Hi all,
I've been playing with the ideas of several different side hustles, but I keep getting caught up on a few challenges.
Logistics
- I work a 60-70hr/week job and travel internationally about 2wks/mo. This leaves little opportunity for side hustles that require me to be at certain places at specific times. I do always have access to a computer and internet though.
Background
- My background is in producing "stuff." Mechanical engineer, educated with a focus on product design, now working as a manufacturing engineer. I know how to make things.
Values
- I am anti-consumerism and am morally opposed to making/selling crap that the world doesn't need, and to a certain extent, making crap that the world does need, because it probably already exists somewhere else and is being under-utilized (such as in a neighbor's house). This is obviously misaligned with my career, and my strong anti-consumerism mindset partially grew out of the exposure to consumerism that my job gives me. I spend a lot of time in Chinese factories. I want to spend my time after FIRE undoing the harm I participated in pre-FIRE, and am saving money diligently to have the financial freedom to do that.
- I am passionate about the zero-waste movement (google "zero waste home" if you don't know the premise). Packaging waste in particular really kills me inside.
- I live a minimalist lifestyle, and generally don't like inventory. I take a "just-in-time" approach to running my home. This means no costco runs to stock up on a year's worth of toilet paper, olive oil, or any other consumables. It may be counter-intuitive, but keeping a low inventory both saves money and reduces waste in the long run, both in factories and in homes. As such, any side hustle should keep minimal inventory, preferably none.
Ideally I would have a side-hustle that is service-oriented instead of "stuff" oriented, but most service-oriented side hustles that come to mind are not compatible with my extensive work hours and travel.
Ideas I keep revisiting:
- I would love to have bee hives/chickens and sell honey/eggs, but I can't commit to that with my current job, so they are relegated to post-FIRE. It'd be minimal profit, but high enjoyment.
- Selling things or services to promote zero waste in my community, but I struggle with the idea of selling stuff to REDUCE waste, and the services part conflicts with my work hours/travel.
- Designing better bulk food/liquid dispensers and systems for grocery stores/cop-ops to use. Actually, a pie-in-the-sky dream of mine is to run a bulk store where I could source/design the dispensers, design the store layout, and select the inventory to be sold. The grocery industry is something I know nothing about, and capital investment for something like this would be high, but it's an idea I play with because there are so many improvements to be made and inefficiencies to be eliminated.
- Being a bicycle courier for uberEATS evenings and weekends, although I don't like the idea of working for another company as a side hustle, esp at low wages.
- Buying stuff at goodwill and selling on eBay. I dislike the inventory aspect of this though.
Skills:
- Making stuff
- Graphic design and visual communication. I used to have website design experience, but my skills are now out of date, and the website services industry (e.g. wordpress) has grown so much I'm not sure developing sites for others is worth getting back into. However, these skills will come in handy to promote my own hustle.
- I am efficient and get shit done, so I am willing to do a hustle on top of my demanding job as long as it is something I enjoy.
Any thoughts or ideas?