Craig Murray loves to keep busy and his entrepreneurial spirit means he's never short on ideas. Photo / Andrew Warner
More people than ever before are harnessing their entrepreneurial spirit and finding ways to make extra money on the side doing the things they love.
Side hustles have risen astronomically recent years and some experts expect that trend will accelerate in the post-Covid-19 environment.
A Google search brings up dozens of pages containing lists of the easiest, most popular or lucrative side hustles that promise to make you money fast.
Some of the suggestions include becoming a virtual assistant, domain reselling, driving for Uber, managing social media for small businesses, and participating in marketing research groups.
But for many locals, their side hustles were born from personal hobbies or skills they developed until they became profitable.
Professor Susan Watson, interim dean of the University of Auckland Business School, said side hustles were becoming more popular because they were more feasible.
"People are monetising things they never thought they could before. Having a small business on the side is more possible now, there are more contract-type jobs out there such as Uber and Airbnb.
"It's easy to think of side hustles as a Millennial thing but when you look at Uber and Airbnb for example, you can see it's across the board."
Watson said there were benefits to having a side hustle beyond making some extra money.
"That would be the primary goal for most people I would think but it also allows you to develop skillsets around running a small business and it can give people more flexibility around how and when they work.
"For some people, they have abandoned their main job and their income is made up of multiple side hustles."
However, people had to be aware they were still required to pay tax on any additional income they received, she said.
"The law still applies and if you earn over a certain threshold you would be required to register for GST.
"Post-Covid we've seen the benefit of declaring all income sources as it has allowed people to access help like the wage subsidy. You can't claim that kind of support if you haven't declared your additional income."
According to The Purpose Business' NZ Shapers Report, a third of Kiwi Millennials - people born between 1984 and 2000 - had a side hustle in 2019.
The Purpose Business co-founder Jacqueline Farman said the report findings regarding side hustles were anticipated.
"There is more uncertainty around future employment so many are hedging their bets and building something up on the side.
"Many side hustles start out as hobbies and then the idea spreads until it gets to the point where it becomes self-sustaining.
"Never before have we seen a generation so driven by the entrepreneurial spirit. They are not only thinking about starting businesses but some have two or three businesses by the time they've reached their 20s.
"There is also much more of a focus on people following their true passions, rather than getting stuck in the daily grind."
However, Farman said the rise in popularity of side hustles was not limited to the Millennial generation.
"I think the opportunities digital business has opened up are available to everyone. People across all generations recognise that the idea of having a career for life is gone. There is the understanding that people need to constantly grow and develop their skills to remain relevant."
Never before have we seen a generation so driven by the entrepreneurial spirit.
Farman said setting up a business had become relatively easy in this digital age.
"You can easily reach a sizeable market online and particularly after Covid-19, people's attitudes towards working have changed dramatically.
"People have been working from home and that will continue for many in some capacity. Then the nativity around digital makes it easier to scale your business and reach a wide customer base.
"I anticipate side hustles are here to stay. There is more of a focus on supporting our local community and ensuring everyone is thriving and the ability to build an online business based on an idea is far more accessible to everyone.
"I suspect we will see side hustles explode post-Covid."
Rotorua woman Monisha Sharma, who says she would live and die for food, has taken her hobby of creating recipes and turned it into a multi-faceted business opportunity.
Sharma's Instagram Mon's Flavors was set up in 2016 as a side project to spread her love of cooking and help others realise how easy it is to make tasty, nutritious food.
Since then, her account has garnered more than 70,000 followers and has resulted in collaborations with several companies - and most recently, the establishment of local cooking classes, which sold out almost instantly.
All this has been achieved while Sharma has continued to manage at a local restaurant full time.
Sharma said while she never expected her Instagram account to take off, the success was hard-earned.
"I'm a multi-tasker and I am a hard worker. Every single thing you do requires hard work in order for it to succeed.
"I didn't even know what a hashtag was when I started the Instagram page. But people started following me, my profile grew internationally and I learnt as I went.
"The other thing you need is passion. You have to have a deep passion that drives you. For me, I wanted to make a difference in people's lives, tell them and show them how you can create good recipes with just a handful of ingredients."
Sharma said her motivation when starting out was not to make money, rather she wanted to "go into every household through my recipes to help others become better chefs".
"I have wanted to do the cooking classes for a long time because whenever people want an Indian curry they get takeaway instead of trying to make it themselves. This is because they don't have a knowledge of spices or how to mix and match different spices. That's where I want to come in and show them how easy it can be."
She said those wanting to start a side hustle shouldn't be afraid to share their talent or knowledge.
"I am happy to share everything I have and now I have a number of New Zealand businesses wanting to work with me. For example, persimmons are in season at the moment so 5+ A Day asked me to create recipes using them.
"I love creating recipes for different companies and that's something I want to continue doing because that's how I learn and challenge myself."
