Tag: income streams

GIG RIGGED THE NEW PROFITABLE NORM IF DONE RIGHT

I will keep saying this and shouting it to the top of my lungs, but we’re living in the best of times as independent contractors, self-employed, giggers, side-hustlers, small business owners, etc. It is as if this time was created specifically for us all and though this time of opportunity is abundant it does come at a cost and readjustments.

For well over a year or two I have been speaking of the importance of gig workers establishing LLC’s. of their own and building a “gig business” of their own. I foreseen the need of the gig economy growing immensely. Some times thinking my calculations may be wrong I always ended up back to the the reality that the gig economy is here to stay and will be the new norm! Now, with Covid-19 my predictions reigns even more true!

So what is the cost of all this? The cost is moreso of an internal one causing for a mental shift and acceptance of this type of work life. As a gig strategist and gig coach the biggest thing that get in the way of most giggers is their need for immediate gratifications and lack of creativity on the platforms. They don’t see all the various aspects of the gig economy that can make them even more profitable, the great thing about this is many of them are exiting the gig economy in droves! This great exodus will become another profitable factor for those of us that do see the massive opportunities within this sector of work. We will begin to see a massive infusion of the professional turned gigger!

In many of my other writings I spoke of mainstream traditional employers embracing the template of the gig economy here’s how/why:

  1. Contracting / Outsourcing employees (in high demand).
  2. Less financial risk with contracted employees.
  3. On-boarding process is quicker.
  4. Doesn’t have to provide traditional incentives for employment.
  5. Serves as a trial run for potential hiring on employees full-time.

Why many contractors are taking advantage of the gig economy:

  1. Flexibility! This is a major one,
  2. Less commitment.
  3. Earn more upfront and use the money to pay into outlets of their choice i.e. retirement, assets, healthcare, etc.
  4. Many can work from home or remotely in the field.
  5. Less demand from authorities and oversight.
  6. Work freely.

The gig economy is not to be limited to delivery services of food and goods, nor limited to rideshare. The gig economy is made up of software engineers, truckers, administratives, virtual assistants, bookkeepers, etc. Covid season has proven this. With the majority of employees working remotely from home this proves to be true. So with this being the case why wouldn’t a business or corporation take this opportunity to minimize costs such as overhead, pay employees more, but as independent contractors? Is this possible? I think it is and know it is! Though with traditional employees still wanting employers to offer great health care options, 401k, and retirement types, that incentive is dying out massively; and employees are preferring their money upfront with the choice of purchasing their own options.

There will be a learning curve and many adjustments as this progress, but I believe if one educates themselves on these options and embrace the gig economy right, they can become highly profitable and more in control of their lives and earnings. The gig economy has a sexiness about it that can catapult you into abundance or serve as a great destruction. What is key is discipline, money management, and creating safe holdings of finances for unexpected issues.

GAME PLANNING YOUR GIGS FOR THE WEEKEND (VIDEO INCLUDED)

Most gig economist bet on highly profitable days, among those days are weekends and holidays.  The problem is they themselves and everyone else are banking on the same thing sometimes causing highly saturated markets causing little to no money being made.  You cannot bet blindly, you cannot afford to assume the pickings will be plentiful, trust me I use to do that until I started having a form of strategic planning to maximize my profitability in the gig economy business especially as it pertains to rideshare.

ASSESSING:  I say this all the time, but it is key, you must be able to gauge the climates in which you work, yes both natural element climate and economic climate.  There are many variables that play into this but for the sake of keeping a short blog I will stick to these few:

  1. Weather, if you’ve done gig jobs weather plays a big part in the construct.  If you do gigs such as GrubHub, UberEats, DoorDash, you usually will see a spike in demand because people choose not to travel in the rain especially here in Atlanta when the driving is horrific in the rain.  Depending on the time of day you can really make bank.
  2. Events, this seems easy, but you must be strategic here as well.  Sure you can simply wait outside of venues hoping to catch a unicorn ride or slight surge but I can assure you a lot of wasted time.  I believe if I am out my wheels need to be moving at all times!  When you check out the events are sure to check out the venues too, take note of the capacity and see if online the events were sold out.  This will help you really see if it’s worth working the area.
  3. Hotels, call your local hotels and ask the help desk if they are booked to capacity or go online and see what rooms are available and the price.  If high prices I can assure you the capacity level is high.  They raise the prices due to demand!

Assessing the local economy and possible demands will help you game plan.  Sometimes I do the complete opposite of what I know most will do.  Take for instance big concerts, I avoid them especially at a venue that holds 40,000+, the reason being I know most drivers will flock there in hopes of making big bucks.  What ends up happening is the driver is left in gridlock traffic and the probability of a rider going over 10 miles is slim.  Unless the pickup is somewhat early and the pickup is strategically placed it just not worth it.  I, on the other hand, will work 5-8 outside of that area catching the bleed overs making often much more than those stuck in standstill traffic.

Take for instance the Shaky Knees concert that will be her May 3rd, 4th, and 5th.  The draws in a nice crowd full of locals and out of towners.  This crowd will be widely spread out and the pick-up area is well organized so it will be worth working.  I know this because I’ve already done my research and can somewhat gauge the demands.

Another thing a lot of gig workers that tend to do more of the food delivery services will hop on driving more this weekend, which will leave me the opportunity to play the other side of the field in slow times with rideshare.  The human conditions can be very easy to predict, so I use that to my advantage.   So let me ask you the following:

  1. Do you plan on using multiple gig platforms?
  2. Are you willing to take 1-2 hours to research some data to see what areas may be profitable to you?
  3. Have you assessed the climate of the weekend?  What’s coming to town? i.e. Here in Atlanta we have a 3 day music festival/concert, Amazon is hosting a free conference which has brought thousands, there are other major conferences in town, and Sunday is Cinco De Mayo; as for the weather it is projected to rain Friday, Saturday possible thunderstorms, and more rain on Sunday.   All these variable make a huge impact on how one is to work their selected gigs.
  4. Do you have a daily budget and goal of pay?  
  5. Do you have specific times you want to work?  This is important, you don’t want to just be driving around off and on you ought to and must set time schedules as to when you do your gigs.  If you don’t you will burn out!

In all make your assessing measurable, keep it simple, think of a plan, write down the plan, execute the plan.  Always leave room for flexibility and chance; if anything changes or through you off at least you have your plan to revise and assess.  This will help you with future plans and what will begin to happen is you’ll start noticing trends, profitability, and consumer patterns.  This is how you develop a 6 sense if you will for these gigs.  I strongly suggest you write down your assessment / strategic plan either on 1 full sheet of paper or in your notes on your cell phone.  This will keep you on task and focused on the bigger picture!