Today, it feels like everyone has a side hustle. While the term, denoting an income stream outside of your day job, dates back to the 1950s it really took off in the 2010s thanks to the rise of the internet and the gig economy. So pervasive has the term become that employers are even being encouraged to foster and support their employees’ side hustles.
By Justin Asher, head of strategy and marketing at upnup
That makes sense too. Side hustles allow people to explore outside interests and can foster greater financial independence. Sometimes they can even become successful businesses in their own right. But even the leanest of side hustles takes money to get off the ground.
Let’s say you do family photoshoots on the weekend in addition to your office job. Even if you already have all the camera and lighting equipment, you’ll still need to put some money into marketing and licensing for whatever photo editing software you use.
So, if you don’t have the cash up front, where should you turn to fund your side hustle? A business loan is likely to be more hassle than it’s worth and chances are the “family, friends, and fools” so favoured by entrepreneurs are too hard up to help right now. The best answer may actually lie in cryptocurrencies.
Beyond the outside noise
That might seem a little counterintuitive, especially in the wake of the cryptocurrency crash from earlier this year. It’s worth noting, however, that the price of Bitcoin at least has levelled out since then. The same is broadly true of some of the world’s biggest technology companies. This is evident in the fact that the tech-heavy Nasdaq has fallen about 23% so far this year. Few people, however, are heralding the downfall of Apple, Meta, and Alphabet in the same way as some have with Bitcoin.
Additionally, prior to the crash, Bitcoin was the best-performing asset of the decade leading up to 2021, with annualised returns in excess of 230%. While it may take some time to reach those highs again, it would be foolish to write off an asset which has previously provided those kinds of returns.
As general investor confidence returns and the use cases for Bitcoin become more accessible to ordinary people, there’s every likelihood that it will rise again.
Fund your side-hustle as you spend
That said, you may be wondering how to fund your side hustle with crypto if you don’t have enough spare money lying around to start with. After all, don’t you need money to buy cryptocurrencies?
While that may once have been the case, it’s no longer necessarily true. In fact, innovations in technology and finance have converged to the point where you can buy Bitcoin simply by spending money on things like groceries and petrol.
It’s something we’ve worked hard on at upnup, giving people the ability to round up their purchases and use the cumulative amount to purchase Bitcoin once a month. In addition to the rounding up feature, they can also transfer a set amount every month, which is then used to purchase Bitcoin.
It’s a way of saving up for your goal – whether that’s a holiday or starting a side hustle – without any of the effort that usually goes into saving. Moreover, it’s a way of building up to that goal by seamlessly investing in an asset that actually has the potential to deliver returns.
Saying ‘yes’ to your side hustle
It should be clear then that you don’t have to keep delaying getting started on your side hustle because you’re short of capital. Simply by using tools that allow you to buy an investable cryptocurrency asset like Bitcoin, you can put yourself on the path to achieving your side hustle goals.
It doesn’t have to stop once your side hustle is off the ground either. Stick with the practices of rounding up your spending to buy Bitcoin and automatically putting away a set amount every month and you could soon find yourself in a position to fund your side hustle’s next expansion.