20 businesses you can start with 20k according to Lagos entrepreneur

 

Lagos based Realtor and Entrepreneur, Olanrewaju Salu shares 20 businesses you can do with just 20k in Nigeria.

Lack of money is usually the excuse many people give for not starting a business, but lack of idea is a worse problem you've got to think about.

There are businesses you can start with as little as N20,000, but if you have no idea of what to do with 20k, you'll probably think starting a small scale business is the most difficult thing to do.

You don't have to think this way anymore, Olanrewaju Salu, a Lagos based Realtor and Entrepreneur, recently shared some fantastic business tips on Twitter and many have commended him for sharing such amazing business ideas.

Here are the Easiest Ways to Make Money Online

Yes! There are many easy ways to make money online without sweating or getting frustrated.

There is no “push button easy” way to make money online. 99% of potential entrepreneurs quit because it’s harder than they expect.

With that said you have 2 options as a beginner:
1) Sell a product
2) Sell a service

Breaking that down further, as an absolute beginner, you’ll probably want to stay away from developing your own product and despite what some others might say, developing your own service.

Dropshipping & affiliate marketing are the 2 “easiest” ways for beginners to get off the ground…(again, easy is a stretch here)

Average Net Worth of the 1%: Here's how much the super-rich in the world are really worth!

 

Many people perceive being wealthy as having nice houses and a pleasure yacht. But the kind of money that the wealthiest 1% of the world's households has dwarfs this concept. This segment of the population large portions of major corporations, multibillion-dollar investment funds, islands in the Caribbean, and even rocket ships taking them into outer space.

The average net worth of the 1%, aka the richest 1% of the global population's households, has mushroomed over the past two decades. It now towers higher above the net worth of the average citizen than ever before. Here are some of the basic facts about how the 1% lives.

9 Strategies to Build Wealth Fast

 

If you want to build wealth fast – like really fast – then investing in a vehicle such as a Roth IRA will not get you there.

If you’re younger and your income limits allow, open up a Roth IRA. Invest in mutual funds and ETFs. Make sure you have enough cash in your emergency fund. Starting your financial life with those good habits will bleed over into your success in building wealth.

Okay, so how do you build wealth fast? Let’s take a look.

Drop Your Living Expenses Like Crazy

I know, this isn’t very exciting, but this is the definition of wealth. As Todd Tresidder of FinancialMentor.com says, “Great wealth builders focus on both saving money and earning more.”

What Todd is pointing to here is the gap between your expenses and your income. Expenses should always be lower than your income. The larger that gap, the more wealth you can accumulate.

Let’s face it, you can’t invest unless you have money to invest. If you’re currently living beyond your means and have no additional money to put to work for you, you’ll never build wealth.

1. Save on Vehicles

I was very fortunate that I learned this lesson when I was still in college. This led to me driving a 1998 Chevy Lumina that was completely paid for because I inherited it from my deceased grandmother.

 

Not having a car payment allowed me to invest in myself, my Roth IRA, and my 401(k).

According to Jason Fogelson for Forbes: “The biggest mistake a car buyer can make, especially in the age of the Internet, is to buy a car without doing research first. Some buyers are so eager to get through the car-buying process that they don’t take the time to find out everything they can about vehicle reliability, pricing, and financing.”

I agree. But let’s focus on the financing part for a minute. Car loans come with ridiculous interest rates that nobody should have to pay for to obtain transportation. Car loans can easily be one of the highest-cost debts of many American households.

Too many people view the car payment as “normal.” Sure, it’s normal, but “normal” won’t help you produce wealth, my friend. Instead, consider doing what I did and drive a car that you own outright. It’ll be easier on your pocketbook over the long-term – I promise.

2. Save on Shelter

In addition to that, my wife and I rented a house for the first year that we were together. Not having the mortgage payment allowed us to build up our emergency fund and also save for our retirement.

But what if renting seems to be more expensive than having a mortgage payment? According to Beth Braverman for Forbes: “Rentals offer far more flexibility. Buying a home typically means committing to a 30-year mortgage. Most people don’t stay in a home for anywhere near that amount of time, but it’s much harder to pick up and move from a home you own than it is to leave a rental.”

And what happens when you can’t sell your home when you need to move due to a job change or another reason? You pay a whole lot of money not only for the house you can’t sell but also for the house you move into.

If you need flexibility, consider renting like we did – even if the rent payment is higher than a comparable home with a mortgage payment.

3. Don’t Buy Crap

Lastly, we didn’t buy crap we didn’t need.

Ask yourself what you really need and really don’t need. Do you really need that million-inch flat screen TV? No, you don’t!

4. Save a Percentage of Your Income

Savers like my wife and I are definitely in the minority. Very few people save a substantial amount for the future, but if you think we’re in the minority, then check out Pete from MrMoneyMustache.com who advocates that you should be saving between 30 to 50% of your income. While that’s definitely on the extreme side of things, Pete is just another example of how it can be done.

Granted, the more you make the larger a percentage you can save. The point here is to make some steep sacrifices so that you can put more of your wealth toward investments that are right for you.

Earn Much, Much More

As the old saying goes: “You have to have money to make money.” I know what you’re thinking though:

“Well Jeff, I don’t have any money, so how can I make money if I ain’t got no money?”

First, let’s address something. When you say that you don’t have any money and believe that, you’re already setting yourself up for failure. You have to change your mindset and believe that you can find a way to make more money.

5. Work Hard Now

When I think back to how I was able to advance my career, I remember when I was an unpaid intern at the brokerage firm that ended up hiring me. As an intern, I was working 12 to 15 hours a week, showing up when I was told to show up, dressed, and ready to impress. The majority of my duties were shredding important documents, filing, and other basic administrative duties.

Even though the work was boring, I did everything that was asked of me and above. My work ethic and drive spoke for itself. After that summer internship, I was offered a full-time position.

If you have a job, even though you might not like that job, give it everything that you’ve got. Treat the company that you work for as if you own it.

Imagine then that you’re the CEO.

How would you approach your daily duties differently if more was on the line?

It’s really difficult to find great opportunities. It’s possible, but it isn’t easy. For now, I recommend that you focus on working hard. People around you will start to take notice.

Just like I was offered a full-time position because I worked hard as an intern, you will find doors of opportunity opening for you when you give your work all you have.

6. Invest in Your Education

Another way that you might be able to make more is to invest in your education. This could be getting your degree, getting an MBA, or getting a specialized designation. For me, getting my CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification has yielded thousands of dollars of revenues over the years.

When I first passed the exam for my certification, many people asked me, “Congratulations, does this mean that you get a raise?” There was no immediate financial benefit for me.

It was a year out of my life where I studied my butt off, but I knew having that designation would give me the education and also the credentials to set myself apart from the competition.

 

While I didn’t see any immediate financial benefit, I can attribute several new clients as well as several media opportunities to the fact that I’m Jeff Rose, CFP®. You can get your certification too!

7. Invest in Yourself and Your Marketing

Over and above that, I have invested in myself. When I was first starting off, I didn’t have a lot of money, but I knew I needed to look the part so I bought fresh shirts, ties, suits – anything I could to make myself look more like a professional. I also invested in personalized brochures, seminars, and other marketing materials to put myself out there.

Another way I invest in myself is by paying $7,900 per year for Strategic Coach – a coaching program with workshops, program advisors, and like-minded entrepreneurs.

Dan Sullivan of Strategic Coach has created a program I’ve found hugely beneficial to my business – my business has grown as a result of his work. Many of his quotes like this one pack a punch:

For a company to grow 10x, it doesn’t need you managing – it needs self-managing.

I always made sure that I didn’t overextend myself to where I was spending more than I could afford. A lot of the money that I earned wasn’t going toward frivolous things such as big-screen TVs or going out to eat at high-end restaurants.

Instead, the money went toward investing in myself and my business.

8. Venture into Entrepreneurship

I highly recommend you start building wealth by venturing into entrepreneurship.

When I became an entrepreneur, my wealth-building journey really took off. Several years prior, I had read the book Rich Dad Poor Dad. In that book, author Robert Kiyosaki introduces the concept of the cash flow quadrant.

He looks at four different entities: the employee, the self-employed, the business owner, and the investor. When I read that book I fell under the employee quadrant, but I knew that if I ever wanted to make serious money, I had to get into the right type of quadrant – either the business owner or the investor quadrant (the investor quadrant is actually the best).

When I first started as a financial advisor, I was still an employee. I had the ability to make my own hours and to grow my business as much as I could, but I also had a lot of restrictions.

My first step was crossing over into being self-employed. Just by making that shift, I saw a 30% increase in income in my first year. Since then, I’ve become a business owner – and now I consider myself also to be an investor. As a business owner, I own my wealth management firm. I own my blog, GoodFinancialCents.com, and I also own a few other online properties that all yield my income.

Yes, blogging can be very lucrative – I’ve made over $1,097,757 from blogging. In fact, I could almost consider my blog as an investment; while blogs do require some upkeep, they certainly do not require nearly the upkeep needed for my financial planning practice.

I’m certainly not the only person who has made a lot of money online. Steve Chou’s wife replaced her $100,000 income with an online store so she could be a stay-at-home mom. It’s amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it.

Whether you are thinking about starting an online business or growing your brick and mortar business, it all goes back to working hard now. But you know what? You have to work hard at the right things or you’ll just be spinning your wheels.

My current businesses are the result of several business ventures that didn’t work out. I tried multilevel marketing on a few occasions. I tried real estate.

I tried a solo 401(k) business. None of these worked out for me. In some, I lost a lot of money. In others, it was just a waste of time. But in all those experiences, I learned one thing . . . it is important that you adopt the mantra: “Win or learn, never lose.”

9. Try Real Estate

Speaking of real estate, although it didn’t work out for me and it’s not right for everyone, it has certainly worked out for others. I asked Brandon Turner from BiggerPockets.com just how quickly real estate investing can help individuals build wealth. Here’s what he had to say:

Real estate investing may not make you wealthy overnight, but it can add zeros to your net worth in a shorter timeframe than many other traditional investments. For example, purchasing a fixer-upper house, rehabbing the property, and selling it for more can net you a significant windfall if you do it correctly. Just be sure to buy low, rehab smart, and sell fast. House flipping, as this process is called, is largely a math game, and significant profits can be made by those willing to take on the challenge.

Another strategy that can help you add wealth quickly through real estate is by purchasing multifamily properties that produce significant monthly cash flow. This cash flow can be saved and reinvested into more deals, creating a domino effect that will allow you to exponentially grow your real estate portfolio.

For more information, read The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Real Estate Investing from BiggerPockets.com.

Concluding Thoughts

To build wealth really fast, you’re not going to get there by investing $50 to $100 per month into a Roth IRA. While yes, it’s great as a long-term strategy, it’s not going to make a difference in the short-term.

A lot of financial advisers I talked to don’t want to encourage you to take that risk now. Heck, I was one of those financial advisors several years ago.

While not letting you know about all the wealth-building options isn’t financial malpractice, it’s certainly better if your financial advisor gives you a variety of options based on your financial goals – even when it doesn’t help his pocketbook.

It’s always a good idea to talk to several professional investors to see what has worked for them. The best question you can ask any financial professional is how they are investing their money – it will speak volumes.

Let’s step back for a moment. You might be thinking: “How in the world can I learn and do all this stuff? Is it even possible?”

Don’t think that you have to do everything. Instead, focus on a few things and do them well. It all starts by investing in yourself. Listen to podcasts, read books, take millionaires out for lunch (yes, you buy).

You can start by subscribing an excellent podcast by Lewis Howes: The School of Greatness Podcast. There, you will become equipped to think differently about yourself and your wealth. It’s fantastic.

As you make it a habit to find ways to better yourself, you’ll also find new potential ways to build wealth faster than ever. Everyone does it differently, and nobody will do it exactly like you.

You’re unique and you’ll find a way. Just give yourself a chance! I’m so glad I gave myself a chance to succeed. You will be too.

