Are you looking to earn extra money, gain entrepreneurial experience, and build a network? A side hustle is often a part-time job or business that you engage in alongside your primary occupation.
For some students, side hustles allows them to earn money in Singapore. It is also an invaluable learning experience to develop soft skills such as marketing and finance to include in their resumes. For others, it may be the start of pursuing your interest in becoming an entrepreneur or business owner.
Successful entrepreneurs often understand that the journey is as crucial as the destination and this can start with a side hustle. While some may require more capital such as this restaurant run by two polytechnic students, other easy side hustles can be started with less capital. In this article, we explore five easy side hustles to venture into and provide tips on how to manage them successfully.
Why Start A Side Hustle?
Starting a side hustle can provide numerous benefits, including:
- Earning extra money to support your studies or personal expenses
- Gaining entrepreneurial experience and building a network
- Developing valuable skills such as marketing, finance and time management
- Pursuing your passion and interest in a particular field
5 Easy Side Hustles To Venture Into
While some side hustles may require some prior knowledge and practice, many others can be picked up quickly and require less effort and startup capital. They may also be more manageable and flexible for students with busy academic schedules. Check out some of the easiest businesses to start in Singapore and you may just find the launchpad for your entrepreneurial aspirations:
1. Affiliate Marketing
As an affiliate marketer, you advertise a product on behalf of a company to help generate web traffic or leads for their products or services. You earn extra commissions for doing well and you can work with different companies at the same time. With just your mobile phone and products sent to you by companies, you are good to go!
Some everyday examples of affiliate marketing in action include:
- Product reviews and recommendations: You read a blog post about the “best running shoes for beginners” and the author mentions their favourite pair with a link to buy them online. If you click that link and purchase the shoes, the author might earn a commission from the sale.
- Social media influencers: You see a fitness influencer on Instagram using a new protein powder and they rave about its benefits in their caption. They include a discount code in the caption, which is actually an affiliate link that tracks their referrals. If you use the code and buy the protein powder, the influencer gets a commission.
- YouTube tutorials: You’re watching a YouTube video on how to fix your leaky faucet. The video creator mentions a specific brand of plumber’s tape they recommend and includes a link in the video description where you can buy it. If you click the link and make a purchase, the video creator earns a commission.
2. Copywriting
If you feel more comfortable behind a camera, you can start your side hustles by writing text and copy used in marketing and advertising materials. With the increasing reliability and functionality of generative AI, it might make this side hustle easier and require less capital than the rest.
3. Online Tutoring
If you excel in a particular subject, consider offering online tutoring services. With video conferencing platforms like Zoom or Google Meet, you can conduct sessions from anywhere.
4. Home Baker
While the startup capital may be high with the need to purchase equipment and raw materials, and the need to meet certain regulations such as registering your business with ACRA, this side hustle has seen many successful entrepreneurs emerge from it. You might just be the next one!
Note: It is important to conduct some due diligence on whether any regulations govern your type of business in Singapore before you get started. For instance, starting a home-based food business in Singapore public housing, similar to Suguru Home Dining, is subject to HDB rules, specifically the Home Based Business Scheme. As tertiary students, you would already be juggling between your business venture and the heavy demands of school, hence preventive measures should be taken to ease worries arising from non-compliance.
5. Dropshipping
Without the need to own or operate a physical location to store or process inventory, a dropshipping side hustle can save you from requiring more capital. All you may need to do is build up your e-commerce store and promote your products on social media as you sell products online from the comfort of your home while outsourcing all your business processes to a supplier. You can start your side hustles with dropshipping companies such as Shopify or Amazon.sg.
As you get started with your side hustle and aspire to see it thrive, you may start to consider running it as a full-time business after you graduate or may just be curious about how to begin. You may also chance upon many other business opportunities in Singapore as you mature or expand your network. Hence, it would be good to have some useful tips on how to start a business in Singapore. Check out our previous article to learn more!
5 Tips To Help Your Side Hustles Thrive
Pursuing a business idea as a student can come with many challenges, but it can be a rewarding endeavour. Here are some tips you may want to keep in mind to help you navigate through this exciting intersection between entrepreneurship and education:
a. Time Management
Effective balance between multiple commitments is crucial in successfully managing and growing your side hustle. Create a schedule that allocates dedicated time for both studies and your side hustles. This can help with avoiding last-minute scrambles to complete assignments or business activities. Most importantly, remember not to neglect your well-being and schedule time for self-care and sufficient sleep.
b. Set Realistic Targets
It might be wise to define clear and realistic short-term and long-term targets for your side hustle. By breaking these goals down into manageable tasks, you can celebrate small victories along the way which can help you stay focused and motivated throughout the journey.
c. Broaden Your Network
Connecting with other student entrepreneurs and building relationships with potential customers and collaborators can be a source of knowledge, opportunities, and support. Additionally, you can also look for mentors with experience in entrepreneurship or your specific industry. Their guidance may be invaluable and may provide useful business ideas and tips, and advice on challenges you may face.
d. Leverage Your Resources
School resources like entrepreneurship centers can provide students with guidance and support, while free resources and exploring digital tools or platforms can be utilised to streamline your business operations. By taking advantage of technology, you might manage tasks more efficiently, especially while balancing student commitments. Furthermore, these resources may help reduce additional costs and keep operations lean. In turn, you can minimise your startup capital and optimise your working capital.
e. Embrace The Hustle
While there are many part time jobs for students out there, nothing beats being your own boss. Nevertheless, starting a side hustle as a student takes hard work and dedication so be prepared for long hours, setbacks, and moments of doubt. Mistakes are inevitable, but they offer invaluable lessons so be open to feedback, adapt to challenges, and view failures as opportunities to grow and improve. Remember, your passion and perseverance will fuel your journey as an entrepreneur.
Grow Your Small Business With Poss Capital
Transforming your side hustles into a full-fledged Singapore startup or small business might require more capital. Poss Capital understands the challenges aspiring business owners may face in obtaining additional financing quickly, be it for working capital or business expansion, especially if you are a student.
As a trusted private lender, we provide quick access to funds with no early repayment penalties through a fuss-free online application process. Contact us for a non-obligatory quote today.
