A simple side hustle guide

At a time when the employment situation is not optimistic, side jobs have become the first choice for many professionals. How can a side job be created? The author of this article shares his views in detail through contract formulation, portfolio selection, etc., hoping to be helpful to everyone.

Recently, a lot of people have lost their jobs.

When I chatted with my friends before, we always talked about "growth, marketing, brand strategy" . But now, the topic has turned to "Is there a way to do a side job, how to make money through a side job" . It seems that it is really difficult to find a job now.

Faced with a sudden "breakup" of a company, or in addition to full-time work, everyone is wondering if they can do some private work to increase their income.

In the past, if the company knew you were doing a side job, they would think you were not focused on your work. Now, many companies and related departments turn a blind eye. After all, blowing out other people's lights will not make your own light brighter. If you have time, there is nothing wrong with exercising more.

But here comes the problem. I have many friends who are engaged in graphic design, operation and writing. They have a lot of skills but cannot get any work. Or, they have a lot of extra problems that give them a headache.

for example:

You may have to do several jobs at the same time, draft contracts and legal affairs, handle pre-sales and after-sales business affairs, communicate with customers about project details, and even provide professional advice. In this way, a side job is not so easy.

There may also be problems with overdue final payments, or the project you take over is not professional, or the contact person suddenly resigns. To be honest, I have also stepped into these pitfalls and done things that require multiple jobs. There are many roads in the world, but I just happened to catch up with the most winding one, and everything is tears.

Don't be scared by these questions. If you want to start a business in the future, going through the step of "self-employment" can bring you a lot of valuable experience. So, how should you start a side job?

01 You must first understand what it means to make money

I told you a story:

There is an island between the Philippines and Guam called "Yap Island". For hundreds of years, people on the island have used round stones with holes drilled in them as currency for exchange. These stones are called Yap Stone Coins.

People at that time did not need to move these stone coins directly. As long as they verbally promised to transfer the ownership and obtained the approval of the majority of the islanders, the transaction could be completed.

In 1989, after Spain lost the war with the United States, it sold Yap Island to the Germans. The Germans came to the island and needed to build roads for vehicles to use, but the islanders were unwilling to fulfill this requirement and they still walked instead of using cars.

what to do?

In order to change the islanders' minds, the Germans managed to paint black crosses on the stone coins. This move made the islanders mistakenly believe that the blackened stone coins meant that the Germans controlled the ownership of the stone coins. In order to regain control of the stone coins, the islanders were forced to participate in road construction.

After World War I, Japan seized the islands from the Germans and took away a large amount of stone coins for military construction.

Today, modern currencies have replaced the use of stone coins in daily life on Yap Island. However, stone coins are still considered a valuable medium of exchange in some traditional weddings and other important social ceremonies.

What can you see from this story?

Different observers see completely different things. There is a word in English called narrative, which is translated into Chinese as "narrative" or "three views". You can understand it as a description framework for the same thing.

Most people's daily life is work, going to work, driving, this is also their experience and thinking mode. But imagine, if an alien came to the earth, seeing these people, they might think that the earthlings are like ants, getting into beetles (cars) every day, and then being sent into the house (office).

In fact, our view on money is not much better than that of the islanders of Yap. Sometimes we focus too much on the form (skills) and forget what it takes to make money.

The narrative that most people have been taught since childhood is: study, work, save money, and then spend their old age in peace; however, if you suddenly encounter something and lose all your wealth, your past narrative will be disrupted.

Technological advancement has a huge impact on our lives and ways of thinking. If we always take "making money" as our goal, this narrative method may make it difficult for you to make money.

So, what is the more realistic way of thinking?

Realize that the first task in life is to "solve practical problems" ; secondly, before starting to solve the problem, you must first clarify and define what the problem is and find out the priority of the problem.

Furthermore, actual problems are not just superficial problems, but also involve deeper needs ; for the latter, after clarifying the problem, it is not necessary to solve it immediately, but to think about what tools and methods are needed to solve the problem, and sharpen the knife before sharpening the lamb.

Ultimately, most of your time should be spent on improving your tools and skills to solve problems , so that when you really need to take action, you will be able to do it with ease. This five-step complete narrative framework is a positive cycle that drives money making and is sustainable.

After understanding these, let’s see what everyone does?

There are indeed many people around me who are very good at writing public accounts. In the past few years, they relied on advertising revenue to maintain the operation of the team, but with the decrease in advertising revenue in the past two years, operating pressure has gradually emerged.

Advertising is just one way to make money, and over-reliance on it can make cash flow management difficult; if a company relies entirely on a single source of revenue, then once that source of revenue has problems, it may affect operations.

This phenomenon also applies on a personal level.

Many people hope to start a business through self-media (videos, public accounts), but they simply create and ignore market demand, and ultimately find it difficult to make a profit.

