A British woman has revealed how she gave up her full-time job to focus on her side hustles, after earning over £3,000 in one month alone.
Abbi Clark, from the south coast of England, began her journey exactly a year ago, after a colleague told her they had made £70 cat-sitting over a weekend.
The 23-year-old, who used to work in marketing, realised that she too could make extra cash by walking other people’s dogs on her daily five-mile walks or watching them overnight, charging up to £40 a night.
But this was just the start.
Utilising her existing marketing skills, Abbi soon ventured into freelance social media management, which saw her net £1,000 a month on top of her full-time £2,000 monthly salary.
The savvy content creator also started offering personal finance advice and products online – which she made herself with Canva and Excel.
“I didn’t have a target in mind when I started side hustling,” Abbi told Absolutely Business.
“I saw it as a bonus on top of my salary, which was pretty healthy.
“My initial side hustle income fluctuated a lot at first but when I started doing social media management, it really picked up.
“With this and dog walking/sitting, I was making £1,000 a month on top of my salary.
“Then, I started making money from my own social media accounts where I talk about personal finance, couple’s finances and money.
“I launched some very low-cost digital products that I put together myself using Canva and Excel.
“One is a ‘Couple’s Finance Workbook’ – all the things my partner and I discussed, it helps with how you want to split bills and manage your finances as a couple.
“I also sell a ‘Monthly Budgeting Spreadsheet’ – which is a copy of the spreadsheet that I made for myself to use.
“They are priced under £5; these kind of guides are good if you have a following, as it’s free to start and free to promote, you just need to dedicate time.
“I’ve also branched out into brand deals and user-generated content, charging £100 per video.
“You can also add a fee for usage rights on top of this, where the brand pays you to use the video on a monthly basis.”
Abbi believes that patience is key when looking to grow a side hustle.
She said: “It definitely takes time – particularly earning from content creation and from my social media management business.
“I started posting on my TikTok page properly in March and it took a long time to grow.
“I started posting on Instagram at the end of May and whilst I’ve seen much quicker growth, I’ve only started earning from it more recently.”
Some side hustles have been a lot more successful than others, with Abbi also having tried out surveys and user testing.
She said: “I would say my least favourite side hustles are things like surveys and those low-ticket items like apps you make money from playing games.
“I am so limited on time and am someone that gets distracted very easily so these are tricky for me to stay consistent with.”
Abbi, who has made her side hustles her full-time job, is hoping to further increase her income in 2025.
She said: “When I started out, it was just a way of making extra money and paying for my holidays.
“But as I progressed and saw that making money myself is possible, my career goals changed to trying to make a living from doing things I really enjoy and where I can be in control of my own time.
“I get so many questions on how I can make so much money and I think it’s because so many people just don’t try.
“Whilst anyone can do it, it takes time!
“I spent most mornings before work, evenings after work, weekends and even lunch breaks working on my side hustles.
“But the hard work is paying off.”
When asked for her top tips for anyone looking to start a side hustle, Abbi says it’s key to play to your strengths.
She added: “Just because you see someone online making money from a particular side hustle, doesn’t mean you would excel at it – find what you enjoy and are good at.
“Treat your side hustle as a business – even if you don’t plan to take it full-time, being on top of getting back to people, deliverables and even your side hustle finances is super helpful.”
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