This post originally appeared on Forbes.com.

How To Make $1,000+ Monthly: Everything You Need To Know

 

How can you earn more money?

You’d think a question this simple would have a simple answer.

Yet experts’ attempts to explain the nuances of earning — whether disguised as personal finance, business management, or the importance of education — could fill a file server.

You could read all the articles, watch all the how-to videos, listen to all the podcasts, and even attend the right business school, but still not know the best ways to make money.

Why is it all so complicated?

I have an idea: It’s because only you are qualified to answer the question of how you can make more money.

Think about it:

Just like our relationships, our time, our food preferences, and even our financial choices are personal.

What works for me may not work for you.

Likewise, I might not survive a day doing something you’d excel at.

And while education, knowledge, and experience matter a lot, they are only the ingredients.

You have to get into the kitchen to cook up your own recipe for financial success and independence:

Are you a people person? Then you should flavor your recipe with face-to-face interactions.

Are you an introvert? Maybe you need a dash of stay-at-home independence.

Are you short on time? Find a recipe with a short prep-time but an abundant yield.

Do you need a flexible schedule? Sprinkle in some freelance work — something like real estate or ad hoc computer programming, for example.

Whatever the case, your recipe must reflect the reality of your personal preferences, your daily challenges, and the way you live.

You can find ideas (and hopefully some valuable advice) in posts like the one you’re reading right now, but you’re the expert on you.

Also, take a look at the end of this article to learn more about our official guide to making money.

With that in mind, let’s get cooking (especially if you can make money doing it!).

Different Paths, But One Common Goal: Earning More Money!

As you know, finding your own path is essential, but let’s also make sure your path leads where we all want to go: a more profitable and financially secure future.

To do that, get to know more about your local economy (or the broader national or international economy) so you’ll know what skills or products are in demand right now and into the future.

In a dynamic economy like ours, any list of ways to earn money comes with an expiration date.

And, I could spend days listing all the possibilities for earning more money and still not include the one thing you’re looking for.

For those of you even vaguely familiar with stock options, you’re probably aware of how you can essentially turn a small sum of money into a sizable payoff if things go the right way for you.

As an example, if you bought out of the money call options on Apple a few years ago, the return would have been over 1000%.

What if you could apply this concept to your career and earning power?

You can!

Still, we need some kind of order for organizing possible paths to earning power.

I like the following three categories:

Entrepreneurship

Education-related

Side hustles

Let’s explore these categories as you determine where to begin or continue your journey toward making more money.

Earning Through Entrepreneurship

To earn your living by owning your own company is part of the American Dream. If watching Shark Tank doesn’t get your creative juices flowing, perhaps consider just re-assessing your skill sets and how you might build a business around it.

And we’ve all heard the legendary success stories about people such as:

Sam Walton, whose family barely survived the Great Depression. He opened his own tiny grocery store after World War II with financial help from his father-in-law. The store, of course, grew into Walmart (along with Sam’s Club and a few other variations).

Oprah Winfrey, who was raised in poverty and became one of the most successful TV stars of all time while also offering reading advice to millions.

Andrew Carnegie, who, as a child, worked as a bobbin boy in a cotton mill (before child labor laws prohibited it). He earned billions in steel and helped transform our economy for the industrial age.

Steve Jobs, a college dropout who likely invented the phone or the computer you’re holding right now.

You may be thinking: But these people are the exceptions.

Nobody ever mentions the thousands of inventors, industrialists, retailers, and entertainers who fell flat on their faces.

You’d be right, of course.

More importantly, though, I also didn’t mention the thousands of people who have enjoyed success on a more moderate scale — all the people who went from living paycheck-to-paycheck at a job they hated to supporting their families by owning a business.

This list is longer than you may think, and it’s full of people like you and me — ordinary people who had a vision for a better future and worked hard to make it happen.

I’ll spare you the motivational speech about how you can’t succeed without the possibility of failure, and about how even today’s billionaires can tell you about their ever-growing lists of failures.

Instead, let’s look at some possible paths to entrepreneurial success, all of which allow you to be your own boss and, in most cases, to make your own rules:

Franchising

Let’s say you love Five Guys Burgers & Fries, an East Coast hamburger place, but the chain doesn’t have a location near you.

As you drive along looking for someplace to eat, you may tell your significant other: “You know, somebody really ought to open a Five Guys on this side of town. They’d make a killing.”

Well, that “somebody” may be you.

You could look into franchising requirements for Five Guys (or whatever your favorite store or restaurant actually is) and open your very own location.

Most stores require some personal investment, and they may have some other requirements, too. You also wouldn’t have total freedom over every decision you make since the corporation you’re partnering with will have its own set of standards.

But, if you have a flair for business management but not necessarily a niche product that’s all your own, this could be your path.

Selling Stuff Online

If you need a lower bar for admission into entrepreneurship than opening a franchise, online sales may be your thing. It’s not all knitted scarves or unneeded football tickets these days.

People shop all the time on Craigslist, eBay, Amazon, and countless other sites for used and new products.

To succeed, you need to be an expert on a product so you can make a profit by connecting others with exactly what they’re looking for.

If you’re an expert on guitars, for example, you could spend your weekends shopping garage sales, estate sales, and auctions. You’d see a lot of junk.

But, since you know your product line, you’d also recognize the vintage Gibson J-200 someone is selling for a song, and you’ll know how easy it will be to find a premium buyer online.

Along with expertise in your product lines, you’ll need great customer service chops and some patience as you get your business rolling.

Selling Your Advice

It’s not all about tangible products.

You can also sell your expertise, whether you are an expert in business, the arts, engineering, industry, retail, etc.

Thanks to Skype, FaceTime, Google Hangouts and similar services, you can even offer advice online, whether you’re teaching painting lessons or showing someone how to integrate a drone into their wedding videography business.

Just look at YouTube.

Whether you’re fixing a washing machine or changing your spark plugs, chances are you can find a video of someone else doing the same thing.

What do you know an awful lot about?

Whatever it is, someone else may need your advice. Whether you charge for one-on-one sessions or cast a wider net with more general videos, you can turn your smarts into a source of income.  

Offering a Service

Do you cut your own grass?

Shop for your own groceries?

Pick up your own dry-cleaning?

More and more people are turning to services to do these sorts of things, which means there may be a growing market in your community for someone to perform these services.

By developing a steady clientele and setting some reasonable limits (no 2 a.m. runs to Taco Bell, perhaps?) you can have your own courier service.

Start by placing an ad in your community’s newspapers or free weeklies, and mix in some patience, some flexibility, and a pricing plan that’s fair to you and your customers.

Other Entrepreneurial Ideas

We’ve hit some high points, but this is by no means an all-inclusive list. If you have a business idea, you’ve already caught the entrepreneurial spirit.

Maybe it’s time to start looking into financing, business partners, or marketing strategies. 

If you’re in the type of role at work where you have the ability to affect change or have some latitude in your responsibilities, you could morph an idea or concept into an entirely new business unit.

Sometimes you can parlay being in the right place at the right time into a leadership role of an entire organization or act as an “agent” to fill a need and collect a premium for doing so.

Not everyone is destined for business ownership, though.

Keep reading to learn about other routes to financial success.

Using Education to Unlock Earnings

For several generations it was almost a given: A college degree would open doors for the rest of your career.

Federal labor statistics showed (and still show) higher earning power for people with a four-year degree. So college became a rite of passage across the country.

But what happens if you’re not in a position to pursue higher education?

What if you already have a family and a full-time job?

Or, what if taking a bunch of English and philosophy courses just isn’t your thing?

There’s good news for you, too.

You can still unlock higher earnings through education without going the traditional college route.

Let’s take a look at some traditional and alternative educational paths to show what I mean:

Certificate Programs

College can teach critical thinking skills, helping you succeed in a variety of professions.

However, a four-year degree may not teach specific trade skills.

In many professions, employers value specific, hands-on skills over more general thinking skills.

I think it’s best to have both, but to provide employers with skilled employees, many community and technical colleges offer certificate programs for professions such as:

Welding

Dental assistants

HVAC

Web design

Nursing assistants

Plumbing

Electrical work

Auto technicians

Information technology

Cosmetology

Manufacturing

Certificate programs usually cost a lot less than traditional college courses, and they may require less of your time.

It’s also possible the community college in your area offers night classes and other ways to accommodate classes to your work schedule.

In many professions, getting “certified” unlocks higher wages.

Traditional College Degrees

Of course, skilled trades aren’t for everybody.

Some of us need more time to figure out a suitable profession.

One of the neat things about traditional, four-year college programs is the opportunity to learn a little bit about a lot of things, which means you may come across the right fit when you least expect it.

I remember a friend who started college with no firm plans for the future. She signed up for classes, got her parking pass, and all that.

Then, on the first day of classes, she became enamored with the whole concept of chemistry. She declared chemistry her major, graduated with a degree, and started a successful (and high-paying) career as an industrial chemist.

Most of us will need more than one day of college to find our calling. For some people, it takes two years to decide on a major. Others may go all four years without finding the answer.

For those folks, graduate school for advanced degrees may be on the horizon.

Advanced Degrees

Physicians, high-level business executives, researchers, college professors, and most lawyers have one thing in common, and it’s not necessarily their tax bracket: They hold advanced degrees in their fields of study.

Advanced degrees offer a level of specialization (and earning power) beyond what a four-year diploma or a certificate can give you.

People who research the effects of school nutrition on academic performance or who diagnose medical conditions using a microscope most likely have advanced degrees.

Usually, you need a bachelor’s degree before starting on an advanced degree and expect to spend upwards of $100,000 in tuition for some advanced degrees.

It could all be worth it, financially, when you land your first degree-specific job.

Little or No Post-Secondary Education

What happens if education beyond high school just hasn’t worked out for you?

All is not lost. Recent data shows 72 percent of people with only high school degrees had jobs in 2017.

You could start your own business, as I discussed above, or you could apply for more general labor jobs which don’t necessarily require a certificate or a diploma — jobs in traditionally labor-heavy fields such as:

Restaurant work

Assisting in construction sites

General manufacturing

Custodial work

Retail sales

Expect to start out in the lowest level at a company and with a lower pay rate. With hard work and by becoming a reliable employee, you may be able to start climbing the wage ladder.

But statistics tell a discouraging tale. Recent Pew Research data says people with a college education will earn, on average, $1 million more over the course of their careers than people with only a high school education.

What’s worse is that automation in manufacturing and the transition to online retail has made competition for these kinds of jobs more fierce.

Simply put, the economy is growing less friendly toward workers with little or no training.

Side Hustling Your Way to Greater Success

Let’s say you have a job, or you own your own business, and you’re pretty happy with what you earn.

However, you just can’t seem to stay ahead of the curve financially. In August, when the kids need school supplies, your whole budget gets knocked out of whack.

And at year’s end you have to decide whether to contribute to your IRA or buy your wife a Christmas present.

Maybe it’s time for a side hustle.

One side-hustle that has proven very lucrative for many people is running Facebook Ads for local businesses.

What is a Side Hustle?

When you start marshaling your free time toward making extra money, you’re working your side hustle.

My favorite side hustle ideas make the best use of your existing habits so you don’t have to think about work all the time.

For example, let’s say you work at a bank downtown and you paint houses as a side hustle. City Hall is near your bank branch.

So on your lunch break, you stop by City Hall to see who has taken out building permits for remodeling their homes. Someone who is remodeling, you think, may need to hire a painter.

In other words, you’d be able to generate job leads for your side hustle without going out of your way or making special trips.

That level of scheduling elegance isn’t a necessity, though. It matters more to be good at the services you’re offering, whatever they may be:

Real estate

Multi-level marketing

Contracting

Consulting

Freelance writing or editing

At-home manufacturing

At-home data entry or billing

Interior decorating

Video editing

This list could go on for days, but you get the general idea: Find something you like to do and find a way to fit it into your schedule.