On the contrary, some friends who are good at creation (whether writing, editing, or design) have adopted a different strategy. They did not start by building their own media, but first thought about what practical problems need to be solved in their own fields.

They tried to find the intersection between their personal skills and these practical problems, and polished a set of solutions based on this. Then, they built their own self-media based on this set of solutions, which eventually brought considerable profits.

What conclusions can we draw?

Making money is not just about the skills you have or what you hope to do, but more importantly, it is about understanding and meeting the needs of others.

Everything we do should be closely connected to the needs of others. In this process, our skills and interests should be combined with the needs of others to create truly valuable products or services.

02 After understanding the needs, you need a portfolio

What is a portfolio? An important presentation tool.

Through it, you can quickly tell your clients who I am, what I have done, and what I will do. I always use notion to organize it, and you can also use PPT.

Whether it is my full-time job or some private activities, as long as I have done a project, it will be listed in the portfolio.

It is not like a resume, which includes the resume of various companies I have worked for, but at least I can use this method to let others know at a glance what I do and what my strengths are.

Whenever a new client needs my introduction, I will select some relevant works for them to see based on their needs. This is to tell them, don't worry, I have seen clients like you and I can help you solve your problems.

Take writing, for example:

My portfolio is divided into five categories, covering brand marketing, CEO interviews, agricultural assistance, private domain management, and some science and technology and humanities. I did not write about all of these fields at the beginning, but I established referrals through feedback from the client through one piece of high-quality content after another.

Take the host for example:

In the past, I could only organize 150 events a year at most. How did I get the clients?

Referral of works. Every time I finish an event, I usually ask a photographer to take a few photos on site, and then save them. If there are enough materials, I will make a PPT. Sometimes, with the consent of the organizer, I will give the photographer a small red envelope and ask for the opening clip. These can all become works.

In the era of gig economy, you must have a "work mindset".

It's useless to say that, just like when the organizer chooses a host, everyone will say what conferences I have held, how many years of experience I have, and what my style is. But no one can see whether you are doing a good job.

You have to go a step further than others and leave behind what you have done, which is the best proof of your strength; however, if you can publish your work on the Internet, you may be able to attract many new customers.

I noticed that some people are really great, but they don’t have a portfolio and don’t introduce themselves well, and ultimately miss out on opportunities to make money.

Why?

Think about it, if the project at hand is important or time is limited, would you choose to work with those who are talented but don’t have a portfolio, or those who have a portfolio but are average?

Most people will choose the latter. It’s a matter of attitude.

If a person does not even do a good job of basic introduction, it means that he is not ready to do business. Even if he is ready, you don’t know whether his business ability matches your needs. Even if the latter’s business ability is average, at least, in my opinion, he understands standardization and attaches importance to customer needs.

Why?

I remember one time, I asked an author to write a business analysis for a public account that specializes in brand marketing insights.

In the early stage, I, the client, and the author had communicated well in the group. However, the manuscript that guy handed in was not the type that the client wanted at all; I asked him to revise it, but he said, "I have my own writing style."

I was stunned after hearing this. After a deep chat with him, I learned that he had never written a customized manuscript in this area, so he was also confused when faced with this situation. In the end, I had no choice but to work overtime and revise it myself, which was quite embarrassing.

Do you see the importance of a portfolio? However, with it, you may also need to learn how to price yourself.

03 It has to be said that pricing is a mystery

How should I set the price? If it is too low, I will suffer a loss. If it is too high, I am afraid that others will not use it. What should I do?

A few years ago, when I first started taking jobs, I was not very good at negotiating prices. I had no business background, so I had no experience in negotiating prices. At the beginning, I always hoped that the client would just tell me how much they were prepared to pay, or have some standard, and I would charge according to that.

One time, a friend introduced me to a job that required me to host an event for three consecutive days; I happened to be free during that time, so I agreed.

After the event, I felt awkward and didn't know how to talk about money. A week later, I plucked up the courage to tell him that I wanted to calculate the return of my labor during this period; he told me that he was going to give me 1,200 yuan as the cost of these three days.

I felt mixed emotions. I did so much work, but was my job only worth 1,200 yuan?

Moreover, I remembered that in the past, I could earn 1,200 yuan in a few hours by doing an event in a shopping mall. Later, I thought that it was not someone else's fault, but my own fault for not actively proposing the price.

Later I realized that how I set my price is how others view my value.

I can't expect others to give me a fair evaluation, I have to fight for it myself. So, whether it's too little and I'm at a disadvantage, or too much and I'm afraid others won't accept it, it's all something I need to weigh and decide.

So, how do we measure it?

When determining the charging standards, there are generally four basic factors to consider: how much time is invested, the degree of complexity, whether it is urgent or not, how many personal connections are mobilized, etc.

