For a long time, growing up in Africa, especially in the western region, meant you had one path to take which was usually defined by an education in Medicine, Law or Engineering. To most of our parents and the generations before theirs, to succeed in life meant working very hard and long at a steady 8am to 5pm (or later) job in the hopes of retiring with a good pension package.
There was no alternate plan (Plan B) so we rolled with it. However, with recent advancements in technology and rapid globalization, people have found other means to succeed through entrepreneurship (Plan B).
At some point, some, if not all of us, have been tormented by the “which path should I take?” question. Plan A provides security/comfort of a steady paycheck but tends to seriously lack in the fulfillment department, while Plan B allows us to reach for the stars but takes a lot of tears, sweat, and even blood before a business breakthrough.
The good news though is that you can enjoy the pros and negate the cons of both by creating your own path through side gigs. Motherland Moguls, it is time to take destiny into our hands; to build castles that reach to the stars
1. Show me the money!
It is often said that the customer is king, but running a business teaches you that cash is the kingmaker. Let’s face it: life is expensive!
Starting a side hustle while maintaining your day job affords you the opportunity to cater to all aspects of your daily needs and set aside savings to build capital for your business.
2.Calculated Risks
Side hustles help you advance your career or business before taking any major risks e.g. changing careers or launching a business in a particular industry.
You can take incremental steps/investments and review to see if it is profitable.
3. Career diversification
It is the best way to prepare for an uncertain future and mitigate risks such as job loss or bankruptcy by creating the opportunity to develop multiple streams of income.
4. Experience/Career accelerator
A side hustle enables you to build skills and new business ideas that kill it at work and makes you an authority in your field of expertise.
It also increases your marketability by adding a wealth of experience to reference at job interviews and client meetings.
5. Experiment
It gives you the opportunity to explore different passions, experiment with creative ideas and find your purpose without the added pressure of having everything figured out.
6. Altruistic expression
Some moguls want to run the world while others want to save it. Solving the world’s problems could be a thankless feat but doing it as a side gig is rewarding enough.
Not only are you attending to your basic survival needs, you are also able to find fulfillment by playing your role in helping to shape your community for good.
7. Because you can
Why not? You are only young once. What better way to live than embarking on projects that either fail or succeed? By embracing failure, we learn to be/do better and by achieving successes, we build a better tomorrow.
Many have said in the past that the life of an entrepreneur is not for everyone. This much is true, however nobody ever said you could not succeed as a part-time entrepreneur. So a big shout to all our Motherland Mogul hustlers and to those thinking of starting something…Start!