Here are some other tips to remember:

Create business cards, which you can do easily online. You never know when you’ll come across someone who needs (or knows someone who needs) a service you provide.

Set boundaries to preserve your work-life balance. When things get rolling, it can be hard to tell a potential client “no.” But if you say “yes” to everybody, you may find yourself working around the clock.

Be upfront with your steady gig. Make sure your full-time employer or your business partners know about your side hustle to avoid misunderstandings. Avoid treating your co-workers like a built-in customer base, and don’t use your company’s copying machines or other office equipment to support your side hustle unless you’ve made prior arrangements.

Be transparent with your side hustle customers, too. Let them know you have a full-time job and are not necessarily available 24/7.

Keep up with your expenses and your earnings via receipts, invoices, or 1099 forms so you can report your figures properly at tax time. Ask a tax professional for advice before you start spending your earnings.

I also recommend setting some earnings goals.

How much you’d like to earn should influence the kind of job and the ferocity level of your side hustling.

For example…

If You’d Like to Earn an Extra $100 a Week

You could probably earn an extra $100 a week through Multi-Level Marketing (I’m not a huge fan, but hey, maybe it’s your thing) or by selling a line of products to your friends (think candles, beauty products, or environmentally friendly weed spray).

This kind of work takes an outgoing personality. If that’s not you, keep looking.

Some sort of at-home clerical work or light home repair, maybe.

Be careful about up-front costs, though. A lot of these opportunities — especially at-home clerical work or Multi-Level Marketing — require an investment, and if things don’t go well, you won’t recoup those costs.

Before spending any of your own money, make sure you’ve talked to some other people who have given it a try. Online message boards can also give you some insight into the real cost of doing business.

Other ideas for earning about $100 a week:

Become a tutor: So you’re good at math or you’re a history buff? Put those interests to use by helping students in your neighborhood excel. Ask the staff at your local schools, put some cards out at the library, or put an ad on Craigslist or Facebook to get started.

Sell your stuff: Do you have boxes of books or DVDs you don’t really need? Find a used book store and sell your extra stuff. If you run out of stuff, go to some yard sales to get more or offer to help your neighbors go through and sell their extra stuff for a commission. You can also sell clothes, yard equipment, or children’s toys. The list goes on and on.

Clean someone’s house: Cleaning up isn’t much fun, but earning extra money is. If you can get a couple regular customers, you’ll likely earn $100 or so a week. Be sure to factor in the cost of cleaning supplies.

Become a mystery shopper: Do you have a keen sense for detail? Put it to use as a mystery shopper. Essentially, you’re sharing your experiences as a customer with retail store managers. 

If You’d Like to Earn $1,000 a Month

We’re getting more into part-time job territory here, but with side-hustling, you’re limited mainly by your time and determination.

You can take the $100-a-week ideas above and do them more aggressively — tutor more children, clean more houses, sell more stuff, etc.

Or, you could…

Start a blog about a topic you enjoy, be it cooking, yard work, interior design, reading, train travel, computer networking, music, appliance repair, electronics reviews, mountain climbing, parkour, gardening, water conservation — you get the idea! Develop an audience and monetize it. See my post about starting a blog here.

Be someone’s virtual assistant. Not all administrative support staff work on-site and take notes in-person at meetings. You can also help an executive from the comfort of your home by scheduling appointments, typing letters, ordering supplies, and preparing presentations. Zirtual may be able to connect you with someone who needs your help, though it may ask for a fee to get you started. You could also send some emails to companies near you offering your services.  

Become a substitute teacher. It’s a tough job, but if you like variety in your schedule and work locales, and you enjoy working with children and teens, check with your local school district; most districts have frequent openings. If you can find six or so hours a couple of times a week, it could be worth your time.

If You’d Like to Earn an Extra $10,000 a Month

There comes a point when a side hustle becomes your main hustle. If you’re shooting for $10,000 a month, maybe you’ve reached that point.

If you’re serious about it, though, here’s something to keep in mind: To earn this kind of money on the side, you may need more inspiration than perspiration.

Can you think of a new way to do something which will make an existing process more efficient?

If so, your new knowledge will be worthwhile to others:

Can you develop an app to make car shopping more seamless?

Can you find a chemical process to make composting easier and more efficient?

Can you add a new layer of automation to an existing manufacturing process?

Innovations like these — combined with good business sense and the right kind of marketing — can put you on the map as an earner/entrepreneur.

Sometimes, You Just Need More Money

For most of us, more money equals more freedom.

Some people can cut costs to come up with more flexibility in their monthly budgets. You can do things like:

Getting a basic phone to avoid cellular data charges.

Cutting the cable TV bill and getting a cheaper streaming service.

Putting off that new car to avoid a regular payment and higher auto insurance.

Keeping the AC set to 75 degrees to reduce energy bills.

Sometimes, though, you just need more money, plain and simple.

If your need is immediate, a side hustle may be the way to go.

Who knows? Your side hustle may turn into your full-time business.

If you’re planning the next 10 years and have some career goals, consider mixing in some education. Getting the right certification, diploma, or advanced degree should open some doors.

And, of course, if you’ve caught that entrepreneurial spirit, you may already have the skills you need.

Maybe it’s just a matter of getting the right financing to start your business growing.

Whatever your case, make sure you’re making a plan to meet your specific needs — financially, personally, and professionally.

I’ve heard it said, and I’ve found it to be true: Once you find your true calling, you no longer feel like you’re working.

Instead, you’re just turning what you enjoy doing into a steady flow of earned income.

18 Easy Ways to Make Free Money Fast

 

Treasure hunters would revel at the idea of getting free money. But is it really a thing? I mean, are there seriously companies out there that will just give money away because they are nice? Yes, and no. Companies often pay out sign up bonuses when you use a new service. Some of the best (and easiest) ways to get free money are to switch services that you use every day anyway, such as bank accounts or credit cards.

Other companies will pay smaller bonuses for you to try their app. Take a look at this list of ways to get some free money fast, and choose the best options for you.

Attention student loan holders: Now is a great time to refinance your private student loans to get a better rate and save on your overall monthly payments.  Best of all, this is totally free to do! However, if you have federal loans, we recommend you not refinance them at this time as you may lose forbearance and other protections.

We all need our savings accounts to be much larger than they are. But with bills, credit card debt, and our careers, it sometimes feels almost impossible to increase our savings.

If you don’t think it’s possible to boost your savings, then you might be surprised to find out how easy it is to score a few extra bucks each month. And thanks to the internet, all it usually requires is filling out some paid surveys, playing around on the web, or signing up for a few specific offers.

Doing just a few of these things can easily add up to thousands of dollars in cash each year, so what are you waiting for?.

Want some free money of your own? Are you a college student looking for ways to make money while in school?

While you might not get rich quickly with the items on the list, you’ll be getting free money with very little effort.

Check out these 18+ companies that offer free money when you complete simple tasks in your spare time:

1. Refinance Student Loans

Chances are good you have student loans. Have you considered refinancing them?

Refinancing means a lender pays off your existing loans and creates a new, single loan to be paid back at (ideally) a lower interest rate. This is appealing to borrowers because it consolidates monthly loan payments and saves you money!

The *extra* good news is that many refinancing companies will pay you cold, hard cash to refinance with their company.

Check out our review of the best student loan refinance companies

2. Give your opinions for money.

Online survey sites have become a top way for people to cash in doing something pretty mindless in their spare time. While there are a ton out there to choose from, Survey Junkie has one of the longest histories and a consistent record of paying its users.

Just sign up for any one of these free accounts and you’ll be on your way to scoring free money for your musings on everything from new products to advertising campaigns. Some, like Pinecone Research, for example, will even ship you products so you can try answering questions on them.

3. Lower your mortgage payment.

Today’s historically low rates are spurring a refinance boom. By refinancing your mortgage, you not only can lower your interest rate and free up cash flow in your budget, but you can quite possibly take equity out of your home, and put it in the bank.

While not everyone owns their home, refinancing at a lower rate is an easy way to get hundreds of dollars per month free by simply lowering your interest expense.

4. Consolidate your debt to find extra money.

Personal debt such as medical or credit card debt can be consolidated at a lower rate. In a similar way to refinancing a home, if you consolidate your debt, it should be at a lower average rate in order to free up money in your monthly payments. There are two great ways to consolidate your debt:

Personal Debt Consolidation Loan

Online lenders such as Upstart, will work with you on a variety of debts to get them into one low payment, freeing up cash.

Open a 0% Balance Transfer Credit Card

Another great option if you’re only working with credit card debt, is to use a 0% balance transfer card. Many cards have 0% interest options out to 18 months or more. Make sure you have a long-term plan to pay your card off, but this option will net you some short-term reprieve from bills.

5. Get rebates at local retailers.

Ever heard of MyPoints? Simply put, it’s a website that offers points for nearly anything you can do online – from shopping to online surveys.

With MyPoints, the “points” you can redeem are good for cashback and a variety of gift cards to stores like Amazon.com, Best Buy, Nike, and even GameStop.

A gift certificate to Applebee’s, for example, starts at just 790 points. Paypal cash, on the other hand, starts at just 3,970 points.

To get started with MyPoints, all you have to do is sign up for a free account and use the site to shop online, take surveys, watch videos, or participate in fun, daily polls. It’s as simple as that.

You do not have to limit yourself to MyPoints, there are many options available, here are some of our top picks:

IBOTTA

$10 Sign Up Bonus, $20 after redeeming 10 offers

MYPOINTS

Earn a $10 gift card when you spend $20

6. Earn a free $5 with Inbox Dollars.

Inbox Dollars is yet another website intent on paying you for living and breathing. In all seriousness, the tasks Inbox Dollars pays for are crazy-easy. Simply surf the internet, use the website to play games, complete surveys or questionnaires, or print grocery coupons to score free cash!

It’s fairly easy to earn an extra $20 – $30 per month for regular use, plus you can get a free $5 just for signing up.

If you like to get free money, it’s hard to beat this offer. Read more in our Inbox Dollars review.

7. Rack up some Swagbucks.

Swagbucks are ridiculously fun and easy to earn. Believe it or not, this website will pay you free money to shop online, watch videos (or space out and pretend you’re watching) surf the internet, or answer survey questions. Have you ever heard of a part-time job that will pay you just to hang out?

Once you start earning Swagbucks, you’ll learn all the fun ways you can redeem them as well. For example, you can cash in your Swagbucks for a wide range of gift cards. Don’t like that option? Turn in your points for PayPal cash instead.

Signing up is free and you literally have nothing to lose, either. If you’re going to be on the internet, why not get paid? You can learn a little more about Swagbucks in our full Swagbucks review.

8. Score an easy $10 with Rakuten.

Ebates (Rakuten) is a great place to earn money for all sorts of online tasks, but you’ll also get a $10 welcome bonus just for signing up and making a $25 purchase.

Simply open an account, spend $25 at an online store like Walmart.com, Kohls.com, Groupon.com, or Amazon.com, and the $10 bonus is yours for the taking.

And if you use Ebates for the long haul, you’ll earn even more. Just by clicking through the website when you shop online, you can earn up to 40 percent cash back at certain stores. Sounds pretty good, huh? 

9. Let Trim save you money automatically.

Trim is an app that tracks your spending and automates the day-to-day process of saving money for you, helping you cut out recurring charges for services you no longer need.

Trim markets itself as an assistant that saves you money, helping you tackle debt and strategically cut down on your spending. The app even checks competitors’ prices on products like your auto insurance to ensure you’re getting the best rates for the services you use.

10. Get refunds with Paribus.

Have you ever bought something only to find out the price dropped a few days later? With Paribus, you can get that money back with zero effort. All you do is shop online as usual and let Paribus monitor your confirmation emails from retailers. Whenever the price drops on what you buy, Paribus helps you get refunded.

