This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Side hustle school episode 2,555, also known as New Year's Eve Eve, tomorrow is New Year's Eve, at least in terms of the calendar. So this is the day before New Year's Eve. Welcome, welcome, thanks for tuning in. Today we're gonna talk about something that has been on a lot of listeners' minds throughout the year, inflation. And specifically in this case, a listener reports in, inflation is killing my hustle.
He reaches out with a burning question. As I said, a lot of people have been thinking about it. He's wondering how to keep his side hustle lucrative amidst all of the issues of inflation and such. Everything just costs more. I'm sure you've noticed that.
Everything costs more everywhere. In some cases, there've been some really crazy examples. You go to the restaurant and things are just, it almost seems like twice as much in some cases. Maybe that's some exaggeration, but that's how it feels for a lot of people. So this listener is making some money.
He's pocketing an extra $1,500 a month. But of course, as costs rise, that money doesn't stretch as far as it used to. So what do you do? I mean, there's one obvious solution. You can probably think about what it might be, but there might be some other ideas too.
So we'll talk about the obvious solution and perhaps some alternatives. Let's strategize on keeping the earnings robust, even when the economy does something different. Inflation is killing my hustle. His question, my answer coming right up. [Music]
Hey Chris, this is Marco calling from Pennsylvania.
So I heard about side hustle school from a coworker and I've actually been using it to supplement the strategies for my side gig. Despite making an extra $1,500 a month, inflation is actually starting to eat into my earnings. The struggle is real. What kind of strategies can I employ to maintain or even better increase my side hustle income in the face of rising prices? [Music]
Marco, I hear you.
I think everybody knows, as mentioned, the effects of inflation like what we've seen this year. I guess this year in particular, kind of follow up to the pandemic and some of the stimulus packages that occurred and such and just changes around the world, supply chain issues, everything that has affected the economy and so on. So what can you do? Well, what do you do as a side hustler? You are proactive and you don't just complain.
You ask yourself, what can I do to take advantage or at least to adjust? How do I adjust or evolve given the nature of so much change? So the biggest thing you can do, I mean, just to be really obvious here, and I'm sure our listeners thought about this too, the biggest thing is you have to raise your price, like raise your rates. If you are providing a service, you gotta raise your prices periodically, especially to offset inflation. And just think about it as a consumer.
You understand this is happening, you know everywhere prices are going up. So don't be afraid to do that yourself. If you're selling a product, same thing, everything costs more. So that's the biggest thing you can do. But also, okay, use this as an opportunity.
Perhaps it's time to expand your offerings, like what new product or service can you offer that complements what you're already doing? So it's not just about adjusting for inflation, it's growth. It's how can I grow my business during this time? How can I add value to my customers and also increase my revenue? And as part of that, think about automation, delegation, what can you do?
What are you currently doing that somebody else could do? What could be automated or outsourced, giving you more time to focus on higher value aspects of your hustle? So overall, I think it's better to focus on growing your income than cutting costs. I think, you know, as a wise side hustling move, it's always better to think about what can I do to increase income? I mean, it's good to be responsible in cutting costs, but I think you're gonna be more successful and respond to a changing environment better if you focus on what you can do to diversify and increase your income.
Every challenge of course is an opportunity. Marco and all of our listeners, I am cheering you on, wishing you well, especially here at the end of the year, looking ahead to a whole new year with opportunities and challenges. But let's make the most of it together, right? I'll be here. I hope you'll continue to join me.
Thank you so much for being out there. My name's Chris Guillebeau. You're listening to "Side Hustle School." [Music]
from the Onward Project.
