No one would ever complain of having more money, especially for Malaysians coming over to Singapore to make a living.
Apart from contributing back to society, having a job allows us to go after other goals and aspirations in our lives. It can be either as simple as buying yourself something that you like or going on a dream vacation.
The pursuit of personal goals and personal time led to the coining of the term – F.I.R.E which stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early. Though there is no official credit to who coined the term, FIRE traces its roots back to potentially 3 separate individuals:
- Timothy Ferriss, an American author, and entrepreneur who wrote the book The 4-Hour Workweek;
- Jacob Lund Fisker, writer, and owner of the website Early Retirement Extreme (ERE) and
- Pete Adeney, who owns the blog Mr. Money Mustache.
There are many different ways to attain and achieve FIRE. But whether it’s via building up a new business, or investing, they all share one thing in common – you need capital to get started.
It does sound depressing when the solution to get make more money when you do not have enough, is to have money to get something started. If you are still stuck in a phase where you do not have enough capital to get something started, you might need to consider selling your time to obtain more income.
In short, getting a side hustle or part-time job to boost your earnings. Sounds pretty easy, but what kind of side hustles are available?
Here is a list for you to consider.
Best Side Hustles for Malaysians in Singapore
1. Sell your time
Being a ride-hailing driver or food delivery rider is one of the part-time jobs with the lowest entry barrier. You will be selling your time for money.
It also offers the best flexibility as well. There really isn’t any fixed start or ending time, nor is there a fixed working period. However, do note that your potential earnings also depend on the hours you are willing to put in and also certain bonuses and incentives.
To some, it might not seem like a lot. But the flexibility it offers is the most important. You might require some basic skills, like riding and driving. When to start and end and how long to commit all depends on each individual.
It is certainly a side job that takes up time and energy, which is the price to pay for the flexibility the nature of the job offers. But for those who have spare time after official work hours and during the weekends, it is definitely one of the easiest ways to boost your income.
Becoming a driver or rider is basically one way to sell your time for money – you just need to portion out some time to run some errands and get paid.
Alternatively, if you do not possess any driving skills or riding skills, there are plenty of part-time gigs that you can sign yourself up for.
2. Sell a product
Starting a business now is easier than ever.
Finding what products you are interested in and have the ability to make a profit from trading is the tough part.
But you would be surprised, on online marketplaces, that people are selling the same exact products as official companies’ websites, sometimes at a much cheaper price. So it boils down to whether you have the means and opportunities to secure the supply of a product at a cheaper price and sell it off for a profit.
Those who are more sophisticated can create products and artifacts to sell. Perhaps you have a passion for cooking or baking. Or perhaps you have good handicraft skills?
That said, it is advisable to get your side business registered. You can start off as a part-time sole proprietor. Who knows, the part-time efforts could eventually mushroom into something bigger?
3. Sell your skills
Back then, having a skill was mostly confined to just a leisure hobby. But these days it can be monetized and used to generate extra income.
Know how to swim and have a passion for teaching? Sign up as a swimming coach.
Love drawing and don’t mind imparting the skill? Be an art teacher.
The internet has enabled skills to be marketed and delivered without concerns about physical logistics. Equipped with the necessary skills, you can accept gigs for copywriting, voice recording, and music arrangements from websites like Fiverr and Upwork.
Selling a skill or service will definitely bring in more quality income but it may come with jobs with tight schedules sometimes. But if you have built credibility in delivering, there are no qualms about charging a premium for urgent requests.
Earning more over a lesser time frame – now that is quality earnings!
4. Content creation
Influencers. The dream jobs of the younger generation.
Putting aside the notion of how distorted the current generation is with regard to having a career, content creation is a no-brainer side hustle that anyone can kickstart.
The caveat is that it’s easier said than done. It requires a lot of troubleshooting, tweaking, and enhancing. Whether you opt to be a socialite dancing to famous TikTok snippets, or creating deep and insightful niche content like I do right now, there are a lot of effort and sacrifices.
Fame and money favor the brave and the initiated. The successful content creators that have made it, are just the very few that succeeded in mastering content creation and also the platform algorithms.
A good example of such is creating an article on working part-time jobs or side hustles, which taps into the mass public’s deepest desire to have more disposable income. But that doesn’t mean that everyone is willing to sacrifice time and effort to bring in this secondary income.
A side hustle is just a means to expedite your financial goals
I will be honest with you. It takes a lot to build a successful side hustle or even a part time job to supplement and grow your income.
Even if you are doing content creation or selling a skill, that usually pays more than other gigs, there will be plenty of occasions that you are sacrificing sleep or personal time.
If it’s all just about the money, you’ll be burnt out pretty quickly. There must be some form of passion that keeps you going. This article is crafted over a span of a few days and will be completed on a late Saturday morning – a period when most people are either hiking, running, or chilling at cafes.
Ultimately though, I plan to either plough my income and side income into the market to grow my portfolio or to reinvest it to upskill myself. It’s just a means to expedite me to where I want to be in the future.
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