You can use Paribus to save with popular retailers, like Target, Amazon, Walmart, Nordstrom, and more. Paribus also applies its services to hotel bookings through Expedia, Priceline, Booking.com, Marriott, and Hilton.

11. Collect Cash from Microinvesting Apps

You might think that the only way to make money by investing is through the…. Investments, right?

Nope! These investing platforms and microinvesting apps will pay you cash just for signing up!

STASH INVEST

$5 Welcome Bonus

ACORNS

$5 Sign-Up Bonus

12. Score a bank bonus.

All kinds of banks offer a bonus if you are willing to put a certain amount of cash on deposit or sign up for a direct deposit. From Chase to Huntington Bank and others, these bonuses can add up to some serious cash if you can meet their requirements!

My post on the best online checking accounts highlights some of the best deals in this space, but you can also check with local banks to see what they offer. Just make sure you read the fine print and watch out for any “gotchas” or requirements you don’t understand.

DISCOVER

$150 for a $15k deposit, $200 for a $20k deposit

CITIBANK

$400 for a $5k deposit

BANK OF AMERICA

$100 if you set up Direct Deposit

CHASE

$100 for all new customers

Another way to score bonuses from the bank is to simply have an interest-earning savings account. So after you get that checking account bonus, find a high yield savings account, too.

13. Invest money with Stockpile.

Stockpile makes investing easy and affordable, offering you thousands of stock and ETF options. You can buy fractional shares of companies like Apple and Netflix. Best of all, you get $5 to invest when you sign up. 

If you were thinking of joining an investment app already, you might as well earn $5, right? Join today for a free bonus, $0.99 trading fees, zero management fees, and no account minimums. You’ll be glad you did.

14. Get Paid to Budget

How good are you at managing and saving money? If you’re like most people, the answer is not that great.

But the procrastination to “finally get your financial order in life” is over, my friend! The following companies will actually pay you if you let them help you.

CLEO

$5 Welcome Bonus

DIGIT

$5 Welcome Bonus

15. Get Paid for Selfies

This is a funny one. Basically, a company called Pay Your Selfie will pay you to take pictures of yourself in various locations.

They use the information to help companies do marketing in different parts of the country based off of demographic data (age, gender, race, etc.)

The pictures are all very easy and your first $1 is just for taking a quick pic of yourself. There are always a good number of selfie tasks waiting and people are making a little side money just for taking a few pictures.

16. Sign up for a rewards credit card.

Rewards credit cards offer something for nothing if you are able to meet a small minimum spending requirement. This free cash usually comes in the form of a signup bonus, and can easily be worth hundreds.

Since a lot of rewards credit cards don’t even charge an annual fee, you can get this money for free provided you never pay interest on your purchases. Super cool, huh?

Below are a few cards I recommend from financial institutions I’ve worked with in one capacity or another over the years and trust:

Card Requirements Bonus

Capital One Quicksilver Spend $500 in first 3 mos $150

Wells Fargo Cash Wise Spend $500 in first 3 mos $150

Chase Freedom Spend $500 in first 3 mos $150

Bank of America Cash Rewards Spend $1k in first 3 mos $200

17. Earn a Guaranteed $1,000 with Lyft

I assume you’re familiar with Lyft, the ridesharing competitor to Uber. I actually find Lyft to be cheaper and have better experiences with the drivers.

Speaking of, how would you like to earn a guaranteed $1,000 to become a Lyft driver? Yup! That’s what the company is offering right now.

It’s part of a program called Earnings Guaranteed. According to the Lyft website, the promotion says drivers will earn a guaranteed amount within a certain time frame. If the driver does not make the guaranteed amount within the time frame, Lyft will cover the difference!

And right now the guaranteed amount is $1,000! Easy money.

18. Book reservations with Seated

Seated is an app that can earn you up to 30% back on your meals, and it’s practically effortless. Seated is incredibly easy to use. You just download the app and book your dinner reservations with one of Seated’s partner restaurants. 

Each time you book, you’ll get up to 30% back in the form of gift cards for companies like Amazon and Starbucks. The only drawback when it comes to Seated is location. Seated is currently only available in major cities, currently Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, NYC, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.

If you live in one of those cities, you can get free money as fast you can download the app and get to your favorite restaurant.

The Bottom Line

The internet offers a treasure trove of ways to get free money in a pinch. While many of these options won’t make you rich, they will hopefully meet your short-term needs. And most of the time, all you have to do to get started is sign up and complete mindless tasks like watching videos or answering survey questions.

The free money is out there for the taking; it’s up to you to get out there and seize it!

About the Author

Jeff Rose, CFP® is a Certified Financial Planner™, founder of Good Financial Cents, and author of the personal finance book Soldier of Finance. He was a financial planner for 16+ years having founded, Alliance Wealth Management, a SEC Registered Investment Advisory firm, before selling it to focus on his passion - educating the masses on the importance of financial freedom through this blog, his podcast, and YouTube channel.

Jeff holds a Bachelors in Science in Finance and minor in Accounting from Southern Illinois University - Carbondale. In addition to his CFP® designation, he also earned the marks of AAMS® - Accredited Asset Management Specialist - and CRPC® - Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor. 

While a practicing financial advisor, Jeff was named to Investopedia's distinguished list of Top 100 advisors (as high as #6) multiple times and CNBC's Digital Advisory Council. 

Jeff is an Iraqi combat veteran and served 9 years in the Army National Guard. His work is regularly featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Inc.com and Entrepreneur.

Top 10 Business Ideas in Nigeria You Can Start with 100,000 Naira

In a country where economic deficit and unemployment have become the order of the day, conceptualizing a business idea in Nigeria and subsequently starting it can be likened to a goldmine which offers an opportunity for people to tap into a better livelihood.

According to Statista.com, a total of 32.5% of Nigerians were unemployed in 2021, with a forecast unemployment rate of 33% in 2022. 

Apart from being a gateway to self-employment and helping to put an end to job hunting, starting a private business from various business ideas also comes along with several advantages which include but are not limited to: 

Unlimited freedom 

Unlike working under someone or organization, where your mode of operation and work is being dictated by your boss/superior, personal l business gives you the privilege to work at your own pace and with ease. This is most suitable for people who may not have what it takes to work for a company due to certain conditions such as old age, underlying medical issues, limited time, etc.

Fulfillment of dreams and ambition

Getting a job is one thing, getting a dream job is another. While the former may be a little bit difficult, the latter is almost next to impossible to come by. We live in a country where a majority of people do a job they don’t really want or because they have no option. But with a proper business idea and conceptualization, one can fulfill his/her lifetime dream by starting a business that is in line with such a dream.

Financial freedom

Financial reward is yet another importance of starting a personal business. It is no longer news that most employers in Nigeria pay their staff peanuts for salary. The prices of commodities are on the high side, and the money being paid to the average worker is far from being enough to cater to their daily needs. A good business idea when materialized is capable of turning things around and subsequently giving financial freedom to the originator.

From the foregoing, it can be deduced that having a business idea and materializing it is of immense importance for whosoever deems it fit to give it a shot.

While there are many constraints to starting a personal business, capital to start with remains a major constraint.

In this article, we will be looking at 10 businesses you can start in Nigeria with as little as N100,000 which guarantees 100% return on investment in 30 days or less.

1. POS/E-PAYMENT

POS (point of sales) tops the list of business ideas in Nigeria you can start with 100,000 naira for obvious reasons. The business is one of those businesses that has come to stay for a very long time. Financial transactions are an integral part of human life and the banking sector habitually fails to live up to the people’s expectations in that regard.

POS serves as a subtle alternative to banking transactions and saves people from wasting their precious time that could be spent on something productive in bank hall queuing because of basic financial transactions. Financial transactions such as transfer of funds and withdrawals, payment of bills (DSTV, GOTV, PHCN), recharging of airtime, and selling of data among others can be taken care of by POS.

Mr Tayo Adewale, a 26-year-old HND holder from one of the federal polytechnics in Nigeria, after graduating and wrapping up his mandatory NYSC was unable to secure a white-collar job. He finally decided to go into the POS business, courtesy of N100,000 donated by his family which he used to kick-start the business. As of today, Mr Tayo claims he has been making nothing less than N100,000 return on investment since he started the business while some of his colleagues are still on the streets still searching for a non-existing white-collar job.

In starting a POS, one of the most important things to consider is the location you want to situate the business. The nature of the location your business is sited can either make or mar your POS business idea. While determining the kind of location, some of the things you should consider are: 

GSM network/Internet

This is an important factor that must be considered before opting for any location. You must ensure your POS business is situated in an area with a very good GSM network, to ensure hitch-free business transactions.

Proximity to banks

Another important thing you should consider before choosing a place to locate your POS business is how close the area is to the banking area. Locating your POS in an area very close to the banking area can be likened to efforts in futility and may not bring about the return on investment as expected. This is because the majority of the people may rather prefer to visit the banking for their transactions since it is close by.

Security

While searching for a place for your POS business, you should ensure the place is secured and has little or next to any history of crime. This is because you will be dealing with cash daily which makes you vulnerable and a soft target for criminals if the location is not secured.

What you need to start

Some of the things you will need to get the business started are business capital, space/shop or container, a banner, and most importantly a POS machine for the operation of the business. You can get your POS machines from banks like GTB, UBA, Zenith, First Bank, Access Bank, Polaris Bank, and hosts of others. 

2. Phones and other gadgets charging 

Phones and gadgets charging is yet another business idea in Nigeria that can be materialized with as low as 100,000 naira. It is no longer news that the electricity supply in most states of the country is unstable and unreliable, which makes the business of changing phones a very juicy one to venture into with relatively low capital.

Also, the cost of petrol for generators that could have served as an alternative power supply has become expensive and unaffordable. Hence, most lower and middle-class citizens who cannot afford to purchase a generator often resort to phone charging vendors, paying a minimum of 100naira to get their phones and other gadgets charged.  

Mr Wale Olakunle, a middle-aged man who owns a phone charging shop in Oke-Odo, a neighborhood close to the main campus of University of Ilorin, relished his humble beginning in the business and how far he has come since he started the business about three years ago.

“I started this phone recharging business three years ago with a 100,000 naira loan I took from a microfinance bank. When I first started, the first two weeks were dull and I was already thinking of giving up on the business. But towards the last weeks of my first month, the business started booming and the rest like they used to say is history. At the moment, my take-home from this business is nothing less than 7,000 naira daily after deducting all expenses. That is around 200,000 naira monthly,” he explained.

What you need to start

While starting a phone and gadget recharging business, one must consider the location. It is preferable to locate your business in an area with a poor electricity supply. This will make it inevitable for people to patronize your business. As a phone recharging vendor, you should also develop a good charisma which will allow your potential customers to freely relate with you as you will be dealing with different types of people dailySome of the things you will be needing to kick-start the business are a container/space, a covered or shaded stall, a small generator for power supply, fuel to power the generator, original chargers and desktop, and an electric socket board with multiple electronic sockets for charging. 

3. Mobile food vendor and delivery business 

Food is an important aspect of human existence that is simply inevitable. Regardless of the situation, we must always find something to eat. This, and other reasons are why online food vending and delivery business occupy the number 3 position on the list of business ideas that you can start with 100,000 naira.

At the moment, a good number of people find it difficult to cook food at home due to the nature of their work and busy schedules; hence, they result in employing the services of these food vendors. Working-class, students and artisans are some of the examples of people that fall into this category.

While starting a mobile food vendor business, one needs to have learned or possess cooking skills, which will give you a sharp edge over your competitors, as you have many alternatives like eatery, restaurants, and other mobile food vendors racing to have your customers. Your ability to prepare delicious, nice, and affordable meals will set you above your competitors.

 

While interacting with a popular mobile food vendor in OjoduBerger side of Lagos, Mr Kelechi Emmanuel expressed that his life has turned around for the better since he started the business a few years back. He expressed gratitude to a friend who first spoke about the business idea with him. However, he lamented the current price of cooking ingredients and foodstuff, urging the government to please find a lasting solution to the price hike.

