8 Side Hustles You Didn’t Know Could Be Turned Into Full Time Jobs

By Lilian Wamaitha
We are all trying to survive these harsh economic times and that means finding ways of making more money.
If you are just starting your career, you know that no one will pay you 200K without experience and that means that you can relate to how life can get tough sometimes with that 20 or 30K.
This is why so many people have opted to start side hustles to generate more income.
But did you know that some side hustles can easily be turned into full time jobs? Let’s find out!
1. Events Planning
Be it a holiday, a weekend, you can never miss a party or a social gathering geared up for celebrations. And there are people who have ventured into event planning on a full time or part time basis.
Are you a self-starter with ambition? Can you work independently and handle multiple priorities and deadlines? If you are a highly organized person, you should connect with your friends and find out who is throwing out a party so as to offer your services.
The good thing about event planning is that you get to work on your own schedule not to mention it is a great way of supplementing your income.
And if you get to enjoy it and end up bagging a number of clients, this is one of the side hustles that you can easily turn into a full time job.
Some of the big event planning companies in Kenya and travelling agencies were started as side hustles.
A serious event planner can earn 50,000 to 80,000 a day!
Must Read >>> How I Built My Side Hustle Into A Successful Full Time Job
2. Catering Services
Are your culinary skills the envy of all your friends?
You are sitting on a gold mine and if you haven’t turned that passion into money, it is about time.
I have heard of this lady who upon discovering that Nairobians don’t like cooking, offers her services at a fee.
She is paid to cook for people and she has already turned what started as side job into a full time one.
But you don’t have to cook for people. You could do something as simple as sell snacks to your office buddies or lunch. Within time, after accumulating capital, you could open your own restaurant or catering company.
During holidays, graduations, wedding or Christmas season, a caterer can earn Ksh 50,000 for just one event!
3. Online Writing
This has become a trend nowadays as young people are finding ways of making cash through writing.
There are many websites which are available locally and internationally and are willing to pay you as much as 30,000 per month for your contribution.
After sometime you could buy your own account and turn it into a full time job.
Accounts go for as low as 15,000 to as high as 300,000 or more depending on how old and the quality of the account.
Consider This >>> Top 8 Online Jobs In Kenya That Pay Through M-Pesa
4. Blogging
If you are creative and can captivate people through the written word, you should start a blog.
Blogging is a great side hustle and if you have ever thought about making money online this is one of the ways to do it.
All you need is to create a blog, choose a topic to blog about, generate traffic and register your blog on Google Adsense.
Though blogging doesn’t pay much – payment can range from 500 to as much as 1M per month depending on your traffic; it is a great side hustle and one that after honing your skills you can turn into a full time job.
5. Vlogging or YouTube Blogging
Video bloggers are some of my best kind of bloggers.
YouTube Bloggers get paid through ads that show on their channels and if you are good, this could turn into a full time job.
Some video bloggers make as much as 100K per month.
6. Modeling/ Acting
For the fashion lovers, the journey to become a top model especially in Kenya is a very competitive one. If you want to consider modeling as your part time job, ensure that you balance it with your career.
Research and determine what you want to venture in. Find their requirements in different fields of fashion and you will be surprised that huge pay outs come only if you are dealing with a trusted agency.
In the field of acting, many broadcast programs are slowly coming into play and a good start will be looking for smaller roles in acting.
Some actors can be paid sh. 1,000 just to make an appearance without much activity.
7. Web & Graphic design
Most people who venture into web development and graphic design become freelancers who are recruited by companies from time to time.
If you have web and graphic design skills, you can start offering services to people at a fee without quitting your job.
You could also create a website to showcase your skills and where people can contact you if they need your services.
Save more money and you could start your own web and graphic design company.
Some graphic designers get paid as much as 100K for a single project.
8. Social Media Marketing
How many followers do you have on social media? If your answer is thousands then you should be earning as much. Social media marketers earn as much as 30K a month from brand endorsements and promotions.
In 2016, the Daily Nation published an article about some of the highest earning Social Media Marketers in Kenya.
These personalities were all below 30 years and they were cashing in a lot of money from their social media accounts, promoting events, campaigns and advertising brands.
Therefore if you are always on Facebook, Twitter or IG, you should look into getting those deals to start earning. The good thing about it is, it can be done in your free time and it won’t have to affect your work if you are employed.
And after sometimes, if the money is good, you can consider going into it fully.
Not all of us were born entrepreneurs or have the knack for business but that doesn’t mean that we are doomed. Juggling two or more gigs is not that hard of a task as long as you keep your priorities straight. And that means looking for a side hustle and you can start with these 8 and see where that takes you. If you love it, well, why not turn it into a full time job?
Lilian is a Communication Officer at Career Point Kenya? Got any questions regarding this topic? Get in touch with me through lilian@www.careerpointkenya.co.ke.