S$20 per hour, according to Glassdoor stats. The food delivery companies no longer publish their rider pay structures to remain competitive.

Some delivery people choose to ride bicycles and personal mobility bikes in low-density areas like Seng Kang and Punggol. But do read up on the road safety rules before you embark on this side hustle, as there are strict rules enforced by the Singapore Traffic Police.

Ride-hailing driver

Heading home after work? Why not turn on Grab, TADA, or the Gojek driver app to see if you can pick up a passenger and earn some income at the same time?

This is environmentally friendly and reduces your carbon footprint too, as you are sharing each car ride with more people.

You will need a car for this to work as a side hustle. All you need to do is to just get into your car, turn on the app, and you can start work, how simple is that. When you are free on the weekends you can even do a couple of hours of rounds and make a quick buck.

Based on Grab’s income calculator, you can earn around S$617 a week as a part-time Grab driver if you work three hours every day. If you drive casually, then the income will be less of course.

That’s not too bad for a few hours of work. The only expense will be the mileage on your car and the petrol costs.

Yoga instructor

Yoga is a gift to many people who try it out. It helps to soothe and relax the mind as well as keep the body toned at the same time.

For me, I am at most an intermediate level Yogi, but I too have many times considered taking on a yoga teacher training course to become a teacher and earn money as a side income. (This could be my 2022 new year resolution).

The standard route to becoming a yoga teacher is to complete a training course that usually requires a commitment of 100 hours (or more) or a couple of weekends. 

There are various types of courses, some specialise in the spiritual side of yoga, while others focus on vinyasa, which is a flow technique that is more rigorous.

Many yoga studios such as Yoga Movement and Yoga Mala teach the course, to be honest, you just need to have the money to pay for them. A course can cost a few thousand dollars to sign up for training and get a certification, so do the proper research to know what type of training you will be getting and what type of classes you can teach after.

Teachers can earn around S$45 per hour and up to S$65 per hour.

That’s really worthwhile if you are an enthusiastic Yogi and love going for classes. Why not just become a teacher and you can follow your passion, make new friends, and earn some moolah.

Spin or barre instructor

Are you a fitness junkie that goes to classes three times a week? Why not turn that hobby into a side income – you get to do what you like and earn money at the same time.

These classes not only allow you to keep fit and slim but also give you the adrenaline boost after each class.

Spin combines fast-paced cycling and strategic lighter rest intervals while you pedal on a stationary bike. Barre combines ballet, pilates, strength training, and yoga to create a dynamic full-body workout.

Spin or barre instructors seem to earn around what yoga teachers earn per hour.

There are a few ways to become a spin instructor – via online courses or take up a five-week physical course with gyms like Absolute Cycle.

As for barre, many studios offer instructor courses. WeBarre offers an instructor training course with certification. Barre enthusiasts can go for the course to deepen their own understanding of barre techniques and join the team after completing the course.

Some courses require time commitment, so be prepared to use up your off days for this endeavour.

Livestream influencer

Livestreaming has become the craze over the past year. People are signing up for TikTok and BIGO LIVE, as well as tuning in to fish market sellers talking on their Facebook lives.

You could be selling your own products, or just appearing pretty and talking to your followers, and money comes streaming in, literally. According to Millennial Money, small time streamers can earn from US$50 to US$1,500 per month.

Got some talent and want a platform to show it but you are just not ready for the big stage yet? Become a livestream influencer.

Influencers can sign on Singapore’s livestreaming app BIGO and start growing your followers. The gifting application on the app allows followers to “send virtual gifts” to influencers.

Followers can send virtual “diamonds” to you, which are worth US$0.3474 per diamond. To earn about US$1,000, you will need to receive about 3,000 diamonds.

Handicrafts seller

With more staying home and having nothing to consume but the internet, it has led to a burst of home-based craft sellers on social media who have as little as a few hundred followers to thousands.

You can sell your handmade designs on your own Instagram, or in stores like Shopee or Etsy. You can also list your products on Facebook groups or pages with zero investment.

This can include selling carved rubber stamps, pouches, and even artworks. For those who are more hands-on, you can also make earrings to sell.

The pricing is up to you, as some sellers even sell stickers from S$1.00 each.

The latest craze to hit the local crafts market are the “Ugly Portraits” sold on Shopee. Hand drawn by a Singapore artist, the person sells the drawings at S$4.00 to S$10,00 a piece. The Shopee listing showed that the seller has sold 338 pieces, which translates to almost S$3,000. That’s not too bad for some ugly pieces of drawings.

Carousell seller

Believe me, there’s always something in the house that you don’t want. I believe that can be the pants that you can no longer fit in, or an ornament someone that’s not close to you gifted you and is taking up too much space.

With the year-end period in full swing, you can take this time to slow down and declutter your home for the new year.

I used to sell items on Yahoo auctions and physical flea markets, but that would show that I’m a “boomer” and not hip. These days the trendy second-hand to-go place is Carousell.

You just need to download the app, register, and you can start selling things on Carousell. It’s easy to navigate and there truly are buyers who are bargain hunting for things that you may think are scrap.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. This is indeed true on Carousell.

Try second-hand tables, ovens, and even figurines. For those who see Carousell as a more serious venture, you can also sell items with larger price tags, like branded watches, lego collectibles, even XM studio toys (gasp).

Side hustles a “new normal”

We all know that having a side hustle in this period could be partly due to you being bored and stuck at home.

Although some employment contracts do restrict workers from taking on a second job, analysts say that such limitations are “unreasonable” unless the side job causes a conflict of interest with the main job.

There’s a need for a mindset adjustment from more traditional employers on workers “moonlighting”.

“The mindset has to shift, and also to really let employers know this is actually an employee engagement,” said Adrian Tan, a future of work strategist with the Institute for Human Resource Professionals. 

The expert urged employers to think of allowing staff to pursue their interests as an employee benefit, similar to implementing flexible work arrangements.

Shifting towards a performance-based approach rather than an input-based (clock in how many hours a day) can help to retain capable employees and appeal to millennials and Gen Zs.

Indeed, when workers return to the desks happy and fulfilled, they get more productive too.

Featured Image Credit: WeBarre, Whiskdom, BIGO LIVE, CruCycle