Side Hustle

Most people that I talk to about Airbnb agree that it’s a cool concept. Now that Airbnb has become pretty mainstream, my guess is that most of you have used it before or at least know someone who has. At this point, I think it’s probably more surprising to find someone who doesn’t know what Airbnb is.

Even though there are a ton of people using Airbnb on the guest side, the majority of people I talk to are understandably hesitant about actually hosting guests on Airbnb. I definitely understand the concerns – they’re ones I still think about as an Airbnb host. My biggest fears are having someone steal from me or otherwise mess up my house. Luckily, nothing like that has happened to me yet.

Even though I know that most people won’t sign up to be an Airbnb host, I still always try to convince people to at least give Airbnb hosting a shot. My rationale is that you don’t need to do it all that time. Instead, you can just try it out a few times and see what it’s like. If it’s too weird for you, you can just deactivate your listing. At most, you lose a bit of your time. But I think even people who are weirded out by having a stranger in their house can handle hosting someone in their home for just a few days per year. Why not challenge yourself and see?

A huge point of controversy in the sharing/gig economy world has been how to classify those of us who work in it. Most people reading this have probably seen or read about lawsuits challenging Uber’s classification of its drivers as independent contractors, rather than as employees. The same lawsuits have been raging on with basically every app out there in this space, including delivery apps like Postmates, DoorDash, and Caviar.

I’ve sometimes wondered if the folks fighting to be classified as employees understand the huge benefits they could be giving up by going that route. Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand the problem with misclassifying workers. Most people need the benefits and protections that come with traditional employment.

But, I suspect that many people fighting to be classified as employees under these apps don’t really understand what they stand to lose.

Welcome to this month’s side hustle report! If you’ve been following along, each month, I document what I made using various sharing economy and gig economy apps. It’s pretty great to have a little bit of extra income coming in each month for things that I’m basically already doing…

Welcome folks to another side hustle report! People seem to love these reports because they give some insight into whether any of these quirky side hustles that I do actually make me any money. It’s not every day that a “big shot” lawyer hops on a bike and becomes a delivery man!

Now for the usual background. For those of you new to this, each month, I document what I earned doing various side hustles outside of my day job. These side hustles are primarily done using sharing economy and gig economy platforms (think of things like Airbnb and Uber). The great thing is that anyone can do these type of side hustles. You don’t need to get a business plan or invest any capital. Instead, just utilize the skills and resources you already have.