For many Ghanaians, the cost of living far outstrips their salary.
With these high costs, you may need additional income streams to maintain your lifestyle and achieve some financial independence.
People preach cutting down on costs, but there’s only so much you can do on that front. A more realistic approach is to increase the amount of money that comes into your pocket.
One of the best ways to do that is to find a side hustle (or many).
These side hustles – whether offline or online – could help you make some decent money. That’s the goal for many Ghanaians, and rightly so. While the options are unlimited, here are five of the best ones that can actually work for everyday Ghanaians.
Event planning
Almost every weekend, there’s another event happening in Ghana, especially in the cities. You can always point to a baby christening, a wedding, a party, or a graduation.
These events always require someone to plan and coordinate activities. Of course, some event organizers DIY their way through these events. But many others, strapped for time, would have to outsource aspects of organizing the event.
That’s where your event planning chops will come in handy.
From arranging to hire chairs to spinners to the décor and overall set-up of the venues for the event, there’s so much work to do. You can plug yourself into that complex web of activities by starting a related side hustle.
You can even decide to start a service in these categories.
Some of the services will require large capital injections to get started. And you might feel the pinch more if you’re doing it alone. But you can always partner with a trusted friend.
You would share the risk (and profit, yes), but it is also easier to scale your side hustle that way.
Moderating programs
We’ve established that every weekend, there’s an event happening. And like event management, someone has to emcee these programs.
If you have the natural knack for seeing programs flow, you should consider being an emcee for programs.
Even if you don’t have this natural skill, you can always learn it. With this side hustle, there are no limits to how much you can earn. Your commitment to excellence will be the only stumbling block in your way.
Further, this side hustle works best when people recommend you for your stellar performances, so you are in total control.
You need to learn how to keep crowds engaged rather than bored. A dose of humor, confidence, and friendliness will help you get good at emceeing.
And when you get good at it, you’ll have a simple way to make money on the side.
Teaching a skill
You probably have skills lying dormant. You can flip that around and easily make money from some of these skills.
These days, many Ghanaians encourage their children to learn skills like playing musical instruments, swimming, and dancing. Even better, some schools also organize special training sessions to teach their students these practical skills.
If you can fill any of those needs, it could be a simple way to make money on the side. Your skills may be writing, photography, sound mixing, and video editing.
Basically, if you’re good at something, you can earn some money by teaching others.
So, audit your skills to see what you’re naturally good at, what comes to you effortlessly.
Can you find ways to monetize that, at least on the side, if not quite making a full-time living out of it? Yes, it’s getting tougher to land clients these days, but so is every other industry. What you can control is to be ready at all times.
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Exploring creative arts and crafts
If teaching doesn’t work for you, you can look at directly earning from your skills and talents. If you’re good at creating vivid art that tells stories, consider selling your crafts.
Craftmaking is another avenue people use to make money.
Learnt how to make beads, sew pet, baby, or adult clothes? Time to see how to monetize that.
People love handcrafted items – they provide a telling look and feel in any room. If you can sell these products at moderate prices to a willing market, there could be some decent cash on the side.
Yes, there are the likes of the Tetteh Quarshie Art Market to offer stiff competition. And there are also many art and craft stores on Oxford Street, Osu.
But don’t let that discourage you. You can also carve a niche for yourself and start something on the side.
Shipping and selling everyday items
If you have a taste for buying and selling, this option may be your best bet.
People love to buy everyday items such as electrical gadgets, fashion accessories, pet food, and cookware. Some folks are making a decent living dealing in that.
Ask around, and you will find many WhatsApp groups featuring such activities. That could be a simple channel that helps you make some money on the side of your job.
A few cons of starting a side hustle in Ghana
It’s nice to realize the dream of your side hustle raking in thousands of cedis every month. Except that making money in Ghana isn’t as straightforward.
Having run a photography side hustle for seven years, I can tell you things are not as rosy (a story for another day). I will even go a step further to warn you of these cons:
Huge financial investments
Many of these side hustles require a large amount of money to start and run.
And for many Ghanaians already complaining about not enough money, you can see how this could be a challenge. Sometimes, you don’t have the cash at hand, and no one is willing to support you.
When I started my photography side hustle, it cost me about half of my life’s savings to buy a camera, lens, and flash.
Whatever side hustle you have, you will also need to market it, and that doesn’t come free.
Time considerations
Many side hustles require you to put in several hours of work per week, if not daily. I spend some of my weekends doing photography-related activities.
Other times, I have to wake up at 4:30 so I can get to work early enough to draft an article (another side hustle).
You would need to determine how to find time to work on your side hustles, since some will take more time to establish and become profitable.
Lots of disappointment
Friends and family who you would expect to support you may not be there for you. Many will not believe in what you do.
Some will not patronize your services, while others may refuse to pay you what’s due. No wonder we see many Ghanaian businesses kick against offering products or services on credit.
It’s part of the package, unfortunately.
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It’s okay to turn to side hustles for some extra cash
It’s nice to earn way more than enough money to cover your costs of living with change to spare.
But that’s not the case for many Ghanaians. Many people will still have to fund some other life expenses with alternative income.
If that’s you, side hustles are the best way to help you start.
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