Never heard of a
side hustle? Well, it just means making money on the side while working a 9-to-5
job or learning full time. Whether it’s babysitting, freelance writing, driving
for Uber, selling on eBay, or dog walking, people have found many creative ways
to bring in extra income. Maybe some of these will inspire you to start a side
hustle of your own.
I Scream, You Scream
Chaim Kohn,* who
lives in Lakewood and learns full time, runs a very unusual side hustle. Chaim
always had an entrepreneurial knack and tried various ways of making money
while learning full time. At one point, he had a website that brought in some
income, but traffic to the website eventually died. Then he tried to sell on Amazon.
But what really took off was his ice cream truck. The idea came to him one day
as he was driving and heard a non-kosher ice cream truck ring nearby. He
thought, “What if we had a kosher ice cream truck!?” This thought became
reality a year later after he was able to get a vendor’s license and find a
truck and a driver.
Chaim’s advice to
others with entrepreneurial ambitions is “It’s hard to start a business, but
people shouldn’t get discouraged. Discuss it with other people and try to
figure out how to test out the market without spending a ton of money.”
Here Comes the Chef
Ashira Mirsky is a
fourth-grade language arts teacher for boys in Torah Institute in Baltimore who
has always enjoyed cooking. Her cooking career started when she sent a recipe
to the Jewish Press, and they wanted
more! She wrote her recipe column, “Hubby is Hungry,” for five years. Meanwhile,
Kosher.com was started and grew, and Ashira eventually decided to become a
community chef with them. Her name got out, and one summer, a camp called her
to run a cooking competition. It was so successful that word of mouth spread,
and people started asking for competitions left and right.
At this point,
Ashira has traveled from Baltimore to West Virginia to LA to Chicago to
Lakewood to set up cooking competitions for parties and events. Yes, she flies
with all her equipment: pans, pots, utensils, everything! It is all stored
under the plane in baggage.
Ashira sets her pricing
depending on the number of participants and how far she has to travel. She can
be reached at hubbyishungry@gmail.com.
Woof! Woof!
Surifky Pomerantz
is a full-time mom who does dog breeding on the side in Monticello, New York. It
started with one puppy. The puppy was lonely, so the family decided to adopt
another one. Once they had two dogs, they ended up with puppies. It wasn’t
possible to keep that many puppies, so they started selling them. Breeding dogs
can be very lucrative if you have a breed that is popular, such as Labrador
retriever, golden retriever, French bulldog, or poodle. (For instance, a golden
retriever puppy can cost $1,000 to $3,500.) “Puppies can be separated from
their mother at eight weeks,” says Surifky, “but until then, it’s a complicated
process to feed the mothers and newborn infants the right vitamins and foods.” For
those who are considering such a side hustle, other expenses include food and
veterinary care, as well as time to give the puppies some basic socialization
and training. Inquiries can be sent to surifkyfine@gmail.com.
Honk! Honk!
When you’re not
working, you could be driving! Many elderly people often need rides to and from
weddings or doctor’s appointments. Sometimes people need a ride to the airport.
It’s a great way to earn some money and do a chesed.
Chani,* age 19,
works in an office doing secretarial work in Baltimore, but when she gets home
at 4:00 o’clock she starts her side hustle of driving individuals to simchas,
appointments, and more. “The hours are flexible, as I can decide which rides I
can or cannot do, and the pay is good. I charge $50 per hour, prorated, which
means a ride of 15 minutes would cost $12.50,” Chani notes.
Chani shared a
funny story about the time she got a call from her former 12th grade
teacher, who needed to run to a dentist appointment. While together in the car,
they laughed about those days, as Chani told her old teacher what she was up to
in life.
“Bottom line is,
all you need is a car, car insurance, and gas, and you can do this job! Start
by taking out an ad that you offer rides, and you’ll find that your name will
spread by word of mouth.”
Me and My Side Hustles
I myself have
several side hustles. I got my start in middle school when my father asked me
to mark some tests. He’d usually treat me with a Danish or something small. But
marking tests for teachers definitely has potential as a side hustle for those
who want to make some extra money. Advertise your test marking service in your
local paper, and I’m sure many teachers will call!
