I’m a student and want to make some extra cash – should I get a part-time job or start a side hustle? Dave Fishwick replies

I am 20, in my second year of university and need to earn some extra money to support myself.

I’ve looked around for jobs and found a few that I could do, ranging from bar work, waiting tables or kitchen work to some call center work.

I have to make sure that any job fits around my studies and that it is in the evenings after university or on days when I don’t have classes.

This can be quite tricky as it is understandable that places want you to work when they need you and that can mean late hours or times when I need to be able to study.

I read a story about people doing side hustles or setting up their own small part-time businesses instead of taking a part-time job, and while this might be a good idea.

However, I’m not sure what I could do. I was thinking about maybe using one of my skills like tutoring English or cooking and baking (I’m a keen amateur chef and have worked in the kitchen), or setting up a business buying and selling things – I had an idea about selling interesting and useful kitchen items and gadgets.

What do you think, should I work or have a part-time job and if I choose the latter, how do I find out what to do?

Dave Fishwick, This Is Money’s business doctor, responds: A part-time job is the obvious way to make some extra money, and in the wake of the pandemic it seems there are more jobs than people to fill them, which should work in your favor.

This might be the best place to start.

You can always think about other ways to make money during your free time while earning wages.

I think an excellent way to start is to combine working for yourself and some part-time paid work, and that’s how I started. I have been self-employed for years and started with three jobs.

Firstly, I was working very early in the morning selling clothing products at Smithfield Market in Manchester.

The market opened at 3am for shops, hotels and restaurants to buy all their food products, and I was there early to sell t-shirts, tracksuits and sweatshirts to the customers. I was the only one selling clothes in this huge market full of people.

I bought the shares from a local warehouse on Cheetham Hill in Manchester. I was about 18 years old, sold my shares from a huge brown suitcase and walked around the market talking to as many people as I could.

I would then drive back to Burnley around 8am in my old beat up Austin Maestro van. I took down the gates of my small rented garage and started fixing up, maintaining and selling some old cars from my small car park.

I did everything from cleaning the toilet to delivering the vehicles on the back of my old truck.

After finishing the day in the garage around 6pm, I grabbed a few hours of sleep and then drove to the local nightclub. I worked there as a DJ until late in the evening and it all started again the morning after.

Nowadays I see many influencers online spraying bottles of expensive champagne into the sea from the side of expensive yachts; it is nonsense to say that you can work one day a week and be an instant millionaire.

In my experience, there is no easy way to succeed. However, I promise you that hard work will take you where happiness can find you.

Some jobs require you to be present at specific times, such as public businesses such as restaurants, bars and coffee shops. With other jobs it is less important when the work is done, as long as it gets done.

Bar work is an example where you can work in the evenings, but many other jobs also allow you to work in shifts. Initially, I recommend searching all local and regional job postings, employment apps, and websites for positions that offer convenient or flexible hours.

You are in a difficult position to start a conventional business, and you cannot afford to risk much or any money in starting a business, which rules out the buy-in-bulk and sell-individual business model , unless someone you know is. willing to finance it, maybe the Bank of Mom and Dad.

Or send me all your details to Burnley Savings and Loans and I might lend you some start-up money for your small business.

There will always be opportunities to make a profit on individual items.

A few years ago I noticed that because a certain Swedish household goods store chain did not offer online shopping, an individual who probably lived near a store was making money by offering his products on a shopping platform website with an extra margin for himself .

However, the company saw the missed opportunity and now offers online shopping.

However, there may still be opportunities to profit from this type of arbitrage. For example, one major shopping platform offers free, fast delivery with premium membership, while others do not.

I’ve noticed that some sellers seem to offer products on the platform that don’t, at a higher price than the one that does.

This requires no upfront investments other than the listing and premium membership fees. You can wait for the platform to offer free promotion days, but you will then be charged the cost of the commission charged when you sell an item.

But you’re in a different position and you still have plenty of time to think about your route to success.

The most important advice I can give you is: whatever you choose, make sure it doesn’t hinder your studies so much that it affects your grades.

The cost of going to college and getting a degree is extremely high these days.

But on your days off you could boil a huge pot of stock and then rent a food stall at the local market with very low overheads and sell tea, coffee and piping hot bowls of stock and dumplings, that could be the answer. start of your journey.