What you need to start

Fast and reliable means of transportation are important aspects that must be in place for the smooth running of the mobile food business. 

The good news about the business is that you don’t necessarily need a shop or office to cook your meals, you can start by cooking from the comfort of your home and expanding the business as time goes by.

4. Copywriting

Copywriting is one of the most profitable online businesses in Nigeria you can kick off with a low cost of 100,000 naira and below. If you have good writing skills and firm control of language, then this business will be your ticket to financial freedom. 

The copywriting business comes in different forms: it could be writing of advert copy, blog posts, video scripts, presentation, direct mails, jingles, creative content, and so on. The main task of a copywriter is to weave content in such a way that will be convincingly enough to persuade or promote a certain product, idea, service, or cause. A copy, when well written, can perform magic on any product or services.

It can be done as full-time or a side hustle that guarantees a return on investment if one knows his or her onions very well.

Particularly, students, who have good writing skills, can explore this business opportunity to support their parents in catering for their academic financial needs.

The salaries of a copywriter in Nigeria ranges from 100,000 –300,000 naira depending on the nature of copy and organization. Some copywriters also charge clients per word. On an average, a copywriter charges 11-20,000 per 1,000 words.

To get clients as a beginner in copywriting, you can apply for a position of freelance job board, cold pitching, speaking at conferences/workshop and promoting of your business on professional platforms like LinkedIn 

A final year student of the University of Ilorin, Seyi Olawaleexplained that he has been surviving from the proceeds of copywriting since he lost his father in year two at the university.

He stated further that he no longer asks his mother or family for monetary help, as the money he makes from the business is more than enough to cater for his financial needs.

What you need to start

Apart from having an inherent writing skill, copywriting just like every other skill can also be learnt.  You can build from scratch or improve your copywriting skills by reading books on copywriting, watching copywriting videos on YouTube, following copywriting blogs and taking copywriting courses on online learning platforms such as Udemy and Coursera. Getting a copywriter as a mentor can also be of immense benefit while you are trying to improve or learn copywriting.

Another good news about this business is that, it is a remote one, and you practically don’t need to situate the business in a particular geography. All that is needed to start up the business is your smartphone or preferably a laptop system, a good internet connection, and, an adequate power supply.

5. Graphic design

 

As the saying goes, “A picture is worth much more than a thousand words”, going by this saying, it is free to say that graphic design is therefore worth much more than a million words. Graphic design is a process of projecting visual communication to communicate a particular message. It combines different elements to communicate a message to an audience.

Corporate organizations, government establishments, politicians, partisans, and virtually every sphere of human endeavor employ the services of graphic designers. While contemplating on venturing into graphic design, it is important to get yourself acquainted with the basics and fundamentals of graphic design such as: hierarchy, color, typography, lines, shapes, balance, texture, alignment, proximity, and contrast.

An Ilorin-based young graphic designer by the name, Ayomide Adeniyi stated that he makes nothing less than 120,000 monthly from graphic design simply by helping different organizations and individuals to design flyers, e-book covers, and banners. He continued that another means he makes money from the business is through the teaching of the skills to interested students.

On how he promotes and gets clients to patronize his business, the young designer explained that he gets most of his customers from a referral by people he has designed for in the past and also by showcasing and posting his designs on social media space like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Twitter.

What you need to startStarting a graphic design just like other digital skills does not require having a particular shop/space, what is most important is learning the skill. There are various ways you can learn graphicsdesign which  includes watching graphic design videos on YouTube and also by paying a professional for master classes where you will be trained on the fundamentals of graphics and how to monetise the skill.

The tools you will be needing to materialise the business idea are your laptop and smartphones. For laptop design, you will be needing software like Corel draw, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe illustrator, and a host of other similar software while you will be needing applications like Canva, Pixellab, Logo maker. 

6. Selling of clothes

The importance of clothes can never be overemphasized. Clothes form part of the three basic needs of man, the others being food and shelter. Hence, it is one of the lucrative business ideas in Nigeria that can be started with a relatively low capital of 100,000 naira and below.

According to a young male clothes vendor, who is based in Ilorin, he explained that having a good relationship with your customers is the best way to grow your business. He continued that, you must also be willing to advertise your business through one on one interaction and most especially on your social media platforms to convince your existing and potential customers for patronage.

Some of the types of clothes to sell are children’s wear, native wear, English wear, jeans, underwear among others. Purchasing of these wears for resales can be made at popular clothes markets, such as Balogun market, Aswani market, Katanguamarket, Tejuosho market, Onitsha market, and Aba Market.

What you need to startWhile starting the business, having a shop may not necessarily be important from the onset, as you can simply purchase clothes and deliver them to the doorsteps of your customers.

One of the most germane qualities you must possess to make it big in the business is the ability to convince your customers on the need to purchase your product. Without proper pacification, your customers may not see the need to patronize a particular dress, as many other needs are competing for the capital of your customers.

Equally, it is also important to have good networking to people and maintain a good rapport with your customers who can in turn help to refer you to other potential customers for patronage. 

7. Laundry business

Laundry is yet another lucrative business in Nigeria that is often overlooked. Due to the busy nature of most people’s jobs, it is difficult to create time for washing clothes, and that is where the laundry service provider comes in.

Richard Ojigbede, a student of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, while talking about his journey so far in the laundry business stated that he used to watch customers’ clothes with bare hands in the past but the proceeding from the business has bought him 2 washing machines and a generator. He explained further that most students have no time for washing clothes due to academic stress which is of immense benefit to his business. He concluded by saying he makes nothing less than 10,000 every day from the business.

What you need to startOne good thing about the business is that you can comfortably work from the comfort of your home without necessarily owning a personal shop or space.

All that is needed to materialize the business idea are the basic tools like washing machine, iron, and generator in case of a power failure.

Laundry just like most other businesses requires you to be honest. As a laundry service provider, you must at all times be a promise keeper by ensuring the readiness of your customers’ clothes as at when due.

It is also important you establish good connections with your customers in order to improve the chances of referral to other potential customers.

8. Shawarma selling business

Shawarma is a snack that is made of beef or chicken filling. It has over the years become one of the favorite snacks of people, most especially the younger generation. This lucrative business idea can be actualized with as little as 100,000 naira and below. 

Mr Sunday Agbor, who owns a popular Shawarma spot close to a supermarket in Ojodu Berger part of Lagos State explained that starting a Shawarma business requires a lot of dedication and patience. While recounting his own experience, the young man said that, the initial stage of the business was not too rosy, as he only made a few sales during the period. He continued that he presently makes more than 250,000 every month from the business.

What you need to startBefore venturing into the business of shawarma, you must first get trained on the process of shawarma making. You won’t want to start the business without a proper understanding of how it is made and start selling low-quality shawarma to your customers. This will kill your business even before it starts.

After getting trained, the next thing is to look for a good location where you can situate your business. Preferably, it is good to locate your shawarma spot in an urban area where you can easily meet with your target audience. Places like students’ area, supermarket surroundings, the entrance to an estate, bar, hotel, and T-junctions are a few of the best spots you can locate your shawarma business in order to make high profit and return on investment on the business.

Some of the equipment required for the business are shawarma toaster, show glass, pot/utensils, spron, and insect killer for flies. 

9. Data reselling business

Presently, we live in a digital era where the world has become a global village and everyone needs to be connected to stay informed about what is happening in their immediate environment and the world at large. To this end, purchasing and having a data plan becomes inevitable.

According to a 2021 report from Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Nigerians consume an excess of 80,000 terabytes of data every month. 

A data reseller is an individual who purchases data in bulk from VTU platforms and telecommunication companies at a relatively cheap price and then resells it to customers at his or her convenient rate.

A student data reseller, Miss Sharon Odewunmi expressed her satisfaction with her choice of business. She further stated that the business just like every other business requires one to have patience and good networking, as the business cannot grow without referrals to potential customers from the previous ones.

What you need to startSome of the requirements to start a data reselling business are a laptop or smartphone, capital for the initial purchase, good internet connections, and a bank account as a medium of payment.

To make money from this business, one needs to be a good marketer, this means that you must be actively able to advertise your business through face-to-face communication and your various social media platforms. You should also reduce the price of your data plans to give you a sharp edge over your competitors and equally convince your customers to purchase data from you as against buying it directly from their network service provider.

10. Declutter agents business

The advent of social media has been a blessing to humanity not just only by providing an avenue to make friends and stay connected with one’s family, but also it has continued to provide means of livelihood to some of its users. Declutter agent business is one of the fastest routes to financial freedom on Instagram. 

As a declutter agent, you simply rake in your money by helping sellers to display their product for potential buyers to see and if satisfied with the product, the buyer makes the payment and you get your own percentage from the proceeding of the sales. Your job is that of a middle man who connects buyer and seller. 

There is virtually nothing that can’t be sold via decluttering agents. Products such as: furniture, mattresses, generator, television, fans are few examples of varieties of things that can be sold and bought through the declutter platform.

According to a popular declutter agent on Instagram with the Instagram handle “deluxe_declutter” which has 13.5k instagram followers, she explained that she started the business with just 5,000 naira but currently makes nothing less than 300,000 monthly from the business. On how she promotes her business, the young lady stated that she reaches her audience through Instagram sponsored ads. She, however, described trust and sellers’ disappointment as the greatest challenge she faces in the business.

What you need to start

Starting this business does not also require situating it in a particular geographical location. It is a remote business that can be done at the comfort of your bedroom. What you will be needing for the business are your smartphone, Instagram accounts, data bundle and adequate power supply.

Having high followers on Instagram is also an added advantage. The more the number of your followers, the more chances of buying and selling through your platform and the more you make money from the business.

It is also important to have a good online reputation, as this will improve the people trust in you and their chances of making sales and purchases through your platform.

Conclusion  

In conclusion, there are many business ideas in Nigeria that you can start with as low as 100,000 naira. What is most important is your ability to look in depth and analyze the category you best fit into. Also, it is important to have patience, as the initial stage of personal business may be frustrating and not yielding enough as expected, but with dedication and hard work, it will just be a matter of little time before you unlock your financial freedom in the business.

33 Unique Ways to Make $1,000+/Monthly

A recent survey by the Research Department of Statista.com revealed that 34% of Americans had less than $1,000 in their savings accounts.

This might sound disturbing, but this was actually far better than a survey CNBC reported on a few years ago that nearly 70% of Americans had $1,000 or less in savings.

Personally, I don’t think it matters which statistical bucket you fall in to claim the following: making an extra $1,000 per month would dramatically improve your life.

I know this because I’ve personally witnessed how making an extra $100, $500, or $1,000 per month has positively impacted hundreds of families.

It’s why I’ve shifted a lot of my work to helping people make extra money as a side hustle and eventually creating multiple passive income sources. The best part is there are hundreds, if not, thousands of different ways to make extra money.

I’ve purposely made this list to include strategies that can work for people with all kinds of skills and talents. You may not be able to do every one of them, but you’ll probably be able to do a few.

You’re also going to see some strategies that probably won’t fetch $1,000 per month, or at least won’t do it right away. But I included them because it’s possible to combine two or three strategies to reach the target.

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How to Make $1,000 Fast Online

1. Selling E-books 

If you have an idea for an e-book, this might be one of the very best ways to create a regular income. Maybe best of all, once you get your book published and marketed, the income is totally passive! And if you can find success with one e-book, you can just rinse and repeat.

You may already be familiar with e-books, but what you may not know is how many are being published each year, and how much money people are making publishing them.

According to Amazon, thousands of independent authors have self-published e-books and earning more than $50,000. More than 1,000 have earned over $100,000 in royalties.

It’s best to make the topic on a subject you’re experienced with. But it’s also important to make sure there’s a proven market for that topic. There are ways you can research a topic idea to make sure it’s a popular one.