I started making
money while in high school by using my piano and guitar skills to give lessons
to children. It took some advertising in the beginning, but as I got more and
more students, my name got out, and people started calling me. Eventually, I
had a waiting list. It’s been six years now, and I’ve been able to go from
charging $40 to $120 an hour.
Another hobby of
mine is drawing realistic faces. It started in tenth grade when I was bored in
class. By eleventh grade, I realized that I could make money selling my
drawings. It started off with simple pencil portraits and eventually progressed
to oil paintings. The largest painting was 40x40 inches, and it sold for $400.
Now that I’m older
and have a full-time job as a social worker in a nursing home, I’ve
taken a break from painting, although I have recently started lessons again to
see if I can sell some more paintings.
I also have a
small side hustle doing graphic design. When someone has a simcha, they often
want to send invitations to the kiddush, bar mitzvah, or wedding over WhatsApp,
text, or email. I use an app called Canva, which makes designing an e-vite very
easy. The app has lots of templates, so I can quickly add all the necessary
information and send out the final copy for a charge of $10 per e-vite.
A Beautiful Job
Hair and makeup
are another lucrative side hustle for those who have a knack for such work.
Esti* says it’s her hobby and creative outlet. She works 9-to-5 at a wig
company but loves the chance she gets to side hustle. “A lot of people do this,”
she says, “but there is still a market for it, and you can charge a lot!”
Esti works as a
pre-school teacher in Monsey from 9:00 to 2:30. After that, she takes out her
brushes and eyeshadow and starts making the rounds to different houses offering
in-home service. She finds that she gets about five to 10 clients per week and
charges $70 a face. Faces take from 60 to 70 minutes to do. Kallahs take more
time and cost more as well.
Order in the House
Shana, from
Lakewood, was initially hesitant to participate in this article. “I don’t
consider myself as someone who is ‘working,’ Shana says. “I’m a mom full time
and always will be, although I do have a very small side hustle in which I make
some extra money.”
Well, who says
that being a mother and housewife is not work! In fact, it may be the most
difficult – and important – job in the world. Shana is gifted in her ability to
clean and organize, and she shares her gift with others through her organizing
business. “With a lot of women working, mothering large families, and trying to
do it all, getting their homes into shape can be challenging,” she says. “Personal
organizing is a great side hustle for those with a ‘neat streak.’
“It’s easy to get
into. You take a short course in organizing, and once you get the knowledge and
skills down pat in your own home, you can take them into the homes of others. I
personally only work once or twice a week, and I charge about $70 an hour. But
I know many others who work many more hours and charge more or less.”
Blogging Along…
Meet Baila* from
Illinois. Baila has a growing Instagram account with about 10K followers. Her
content is all about kosher cooking and baking. While she doesn’t make any
money on producing her own content, she does make money advertising cooking
gear on her Instagram posts.
The way it works
is that companies reach out to her and ask her to review their products. She
reviews the products, creates a post for her page, and includes a special code
for her viewers to use if they purchase the item. She makes about $5.00 per
purchase when someone uses her code.
“It’s difficult
getting companies to advertise on my blog, but once they do, the money does
come in and makes it worth it. What you need is followers, and for that you
need to create original content. It’s hard work but definitely fulfilling. The
best part is that it doesn’t cost any money to start an Instagram account.”
Singing a Song…
Fraidy* from Long
Island has a wonderful way to use her talents in a small side hustle. Fraidy
has a beautiful voice. During the day she’s a nurse at a local hospital, but at
night she does singing and kumtzitzes at various events. She started by advertising
in the local Jewish paper, and as word about her singing service got out,
people started to call her to do mini-concerts for bas mitzvahs, luncheons,
dinners, and sometimes just kumtzitzes. She charges $100 an hour and usually is
booked five nights a month. She only books women and girl events, but there are
many out there! So if you have a beautiful voice, don’t hesitate!
There are many
ways to make one’s parnassa. It’s always fun to get creative and see
what the market has to offer. If you have an idea, my advice is to go for it.
Start small and see where the idea goes. You never know how big something can
get. Try, try, and keep trying. You’ll find your niche eventually.
*a pseudonym
