Serving as a caregiver for an elderly parent or grandparent can be hugely rewarding. You get to spend valuable time with your loved ones while helping them enjoy their later years. However, caregiving can also take you away from a steady career path. There is an upside: you can still find professional success and personal fulfillment by establishing your own side hustle.
Breathing Spaces is dedicated to providing useful resources for family caregivers that will help them thrive. This guide explains how senior caregivers can establish a successful side hustle to further their professional aspirations and bring in some added money.
Choose a fitting side hustle in line with your skills, resources, and interests.
As a caregiver, you’re naturally a nurturing person. Use that trait to your advantage when selecting a side hustle. For example, you might start a child or pet care business. If you’ve got a green thumb, you can always take on some lawn maintenance jobs in your neighborhood. Lastly, if you have experience with things like coding or graphic design, you can find freelancer jobs that allow you to work from home.
When selecting a job, consider your personal talents, resources, and interests. For example, if you have a green thumb and prefer a gig that allows you to spend time outdoors, landscaping is a great pick. Alternatively, if you’re a creative person, you might try selling handicrafts online via an e-commerce platform.
Resources in terms of materials and time are another consideration. For example, if you want to drive for Uber, you’ll need a car. You also have to be able to leave your senior loved one at home while you’re gone. If that isn’t possible, opt for a home-based business. Forbes explains that a home-based business also offers greater flexibility in terms of working hours.
Write a business plan to organize your new side hustle.
Once you’ve decided what side hustle you want to pursue, take the time to write out a business plan. The Balance explains that a business plan is like a road map for your business, detailing financial and operational guidelines. A detailed document includes competitor analysis, management and operating plan, financial projections, and more.
If you’ve never written a business plan before, Business News Daily offers free templates you can use to guide the process. Simply download the version that best suits your needs to get started. With this document in hand, you can pursue your side hustle confidently. You’ll always have your “guidebook” to refer back to when questions or uncertainties arise.
Take steps to make your side hustle a success.
Balancing care-taking with a new business can be tricky. Outsourcing critical start-up tasks can help simplify matters. For example, marketing is critical to small business success. You want potential customers to hear about your goods or services. The great news is that marketing doesn’t have to cost a lot. CallRail describes affordable tactics, like social media and content marketing.
You can find professionals for these tasks via work-for-hire platforms like Upwork. For example, you can browse content experts based on criteria like turn-around time and cost of content. Upwork also features pros in other areas that can help your small business grow, like web design and search engine optimization.
As a family caregiver, setting up a side hustle can help you earn extra income and give you personal agency over your professional life. The above guide gives you a few ideas on how you can set up a thriving business while still giving your senior loved one the time and attention they deserve.
Guest Blogger Harry Cline is a retired nursing home administrator, father of three, and caregiver to his ninety-year-old uncle, so he knows how challenging and rewarding caregiving can be.