Once you create your e-book, you’ll need to create a sustained marketing program. That’s not easy, so check out our post How to Make Your First $1,000 Selling Ebooks to get a primer on how you can create and market your first e-book.

Skills needed: Basic technical knowledge, formatting, Google docs (or Microsoft Suite), specific knowledge about a topic, and social media knowledge.

Earning potential: Depending on the market and how you brand yourself and your product, e-Books can sell anywhere between $0.99 and $15.00 for more advanced pieces.

2. Freelance Writing 

Do you see all that content out on the web? Somebody had to write each and every one of those articles and posts. And most likely, they got paid to do it.

You could be one of them, and it’s one of the best and most lucrative side hustles there is. You can easily make $1,000 or more each month writing just a few articles.

And like so many other income opportunities in this guide, this is one side hustle that can easily be turned into a lucrative full-time career.

Don’t worry if you have never written professionally before. Creating content on the web is different from book writing or print media. It’s much more casual and based more on personal experience than technical knowledge.

“I started freelance writing on the web with no previous writing experience whatsoever. But within a few years it became a full-time career, complete with a six-figure income.

More than anything, it takes a commitment to try and willingness to learn as you go along. Once you find your niche, you’ll find clients all over the web.”

– Kevin Mercadante, Freelance Writer since 2010

If there’s a topic area where you’re knowledgeable, and you have a desire to write on a regular basis, this could be the side hustle for you. And once you get up and running, you can expand to writing all kinds of content.

“I write online content for a living, earning an average of $20,000 to $30,000 per month writing articles, book chapters, and slideshows for a variety of websites and individuals.

With more money at our disposal, we maxed out our retirement accounts and invest in real estate, while we travel 12 weeks annually.” – Holly Johnson, Freelance Writer and Blogger at ClubThrifty.com

Holly has become so successful as a freelance writer that she now offers a course helping others succeed on the same path. You can read all about it in her article, How to Become a Freelance Writer (from 0 to $30,000+ per month).

Skills needed: Strong writing skills, time management, some marketing and SEO knowledge, ability to accept constructive criticism, researching

Earning potential: Once you’re well-established within an industry, there’s virtually no limit on your income potential if you manage to find the right clients. The average freelance writer can make around $150 per article.

3. Blogging 

As you might’ve guessed, I’m really partial to this one! That’s because it’s been my primary bread-and-butter now for close to 14 years and it’s enabled me to provide a good living for my family. I know dozens of other people with the same experience, enough to believe that so many more could do the same thing.

The great thing about blogging is that it’s really an extension of you. That is your interests, skills, and experiences. If you feel you have a compelling story to share with others, one that will enable you to produce content on a regular basis, it’s a perfect way to help others while creating a whole new income stream for yourself.

One of the things I’ve always liked about blogging is flexibility. Like a lot of bloggers, I started out because I had my own story to tell. In my case, it was my experience as a financial planner. Think about what you’re doing now, or even what you would like to do, and work on turning that into your own blog.

But once you start one, think of it as a business. It’s another one that can start out part-time, and eventually, become your main career. And because it is a business, it’s a way of building a major asset.

Another blogger who I’ve become friends with over the years, Larry Ludwig, recently sold his blog for—get this—$6 million. Larry’s hardly the only one who’s done that. But it does give you an idea of the business potential blogging can create.

I think for most people, the hard part is getting started. You may have an idea about starting a blog, but you’re not sure exactly how to start or what topics you’ll take on. But like everything else, you can learn how to blog. It didn’t happen overnight for me, but then few blogging resources were available when I started out in 2008.

If you’re interested in starting your own blog, take advantage of my guide, How to Start a Blog From Scratch and Make it Work. It’s free, and right here on this website. In it, you’ll find all the resources you need to start a successful blog.

If you want a more specific instruction guide, sign up for my

Make $1k Challenge. Order the program, and you’ll get the exact blueprint for how I took my blog from a hobby to a $1,000 per month venture.

Skills needed: Technical knowledge (WordPress, SEO, web marketing), writing ability (doesn’t need to be perfect when you start), social media, topical expertise (although being passionate about something might prove just as effective).

Earning potential: Unlimited. Once your blog becomes well-known as frequented by users across the world, there’s practically nothing to prevent you from earning top dollar for your content.

4. Facebook Ads for Small Businesses 

Facebook is the biggest social media platform in the world, with nearly 3 billion users globally. That creates plenty of ways to make money on Facebook.

One popular way to do that is to run Facebook ads for local businesses. You don’t need to be an advertising professional to do this, only someone who knows their way around Facebook and is willing to put in the effort. After all, small businesses don’t have advertising departments.

One gentleman who has found success in providing Facebook ads for small businesses is Bobby Hoyt from Laptop Empires.

“When I first started working online back in 2015, I started in the digital marketing world, helping small business owners reach more customers,” Bobby reports. “Many of them who wanted to run Facebook ads for their business didn’t know how to themselves, so I provided the service for them.”

This is another one of those skills where you don’t necessarily have to be an expert, you just have to know more than the average person. And like everything else, you’ll get better at it with time and experience.

Skills needed: General knowledge of Facebook, Facebook Ads, campaigns, and digital marketing.

Earning potential: Depending on how quickly you’re able to find new clients and develop a working portfolio, your potential earnings could easily top the $1,000 mark designated on this post.

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5. Crypto Bot Trading 

This is one for the cryptocurrency investors in the crowd. I’ve been increasingly earning income from various activities in the crypto space. Turns out there are more ways to make money there than just buying one or two cryptos and waiting for the prices to skyrocket.

One way I do this is through crypto bot trading. It’s a way you can engage in actively trading cryptocurrencies without having to sit in front of your computer and monitor the crypto universe all day. Instead, you use a software program that does the trading for you, which is why it’s referred to as a bot.

Crypto bots trading

One way to do this is through what’s known as grid trading. That’s where you place buy and sell orders at predefined intervals based on a fixed price. You can set a specific buy price, as well as a sell price. As the price rises within that range, you’ll make a profit. Once you set the price points, the whole process will be completely automated.

The strategy works best on a crypto with consistent price fluctuations, which is really most of them. The more they fluctuate, the more profit opportunities you’ll have.

It’s not a strategy for everyone, but if you’re into crypto and looking to capitalize on short-term trades, this is definitely a way to go.

Skills needed: General crypto knowledge, investing knowledge, financial literacy, technical savvy.

Earning potential: Dependent on investible sources and market returns, volatility, etc.

6. Dividend Income 

Admittedly, this isn’t a strategy for many readers. But if you have a couple hundred thousand dollars in investible funds, or you’re on a path to get there, this is a workable strategy. It’s also a way to earn a relatively safe return without resorting to the 0.0-something percent being paid on savings accounts, or >1% being paid on 12-month certificates of deposit.

I cover the nuts and bolts of dividend income in How to Make $1,000 Per Month in Dividends, but let me give you the summary version here.

To generate dividend income successfully and consistently, you’ll not only need to invest in high dividend-paying stocks but also those that have a proven track record of paying them. Just because the stock pays a high dividend doesn’t mean you should invest in it. After all, companies can cut dividends.

Skills needed: Intermediate investing knowledge, investible funds, 

Earning potential: Depends on funds you have to invest and the average dividend yield on stocks held in your portfolio.

BONUS: Where to Find High Dividend Stocks

A better idea is to choose among a list of stocks known as the Dividend Aristocrats. These are companies that are included in the S&P 500 and have provided at least 25 consecutive years of dividend increases.

A website called Sure Dividend puts out a list of Dividend Aristocrats that’s updated daily. (You’ll need to enter your email address to get the full list.)

There are currently 66 companies on the list, and many of them are household names. The dividend payouts have a wide range, but there are a handful of stocks that pay above-average yields. That means this is a situation where you may be better off buying individual stocks rather than a fund tied to the whole index.

Examples include:

Chevron (CVX), 4.3%

AbbVie (ABBV), 3.9%

Franklin Resources (BEN), 3.8%

Leggett & Platt (LEG), 4.4%

3M (MMM), 4.0%

Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), 4.1%

IBM (IBM), 5.3%

Amcor (AMCR), 4.0%

Realty Income Corp (0), 4.4%

Exxon Mobil (XOM), 4.6%

Those are the 10 highest dividend-paying stocks on the list. If you are to divide your portfolio with equal allocations to each of the 10 companies, you have an average annual dividend yield of 4.3%.

A quick calculation shows you need about $279,000 to earn $1000 per month, or $12,000 per year, with a 4.3% yield.

But even if you don’t have that much money, you can use whatever capital you have to generate a high and relatively safe return.

You can invest in individual dividend stocks through online brokers, like Robinhood, M1 Finance, Ally Invest or SoFi. Best of all, none of those brokers charge commissions for buying and selling individual stocks.

“I don’t own a single asset, anywhere, that doesn’t pay a dividend.”

Kevin O’Leary

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7. Crypto Savings Accounts 

This can be an even better way to earn high interest on your money than dividend stocks. And higher returns mean you’ll need less capital to get the income you want.

One of the best sources of high interest are crypto savings accounts. These are available on crypto exchanges. Those exchanges, which naturally specialize in trading cryptos, have expanded to offer other services, like interest-bearing savings accounts.

As an example, BlockFi—which is a crypto exchange I invest in – was paying as much as 9.25% interest on certain cryptocurrencies.

Celsius crypto savings account

Another platform, Celsius, is currently offering an unbelievable 17% rate.

Note: On July 13, 2022, Celsius Network and certain of its affiliates filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Now I have to caution that this is not the same as having money in the bank. None of these accounts are protected by FDIC. But if you’ve got money to spare, and you want higher returns than you can get at a bank or even on dividend stocks, this is an income source to consider.

Skills needed: Basic understanding of the crypto market, the right crypto exchanges, and which currencies pay the highest interest (most pay none at all).

Earning potential: Depends on funds you have to invest and the average interest paid on the cryptos you hold.

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8. Real Estate Income 

This is one of the most time-honored ways to earn consistent, long-term income. Probably the most popular way to do it is with rental income property you purchase at a good price, perform any renovations, and rent it out to tenants.

As time goes by, and rents rise, your income from the property grows. With just a couple of properties, you could be earning a net profit of $1,000 or more per month in just a few years.

And since you’ll be using mortgage financing for most of the purchase price, your upfront investment will be relatively low.

To get more information on how to invest in real estate successfully, read

Joseph Hogue’s post on this site, 7 Rules I Learned After Going Broke in Real Estate Investing. The rules he lists will help you avoid the pitfalls that can turn real estate investing into a complete disaster.

Skills needed: Communication, management, market analysis, negotiation, and vision.

Earning potential: Dependent on your ability to manage multiple projects, keep them occupied, increase monthly income streams.

9. Personal Coaching 

If you’re fairly accomplished in your field, meaning you have more experience and success than the average person doing the same job, personal coaching may be a way to earn some extra money.

Let’s say you’re a career professional, occupying a middle-level management position. You may be able to use your combination of experience and skills to coach those who are either new to the field or less experienced.

You may not think you have much to offer, but to a person lower on the career ladder, you may have more than you think.

Being a personal coach isn’t limited to career development, either. You can also branch out to become a personal life coach. That can include helping people better manage their finances.

There are plenty of online resources to help you become a personal coach. For example, if you want to become a financial coach, you can sign up for Dave Ramsey’s Financial Coach Master Training.

Skills needed: Listening skills, empathy, vision, honesty, and good communication skills.

Earning potential: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics places life coaching in the $33K to $95K salary range.

10. Online Communities (Membership Sites)

This is one of the more advanced moneymaking strategies on this list. Basically, it involves creating a website that will require a paid membership to access.

That can be a tough sell given that there are so many free websites across the World Wide Web. But visitors will pay to join a site that provides highly specialized information. And charging a monthly membership fee is a way to generate a steady cash flow. Meanwhile, you can add other revenue streams from the site, like display ads and product promotions.

