I might have mentioned this in a previous post, but I hold a regular 7-3. Monday through Friday job that pays (And treats) me well. I simply do food delivery/rideshare on the side for two reasons. The first reason is that I have nothing really better to do (During the week) when I get out of work and I'm bored and the second reason is that I want to sock as much money away possible for future goals (Like owning a house, moving out of state and saving for retirement). I mean, as long as I'm doing something in my free time, I might as well make it worth it right? Unfortunately, most of my friends also work during the week, so hanging out with them is not really an option until the weekend (Which I do).
As a part time gig workers, I must admit that I don't feel as pressured to make a lot of money the way someone who does rideshare/food delivery for a main source of income. So it's not as stressful to me. And I do encourage people to get a regular full time job (Even if it doesn't pay really well) and rely on gig work as a side hustle. You will see how your perspective on food delivery/rideshare might change as well as your attitude towards it.
The reason why I'm saying this is because there are a lot of advantages a W-2 job has to offer over a 1099 job. For one, a consistent and steady check. Another advantage is benefits and paid time off if your employer offers it. Sure, being your own boss as a 1099 worker has it's advantages such as freedom to set your schedule, take time off whenever you want and set the terms of how you intended to operate, but let's be honest, there's no consistent paycheck and if it's your only source of income, there's really nothing to fall back on if things go awry. Whereas the complete opposite is true if you hold a regular W-2 job where if you lose your job, you'll have gig work to at least replace it temporarily.
But don't in anyway misunderstand me. Not only would I jump at the opportunity to take on gig work full time if I lost my regular W-2 job (And I might decide to keep it that way if I think I can make it work better), there are times even now where walking away from my routine regular job tugs at my heart strings. Not that I have a bad day job-I don't. I'm even given the freedom to make my own schedule and work pretty much independently as long as operations are running smoothly (And they always are). I'm the director of operations. But having had a taste of 1099 gig work, the 'Full Independence bug' does bite me from time to time.
Which leads me to the point of this post. I can't imagine would it would be like to work a job like food delivery or rideshare without establishing certain financial goals. It would be like running around with your head cut off. You wouldn't know if you're making or losing money.
I recommend that everyone in this food delivery/rideshare business set daily AND weekly goals. For example, in order for this side hustle to be worth my time I must make a bare minimum of $30 each time out or $100/week. I only go out for 2-hours a clip a few days a week. Because I'm smart on how I work things, I usually double that weekly amount each and every week (Sometimes, I even triple it). But If I was just taking any ole' order and not paying attention to my weekly earnings versus weekly costs, I might be in some financial hotwater.
Setting daily and weekly financial goals such as 'How much money do I need to make today?' and 'How much money do I need to make by the end of the week to make this gig worth it?' will keep you focused and on track to successful earnings.
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