Sharma said she invested so much time into growing her side hustle because above all else, it made her happy.
"When I am working with food I never get stressed, it doesn't feel like work.
"I never thought I would create something, never thought I would be an influencer, never thought I would be collaborating with all these companies but I was focused, passionate and worked hard and that's how it happened."
Craig Murray never sits still for long.
When he's not managing the business events team at Destination Rotorua, he can be found running his side business, Intrinsic Events or doing an episode on his new podcast, Intrinsic Motivation.
Murray says it's his entrepreneurial spirit that drives him and he is always looking for ways to grow, learn and gain new experience.
His latest side hustles were not his first.
"In 2008 I was working for Coca-Cola and decided to start up a nightclub in Hamilton at the same time. I developed a brand called Flow Entertainment, from which we hosted international and national bands and DJs.
"I had that business for about five years and at the same time I was working with Surfing New Zealand, helping them run their surfing events."
Murray said he liked to keep busy because "it keeps the creative energy and mind working well".
"I'm really passionate about adventure sports and event promotion so while I may always be working, it doesn't feel like I'm working."
Murray has worked at Destination Rotorua since 2015 and when his partner Julia was offered a full-time role, Murray reduced his hours in order to care for their two young children.
"Since then, I developed Intrinsic Events and from that I ran an event called Adventure Expo, which was held at The Cloud in Auckland in 2018.
"It was like a home and garden show but instead it had surfboards, skateboards, GoPros, electric skateboards, climbing equipment, wine, beer, DJs."
From there, Murray has helped deliver the Giant 2W Gravity Enduro event and at the Whaka 100 he brought in businesses to be a part of a small trade show that could get value from the audience already at the event.
"I am now working alongside a company that manages some big events across the country to have Adventure Expo attached to their event."
Murray's latest venture is his business podcast, in which he interviews various people about what fires them up, their drive to succeed and how they got to where they are now.
"Intrinsic Motivation is the name of my podcast. To be intrinsically motivated is to be motivated for personal reasons. The opposite is to the extrinsically motivated - to be motivated by money.
"It already has an interesting audience base: 33 per cent are in America, 33 per cent are here, then the next biggest is Australia and then Belgium, surprisingly."
Murray said little capital was needed to set up a podcast, so if somebody wanted to give it a go there was no harm in trying to write, record and edit an episode.
"If you are looking for a side hustle, don't look too hard, follow what you like. And if you don't know what you like, try everything until you find something that makes you happy then go with that.
"I like listening to podcasts and it's a good way to help build a brand. Everything I work on is making me a better person with more experience.
"Personally I think if you're chasing dollars that's the fast way to losing because you are chasing the wrong thing. I am chasing happiness."
Stay at home mum Lily-Rose Featherstone uses her side hustle not to make a profit but to bring joy to others.
Featherstone has her hands full most days as a mum to Travis, 7, Harley, 5, and Charlotte, 2, but still finds time to sew baby blankets, hair scrunchies and baby flannels for Neonatal Trust NZ, which distributes them to neonatal units across New Zealand.
"I have always loved helping people and giving things to people. Since having my own children, I know the highs and lows of pregnancy, childbirth and parenting.
"I remember my birth experiences vividly and my time spent in hospital postnatally. With my first birth, I was transferred to the Rangiora birthing centre in Christchurch and an elderly lady from the Salvation Army came in with knitted booties and a book for my firstborn, it was one of the highlights during my stay.
"It was so nice to receive a sentimental little gift and I wanted to return this feeling of joy to other new mums and I wanted to serve God by cheerfully giving to others."
Featherstone also sews and sells baby doll blanket and pillow sets, with all the money she makes going towards buying more fabrics for the neonatal donations.
"I usually sew a few things a day, I do this when my littlest is having her nap and in the evenings when they are all in bed.
"I have had an influx of orders over the past few days as I am fundraising money for my church, as it has moved to a new venue.
"This has had me super busy and I've had to sew during the day but the kids have loved it and enjoy watching me sew. They help pull out the pins and cut the cotton."
Featherstone said having a side hustle was rewarding but people looking to set one up had to be prepared to work hard for it.
"Once you find the right groove that works for you and around your family, or work-life [balance], then it just flows but it's important to find something you are passionate about so you don't lose your drive.
"My motivation to keep going is first and foremost to glorify God and do the work H
e has provided for me to do.
"I want to help lift other mums up in their new journey and remember their time with their newborn, having a keepsake that they can remember forever."
1. Work out what your talent or passion is.
2. Identify where in the market your product sits and identify how to make your offering different.
3. Dedicate time to doing it. Particularly if it's content-based, you want to saturate the space to optimise exposure.
4. Focus on what you're passionate about, not just making money.
5. Spend a bit of money in your set-up so your product looks and feels professional from the outset.
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