If you have highly specialized information or access to sources of it, there’s plenty of potential here. The website SmartBlogger offers 7 Membership Sites that Make $100K+ Per Year. Examples include sites dedicated to growing orchards, business coaching, blogging, weight loss, and other topics.

One popular strategy is to create a free website providing valuable information but setting up a paywall for those who want the really good stuff.

Skills needed: Networking, social media marketing, web development, marketing, topical expertise.

Earning potential: Depending on the industry, your income potential can be anywhere from $1,000 to virtually unlimited income.

11. Podcasting 

You can probably think of podcasting as the audio equivalent of blogging. It’s becoming increasingly popular since people will listen to podcasts while driving, working out, and doing other routine tasks.

Podcasts can appear on blogs and even be placed on YouTube. But two of the most popular destinations are Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Much like blogging, you can make money promoting specific products or services through affiliate marketing, sponsorships, selling online courses, and even coaching and consulting.

Skills needed: Speaking and communication skills, audio production, organization, marketing, personal brands, and passion.

Earning potential: Top-earning podcasters can make anywhere between $500 and a couple thousand dollars per episode.

12. YouTube

This is another moneymaking venture I participate in. I started my YouTube channel, Wealth Hacker – Jeff Rose, a few years ago, and already have nearly 400,000 subscribers.

If you’re committed to creating quality content, YouTube can be a steady moneymaker. For some, it’s even turned into a virtual gold mine.

Part of what makes YouTube so interesting is that you can create video topics you’re interested in and where you have at least above-average knowledge. But it also offers multiple ways to generate revenue.

You can use your YouTube channel to promote your business, product, or service you’re selling. That can include online courses, personal coaching, or even promoting your blog or website.

But you can also monetize your channel through sponsorships, affiliate marketing, or Google Adsense. The cool thing about these income sources is that they’re completely passive. Once you have your videos up and running, revenue is coming in 24 hours a day, seven days per week. If you get a bunch of videos up and running, you can really make bank.

If you don’t think you can find success on YouTube, please read my interview with Emily Dihle (formerly Eddington),

Beauty Broadcast’s Emily Eddington: How a Small Town Girl Got 17 Million YouTube Views and 100,000 Raving Subscribers. Emily has been able to build a big-time YouTube channel centered around makeup.

Now, beauty may not be the subject that appeals to you, but Emily’s story gives you an idea of what can be done with YouTube. People are turning all kinds of topics—diet and exercise, finance and investing, beauty, travel, politics, and many more—into successful YouTube channels.

If YouTube is something that interests you, check out my guide, How to Make Money on YouTube.

Skills needed: Excellent voice and communicational skills, video editing skills, networking skills.

Earning potential: High-value YouTube channels make around $3 to $5 per 1,000 views on the platform.

13. Flea Market Flipping 

This is an activity I’ve only dabbled in. But I have enough experience to know that there’s some serious money to be made with flea market flipping. Thousands of people are doing it, and you can too.

It’s all about buying salable items for a fraction of what you can sell them for. I even put together an article, Best Items for Garage Sale Flipping for Fun and Profit, listing some of the best items for profitable sales.

A couple I discussed in the article above, Rob and Melissa Stephenson, have become full-time flea market flippers.

They even host their own website, Flea Market Flipper, to help others find success in the venture. If you’re interested in turning this into a serious side hustle—or even a full-time business—they offer several courses to help you get there.

You can make a few hundred dollars a month, a few thousand dollars a month, or—like the Stephenson’s—turn it into a full-time business earning six figures.

Skills needed: An eye for valuable items, networking, some social media knowledge, photography.

Earning potential: Anywhere between a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand if you’re good at finding invaluable items.

14. Selling Sneakers

Flea market flipping is just one way to play the flipping game. You can even specialize in very specific items to sell. To give you a personal example, and seasoned investors.

And with the recent volatile activity in the stock market, options may be more valuable than ever.

Options give investors two important advantages:

The ability to minimize losses on current stock positions, and

The ability to profit from the purchase or sale of securities you don’t actually own.

Either scenario is possible because while an option gives you the right to buy or sell a security, there is no obligation to do either. You’ll pay a relatively small fee for the option.

If the stock the option applies to performs as you expect, you can exercise the option to either buy or sell the security and realize a nice profit without ever owning the stock.

And if the stock doesn’t perform as hoped, you can simply let the option expire. Your only loss will be the cost of the option itself. That small investment will give you the ability to speculate on different stocks with only a fraction of the investment capital you would need to buy the stocks outright.

You can get a good overview of options trading in my guide, Trading in Options: A Guide for Beginning Investors.

Skills needed: Research, investing knowledge, discipline, patience.

Earning potential: 10% – 50% per trade, depending on your investible assets.

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17. Credit Card Rewards

This is another strategy that may be unlikely to generate $1,000 per month consistently, but it can definitely help you reach that goal in combination with other strategies.

You’ll want to start by choosing among the best cash-back credit cards available. Many of these cards also pay sign-up bonuses, which will pay several hundred dollars if you meet minimum spending requirements within the first three months of having the card.

If you like to travel, you can also choose travel-related credit cards. They’ll enable you to accumulate points toward travel, and even get you free travel deals.

I was able to take my family on a $15,164 all-inclusive resort vacation to the Dominican Republic. If you can do that just once each year, that would be the equivalent of well over $1,000 per month!

Now admittedly, that’s an exceptional deal. But the point is, there are very lucrative travel deals out there to be had with the right credit cards.

Meanwhile, you can earn cashback on everyday purchases using your credit cards. You’re going to spend the money anyway, so why not use your credit card to build up cash rewards and points?

But if you do use this strategy, be sure to pay off your credit card balance in full each month. The purpose here is to get the benefit of the rewards, not to spend yourself into a debt hole you can’t get out.

Skills needed: Buying power – the more you use your credit cards, the more successful you’ll be; willingness to track the credit card rewards market to find the most lucrative offers.

Earning potential: Capped, dependent on how much money you spend and the rewards level provided by your credit card(s).

18. Pay Off Your Student Loans

The statistics on student loans are downright scary. 43.4 million people owe $1.75 trillion, with an average balance of $40,904. The monthly payment on that debt approaches $400.

Debt numbers like that can keep a lot of young people from ever getting out of the starting gate. That’s why it’s so important to pay it off.

But paying off your student loans will also improve your cash flow. If you fit the “average” category, paying off your debt will free up about $400 per month.

What’s more, that will represent a source of income that isn’t taxable. If it were, monthly income would likely be something higher than $500.

There is no magic formula for paying off a big student loan debt. But in How To Payoff Student Loans Faster Than Ever, I spell out nine strategies to get the job done in a lot less time. That’s important because student loan balances don’t seem to drop the longer they are outstanding.

One pay-down strategy is to dedicate income from a side hustle – like the ones I’m presenting in this guide – to paying off your student loan debt. That can erase the debt from your life in a lot less time, without disturbing your regular paycheck.

Skills Needed: Commitment to live beneath your means, and target extra funds into debt reduction. Also requires healthy doses of discipline and patience.

Earning Potential: Determined by the size of your monthly payment (s). The nationwide average is $460 per month.

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19. Amazon FBA

If you’ve been looking for ways to earn additional income, you’ve probably at least heard of Amazon FBA. It’s a way to earn money by piggybacking on the world’s largest home delivery service. Though many use it as a side hustle, more than a few have turned it into a full-time occupation.

You can read our guide, $0 to $1000 a Month with Amazon FBA, written by John Elder. In it, John covers everything you need to know to launch an Amazon FBA channel.

One of the biggest hurdles for would-be Amazon sellers is product selection, and that is a major issue. But John covers that all-important topic in the guide.

“This is where most people go south,” writes John. “The harsh reality is that most fail on Amazon due to improper upfront product research. Most go with their gut or chase seasonal-type items.

The worst is chasing trending items like face masks. Thanks, Covid! Instead of chasing trends, chase evergreen products.

Evergreen products are sold year-round, 365 days a year with no end in sight. Examples of evergreen products include things like Phone chargers, kids’ toys, and office supplies. Those are just a few. The vast majority of what is sold on Amazon is considered ‘evergreen.’”

Skills Needed: The ability to identify the most profitable items to sell, as well as marketing skills, organization, and the ability to manage a network. Having a passion for a specific product or product line is a major advantage.

Earning Potential: Varies, but at least $1,000 per month, according to our guide listed above.

20. Become a Virtual Assistant 

There are millions of small businesses, including blogs and websites, that need specific services performed. Since they’re small businesses they may not have the workload or the budget for full-time employees.

That’s why many of these businesses are hiring virtual assistants to handle these tasks.

Virtual assistants are needed for all kinds of jobs, like data entry, proofreading and editing, customer service, bookkeeping, research, and so many more. The work is done entirely online, which means you can work from home and typically on your own schedule.

You can think of being a virtual assistant as having a part-time job, except that it’s done from home. You may be paid either on an hourly basis or by the job.

I share more ideas on becoming a virtual assistant in my post, How to Become a Virtual Assistant.

Skills Needed: Training and experience and commonly needed skills, including administration, accounting and bookkeeping, marketing, communications, customer service, and many other capacities.

Earning Potential: The average hourly pay for virtual assistants nationwide is $21.34. You can earn over $1,000 per month five working roughly 50 hours, or about 12 hours per week.

21. Create an Online Course

I’ve covered various moneymaking strategies in this guide, including YouTube, blogging, and podcasts. If you do any of these, creating an online course is an excellent way to earn extra money using those strategies.

But you can even sell your online course through other people’s blogs, YouTube channels, and podcasts, by paying an affiliate fee for each sale.

I’ve done this myself by creating an online course geared toward financial advisors, to help them build their online presence, so I know this strategy works. The course has earned more than $200,000 since I launched it a few years ago.

That was my online course niche, but the field is wide open. You can create a course based on whatever your expertise is. Usually, the best choices will be those where there’s plenty of competition.

For example, there are a lot of successful online courses for investing, cooking and baking, photography, and even how to create online courses.

There’s a lot more to this strategy than just creating a course and putting it up for sale. If you’d like to learn how to launch an online course, check out my guide, How to Create an Online Course: A Step-by-Step Guide.

Skills Needed: Expertise in the topic area your online courses will focus on; organizational skills, the ability to incorporate outside resources, good presentation skills, and marketing skills. You’ll also need the ability to develop an affiliate market to expand sales. It may also require an investment of several hundred or several thousand dollars to create the course.

Earning Potential: With the average price of $137 for an online course, you can make over $1,000 per month by selling just eight each month. After that, the sky’s the limit!

22. Create a Digital Product

This strategy covers a lot of ground, including some already listed in this guide, like online courses and e-books. But those are just two of the potential products to consider.

A digital product is any product you can create that is both marketed and sold online. That includes how-to guides, music, videos, audiobooks, art, photography, video games, and—if you have the skill—computer software.

This is another income source that has strong potential to become passive income. Once you create and market your digital product, sales—and money—will come in with not much more effort on your part.

There’s a big advantage if you already have a blog or YouTube channel to market your digital products. But even if you don’t, you can market through other people’s blogs and YouTube channels through an affiliate arrangement.

And if you find success with one product, you can create others. As you expand your marketing reach to many different blogs and YouTube channels, this is one strategy with serious potential to scale up.

Skills Needed: Expertise in the topic area that will be the subject of your digital product. Presentation skills, marketing, search engine optimization, and networking.

Earning Potential: Potentially unlimited, especially if you can develop a successful affiliate marketing campaign.

23. Become a Freelancer in Your Area of Expertise

I spent a good bit of time covering freelance writing in #2 above, but the freelance concept could really be applied to just about any skill you have.

Other skills include:

web design

social media manager

data analyst

graphic designer

photographer

video editor

SEO consultant

interior designer

digital marketer

You can take a skill you are using in your job and sell your services as a freelancer. But it may also be possible to provide an unrelated service where you have expertise.