If you really don't know how to set the price, you can set a price that you think you won't lose money at. Don't set it too high in the early stage. Don't think that you should set a high price just because you come from a big factory and have more qualifications than others.

In fact, price is constant based on value, and value is defined by the demander based on budget and project. Your experience is merely a plus and may not be exchanged for remuneration.

On the contrary, if you set your goal too high in the early stage, others will not use you and you will not have the opportunity to practice, right? In this regard, I think that if you suffer a few more losses, you will gradually understand how others in the industry do it.

When negotiating prices with customers, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Is the remuneration before or after tax? What is the tax point?
• Settlement method? For business or for personal use?
• When will the payment be made? After the project is completed? Or on a certain day of each month?

You need to formulate the first one. For the following ones, whether you are dealing with Party A or Party B, you need to understand the other party's situation before cooperating.

If the amount is relatively large, you can also ask for a 30% advance payment before starting work. However, this situation is not easy to achieve in reality, as it is difficult for you to influence corporate clients alone.

If you set up a company, the situation will not change much, unless your company's business is indeed strong enough and you have too many clients to handle. Everything is based on the deposit, but you still have to make the necessary requirements.

You don’t have to feel insecure about making demands. The goal of cooperation is a win-win situation. The other party pays in order to gain your value. In this kind of value exchange, setting some clear boundaries will help the project move forward.

These may not be comprehensive enough, but for individuals, they should be sufficient. If you are still not sure, you can sign a contract with the other party.

04 Do I need to prepare the contract myself?

Sometimes it is necessary, sometimes it is not. When large companies purchase projects, they usually have some template contracts, which is more efficient and more reassuring. If you draft a contract yourself, it may be more complicated.

I remember a few years ago, I cooperated with an e-commerce platform. The other party’s finance department did not have a contract, or maybe they were too lazy to draft one, so they asked me to prepare it.

After I had made all the preparations with great difficulty, the other party went through another set of procedures, including approval by the leader, legal review, stamping, mailing, etc. The whole process took 10 days. By the time the contract was signed, the work was almost done.

Another point is that if you cooperate with some small companies, you should take some time to understand their background. If the amount is not large, you can ask the other party to pay first, because the current economic situation is not good and companies are prone to bankrupt.

Once, I was working with a company for a week and was going to settle accounts. The contact person told me that he was laid off and the company went bankrupt. I asked him what would happen to my money? He told me that he had not received his own salary yet.

So, things are unpredictable. When you encounter this situation, the other party will feel uncomfortable and you will also be in a difficult situation. If you ask for it, the other party will resign. Even if you push it to a contact person, communication will be troublesome. If you don't ask for it, you have already paid the labor.

Having said that, large companies usually have their fixed suppliers, so it is unlikely that you can cooperate directly with large companies. Even if there is a chance to cooperate, the settlement cycle will usually be longer, but they will not refuse to pay you.

In comparison, the advantages of cooperating with suppliers (Party B) are more obvious, with a shorter settlement cycle and faster payment. Therefore, cooperating with Party B is a necessary path for you to take.

However, this process is a science.

Everyone wants to make money, and so does the second party. They work between the first party and you, and they make money from the price difference. So, where does this price difference come from?

There are two aspects:

1. From bottom to top

If the quotation you give has profit margin, Party B will recommend you to Party A. If what you make happens to be what Party A wants, then Party A will buy the service or product you provide.

2. From top to bottom

The head of a department of Party A has a specific need, and he is looking for similar works or ideas in the market. He accidentally discovers your work, and then recommends you to Party B. Party B, as an intermediary, finds you to help execute the project.

Therefore , this bottom-up approach gives you greater control over the negotiation process, and you can set the price of the cooperation. This approach is also easier to establish a long-term relationship with the other party, because they will understand that you can provide cost-effective and high-quality services.

From top to bottom, you will feel more at ease and valuable. When the client sees your work directly and is willing to pay the corresponding price, you will need to spend more time looking for customers and can focus on improving the quality of your work.

However, the disadvantage is obvious: you can’t know every client well enough. Therefore, you need to rely more on suppliers in the early stage, and when you have a certain influence, you can build your own business team.

Also, since the other party also needs to make a profit, they may lower the price of your service or take away part of the profit that they should have.

In any case, these are not very important in the early stage. Only by finding the needs, serving each customer well, and delivering value well, all orders will come in one after another. You are your own benefactor, and doing things well is better than anything else.

Overall

Even though the task is difficult, you will succeed if you do it.

Doing a side job is just like starting a business. In any industry, there may seem to be many people, but the players who make up the largest base in the industry are all rookies. As you climb up, you will see layers of people falling down.

The first are those who are not good at their business, the second are those who take shortcuts, and the third are those who have weak willpower. What you have to do is to keep crawling forward, and as you crawl, you will find that, “it turns out I can walk such a long way.”

Author: Wang Zhiyuan, public account: Wang Zhiyuan