How to Start a Side Hustle During a Recession

   As finances get tighter across our country, the #1 rule to starting a side hustle during a recession is VALUE!  You have to be able to ADD VALUE to the lives of folks who are already hurting for cash. If people are struggling to pay their mortgages, they’re probably not going to set aside income to purchase items from your trinket business upstart.  So you have to figure out what NEEDS they have and how you can help!  

Here are some suggestions:

  1. Mow yards.  This is my #1 go to for surviving a recession because there are always older folks who cannot mow their yard, and most of them are on a fixed income that isn’t affected by the economy.  As an additional benefit, during the social distancing of the coronavirus, you are typically all alone when riding/pushing a lawn mower.  
  2. Create digital content.  How can this add value to people’s lives?  Create small YouTube videos that offer suggestions for family game nights.  Start a Facebook page that offers downloadable worksheets to help kids with their beginner math skills. Or maybe this is the time to kick off that blog or vlog you’ve been thinking about. 
  3. Clean small offices.  My wife has “the gift of cleaning” (by that I mean she is a clean freak and is one of those weirdos who likes to clean!!!) and started a small cleaning business via word of mouth.  Additionally, at a time when all of the cleaning supplies are being snatched up faster than they can be put out, she also sells Norwex cleaning supplies from home. (Buy some Here)

Again, if you want to start a side hustle during a recession (or depression) you have to ADD VALUE to people’s lives.  Get creative and think about what might add value to your own life. Think about it, if you could hand off one of your life responsibilities to someone right now so you can focus on surviving, what would you hand off?  

Remember, this might not be the time to start the side hustle you want; it might simply be the time to start the side hustle you need.  This doesn’t have to be your long-term plan…right now we just gotta keep food on the table!  

We have a saying in our house that I have drilled into our kids, “When the work gets hard, we work harder.”  It’s time for you to get to work!

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