One of the benefits of freelancing with anything is flexibility. Though it can start out as a side hustle, it has real potential to turn into your primary occupation. It all depends on how far you want to take it.

The website Upwork has an excellent article on how to market your freelance service, 6 Effective Ways to Market Your Freelance Business. And, not coincidentally, Upwork is also a well-recognized platform where you can market your services to potential clients.

Skills Needed: Training, experience, and certifications in any common trade or skill. Ability to market your services, meet deadlines, and troubleshoot problems are essential. Must also be willing to advance your skills settling and successfully adjust to changes within the field.

Earning Potential: Easily over $1,000 per month if you have the needed skills, available time, and a willingness to put in the effort. More highly skilled individuals can earn much more.

24. Tutoring

Of course, this is a perfect site helpful for teachers. But don’t rule it out if you aren’t a teacher. Nearly anyone with a specific skill can be a tutor, either for students or for adults looking to up their career skills.

If you want to provide tutoring to students, you can market your services through local schools and colleges. Depending on the subject, tutors can earn between $25 and $50 per hour.

You can choose to tutor in-person, one-on-one, or provide virtual lessons. In-person tutoring will be limited to your geographic location. But if you go the virtual route, your market can be national, or even global.

As is the case with just about anything you want to do these days, there are web platforms to help tutors. Two examples are Wyzant and TutorMe. Each is an online platform that matches students with tutors in specific subjects.

While academic subjects, like math, science, history, and test preparation, are always in demand, you can also offer tutoring in professional skills, like computer science, engineering, professional disciplines, and, if you have the skill, a foreign language.

Skills Needed: A degree and certification in teaching is helpful. But a major in any common subject, particularly math or science, combined with above-average command of the subject matter are more important. Other skills include patience, positivity, empathy, ability to listen and communicate, and good time management skills.

Earning Potential: Varies by hourly rate and number of hours worked per month. $500 to $1000 working 20 hours per month.

25. Teach English as a Second Language

Speaking of foreign languages, it’s also possible to make extra money teaching English as a second language. Not only are there a large number of recent immigrants to the U.S. who are looking to learn the language, but it may also be possible to teach English to students in foreign countries.

English, after all, is practically the global language of both business and the Internet. Millions of people in other countries are looking to master the language as a way of improving their business skills.

Like tutoring, you can market your skills locally through area school districts. But if you want to tutor international students, there’s a website called SayABC that can make it happen.

You’ll need to be certified in teaching English as a second language, but they have a ready market for potential students. They currently pay $17 per 40-minute tutoring session.

The big advantage with SayABC is that the lessons are provided virtually. That means you can work from home and decide exactly how much time you want to commit.

Skills needed: Overall grammar, linguistics, and written English language education, communication skills, presentation skills, classroom management. 

Earning potential: Salaries may range from $14 to $25 an hour, depending on location and other factors.

26. Sign Up to Be an Amateur Sports Referee

If you’ve ever been to a sporting event for school-age kids, you’re aware there are always referees. In many cases, those referees are being paid for those games.

That takes in both school-related sports and local recreation leagues, like Little League baseball. Referees can earn between $25 and $50 per hour and there are often no certifications required.

You can usually qualify if you are knowledgeable about a sport, especially if you currently play or have played in that sport in the past.

This is a real thing. I knew a high school-age girl who was making about $40 per hour refereeing recreation soccer for kids under 14. Her only qualification was that she played soccer when she was under 14 herself.

Another guy I met a few years ago was making over $1,000 a week refereeing high school football and baseball games during a time of extended unemployment.

I have a feeling his unemployment lasted quite a bit longer because he was enjoying the work and the lack of stress that comes with a “real job”!

Skills needed: Teamwork, stamina, decision-making, reflexes, sports rules knowledge, communication, conflict resolution.

Earning potential: Anywhere between $25 to $500 per game, depending on the specific sport and participant age level (recreation league, high school sports, college sports).

27. Become a Handyman

Do you have a knack for being able to fix things around the house? If you do, you can turn that into a steady second income. Don’t underestimate what the potential is here.

As millions of people have moved into professional, managerial, and technical positions, they no longer have the time or expertise to perform routine home repairs. And contractors can be expensive!

There was a guy in my former neighborhood, an IT professional by trade, who started doing home repairs around the neighborhood. Roland was mostly doing odd jobs for people he knew. But as word got around about his skills, he was soon getting calls from people he didn’t know.

In time, he became the neighborhood handyman. And from there, he expanded his services into three or four neighborhoods. He earned enough from his handyman work that he was able to quit his IT job, which he didn’t much care for.

Just from the endless supply of word-of-mouth referrals he got from that handful of neighborhoods, he didn’t even need to advertise. In fact, he turned away calls from people who didn’t live in those neighborhoods.

You don’t have to become a full-time, self-employed handyman as Roland did. But if you know how to perform routine repairs, you may be able to generate a nice second income just helping people in your neighborhood.

Skills needed: Plumbing, carpentry, electrical work; fixtures, maintenance, masonry, concrete, repair work

Earning potential: Part-time and full-time handymen make between $24K to $60K a year, respectively.

28. Rent Out Storage Space in Your Home

In #8 I covered real estate income. This one’s a variation on the same theme. If you’re already a homeowner, but you have no interest in buying a rental property, you may be able to generate income from unused space in your home.

Let’s say you have extra space in your garage, an empty shed on your property, or even attic space. You may be able to earn several thousand dollars per year renting out the space to someone who is looking for storage.

If you do have garage space, you may be able to collect the rental for the storage of an additional vehicle.

There’s even a web platform called Neighbor that will help with the process. You can list your available space on the platform, entertain requests from potential renters, then schedule prices and terms.

It can be the perfect way to generate a passive income from your home, effectively monetizing space you aren’t using anyway.

Skills needed: Networking, time management, resource management, real estate property.

Earning potential: Dependent on how much rentable space you own and have available.

29. Offer Your Artistic Talent on GigSalad

Do you have an artistic talent you’ve been looking to put to good use? There’s a website called GigSalad where you can list your services for hire. The platform provides everything you need to book gigs, including getting leads, sending quotes, and even collecting payments for your services.

Don’t underestimate your potential here. Many thousands of businesses and individuals are looking for specific talent for one-time or short-term gigs. They have a long list of artistic skills on the platform.

Examples include singers, solo musicians, bands and groups, actors, speakers, characters for children’s parties, acrobats, and comedians. But there’s also a need for hairstylists and makeup artists, bartenders, caterers and wait staff for special occasions, entertainment for outdoor parties, and of course, photographers and videographers.

Skills needed: Photography, music, handcrafting, home repair, home improvement, etc.

Earning potential: Dependent on your marketable skills and ability to perform multiple gigs. Some gigs pay more than others.

30. Flipping Websites

You’re probably familiar with house flipping, or even business flipping, where people buy houses or businesses, improve them, then sell them for big profits. Well, the flipping concept is extended to just about everything, including websites.

The market here is huge. There are literally millions of websites, and some of them are up for sale. That can include websites that are no longer active, and the owner wants to sell. Each represents an opportunity to buy a live website that you can build up and sell for a nice profit.

And much like trading stocks, this is the kind of business you can do as a side hustle, and on a regular basis. There are plenty of websites available to keep you going. It could be the perfect side hustle if you have a specific topic niche you can blog about, then upgrade the site, its traffic, and revenue.

I wrote about how Larry Ludwig sold his site for $6 million in #3. This is a similar principle except you’re doing it on a much lower level. It’s possible to buy active websites for just a few thousand dollars, or even a few hundred. With an additional investment of just a few hundred dollars, you may be able to build up the site and sell it for several thousand dollars.

Where can you find websites to buy—and later sell?

It turns out website flipping is now a well-developed industry. Web platforms like Flippa and Empire Flippers can be used to both find and purchase new websites, and to sell sites when you’re ready.

Skills needed: Web development, design, content marketing/creation, social media marketing, networking.

Earning potential: Unlimited.

31. Buying Websites to Generate Passive Income

There’s one other way to play website flipping, and that’s to buy sites that generate passive income. I have a website, Life Insurance By Jeff, where I earn several thousand dollars per month with only a few hours of work each week.

Now I didn’t buy that site; I built it from the ground up. The revenue model is a little bit different from most websites because the income is generated by selling leads from the site to insurance agents.

But you can use the same principle in buying existing websites in your favorite niches, building them up, then getting the benefit of the almost passive income they generate.

For example, you can typically buy a website for about twice the annual revenue it generates. With an investment of $6,000, you can purchase a website that produces $3,000 per year in annual income. That works out to be $250 per month. Buy four sites, and you’ll be looking at $1,000 per month.

You may have to do some work to upgrade the sites when you buy them, and then periodically add content to keep them fresh and active. But if you can get up and running, it can create additional revenue streams using web topics that interest you.

Skills needed: Resourcefulness, buying power, web development, content marketing, eye for detail.

Earning potential: Unlimited.

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32. Create and Sell Crafts on Etsy

Etsy is practically a cliché when it comes to making extra money, and it’s a legitimate one at that.

If you have skills in creating crafts, it can be the perfect way to sell them to a global audience, rather than limiting yourself to local craft shops or flea markets.

Emma Healy has an excellent guide on what to sell on Etsy, 30 Things to Sell on Etsy To Make Money (2022 Guide), over at Mums Money. There are plenty of online resources to help you start and grow your own sales channel on Etsy.

If you have a talent for creating items, this is a good way to monetize that skill by doing something you enjoy.

Skills needed: Photography, social media marketing, textiles, woodcraft, papercraft, jewelry, pottery, and more.

Earning potential: Dependent on your ability to manage time effectively, market your products, and establish a following.

33. Get a Part-time Job – The Rates Have Gone Up!

This may sound too obvious—and conventional. But the pay for part-time work has increased dramatically in just the last couple of years with the Great Resignation.

With the current labor shortage, it’s hard to find an operation anywhere that doesn’t have a “help wanted” sign. Restaurants, grocery stores, retailers—you name it, they all need people.

Even though the federal minimum wage still sits at a ridiculously low $7.25 per hour, most employers are paying a lot more. It isn’t hard to find a part-time job paying $15 an hour or more, especially if you bring specific skills and experience to the job. And on top of the higher pay, some employers are even paying sign-on bonuses.

It’s true enough that at $7.25 per hour you’d have to work about 138 hours per month (or 31.75 hours per week) to earn $1,000. That’s practically a second full-time job!

But at $15 per hour, you only need to work 67 hours per month—or a little over 15 hours per week—to clear $1,000. Actually, you don’t even need to do that.

By working just 10 hours per week, which may be just a couple of shifts, you can make about $650 per month, and earn the additional $350 using one of the other strategies above.

Think of it as a hybrid strategy to make an extra $1,000 per month.

Skills needed: Soft skills, spare time, adaptability, honesty, resourcefulness, punctuality.

Earning potential: $350 – $1,000 per month.

Bottom Line on Making $1,000 Monthly Fast

For every person that claims that making an extra $1,000 per month is not possible, there is someone else out there willing to experiment and test out new ideas.

My hope in publishing this article is to demonstrate several ideas that I, or someone else, have personally achieved success with generating extra monthly income.

The key is reprogramming your mindset to believe you have the skills and capabilities to generate an extra 1,000 dollars on the side. Chances are the $1,000 idea won’t work – and that’s okay!

Chalk it up to a learning lesson and move on to the next idea until you find one that works. Repeat this process and I’m confident you’ll be making MUCH more than $12,000 per year.

In fact, I believe you’ll be on the fast track to achieving financial freedom. It’s time to get to work!

About the Author

Jeff Rose, CFP® is a Certified Financial Planner™, founder of Good Financial Cents, and author of the personal finance book Soldier of Finance. Jeff is an Iraqi combat veteran and served 9 years in the Army National Guard. His work is regularly featured in Forbes, Business Insider, Inc.com and Entrepreneur.

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