Side Hustles
As we have often discussed, COVID has caused a huge downfall in America’s society as it was something completely unprecedented and unavoidable. We did not know exactly how to deal with or respond to the outbreak and were forced to adapt to new restrictions for safety purposes. Many companies and organizations have responded to the pandemic in some arguable ways resulting in many changes in the workplace. Such changes included people becoming unemployed and companies going remote. All of these changes caused a lot of people great stress and those who become unemployed were forced to find new sources of income. If people were being laid off, it obviously was not very easy for people to find a new job. The only jobs that remained active were essential jobs which included food and agriculture, health care, transportation, waste and water management, etc. Basically any job/career that provides a general service to everyone. With this in mind, some people chose to take initiative and consider their skills and creativity in hopes to build a business of their own.
Being someone who is somewhat active in using social media, I am able to see all of the different things that people are doing during the pandemic to find a new source of income. As explained in the article entitled we discussed in class, it is easy to find people on TikTok or Instagram “explaining how they earn money through various side projects — whether it’s selling customized clothing, dog walking or offering business services such as copy writing or bookkeeping”. I would definitely agree with the fact that a lot of people have been creating their own clothing lines left and right. There are definitely too many to keep track of but most of them offer different styles and we get to see the creators’ visions through their work. As far as ‘offering business services’, I would associate this with the fact that many people begun doing trades in the foreign exchange market. People took the time to learn how to do so and are teaching others through social media, but at cost which is something I do not necessarily agree with.
Developing a sense of entrepreneurship has definitely become a trend throughout the pandemic and more people are joining the trend as the days go by. Like anything, it takes time to perfect ones craft as well as getting where you want to be in your business. So, people should not automatically expect results when they first start but they should definitely remain hopeful. Building a business is something everyone should at least consider because as long as it is successful, they will have something to fall back on if they would prefer to be their own boss.