The digital world has enabled niches for all kinds of professions, interests, skills, and other pursuits. In particular, it has completely revolutionized the way people look at jobs, especially when it comes to the number of jobs they can concurrently hold.
There are many people who would love to have a second, well-paying job. It doesn’t matter if they want to earn a little extra money, have the dream to start their own business, or just need a new challenge. People constantly search for new and interesting jobs they can have on the side. Everyone has heard that blogging or child-care is a good route to go, but for those looking a little more outside the box, here are five start-up businesses you can run after hours:
- College Admissions Essay Editor – Every parent wants their child to succeed and get into the best college they can. But for many young applicants, essays prove to be the stumbling block. If you are they type to enjoy reading 500+ word essays on how George Washington is the best, then this is the start-up business for you. Parents are often willing to pay a large sum for their child’s college application essays to be read and edited so they stand out from the rest.
- Buying and Selling Domains – This is more of a luck based business, although it also take some skill and forethought. The principle is to buy cheap domain names, and sell them for a tidy sum. This can be done by buying domains with key words that would probably be desired by a company in the future. Depending on luck, this can be extremely lucrative. The domain Insure.com was sold for $16 million.
- App Design Development – This is quite self-explanatory. People are always looking for solutions to their problems. Take Uber for instance. They saw a need (aka. a quickly available car) and offered a solution via app. If you can pinpoint a possible societal problem and offer the solution in app format, you might even be able to quit your day job.
- Human Billboard – This is definitely not a job for the weak of heart. An article in Ryan Robinson, gives some stats: Renting out your beard, for example can earn you as much as $5 a day while having a brand logo tattooed on your shaven head for five years could pay as much as $7,000. This is definitely not for the faint of heart, and is a little extreme for me, but nonetheless it’s been done. You can start by holding a placard or wearing a sandwich board.
- Social Media Guru – Last but now least, this is a job that almost any young millennial can take on. It merely involves helping those with less social media experience figure out whatever given app they are struggling with. It also may involve helping small businesses come up with a social marketing plan. If you are the type that is always using social media, this is probably the side-job for you.
In the end, there are many good ways to start a small business and make a few bucks. What is important is finding the job that appeals to you, and making sure you maximize the power of digital media to spread the word!