Admission News Budgeting Going to College

Gig Economy Apps: How To Maximize Your College Side-Hustle and Earn Extra Money

Written by CB Community

Getting into the gig economy can be a daunting prospect, especially if you are worried about whether or not you’ll be able to make money on the side while focusing on your college studies.

Of course, even if you are a full-time student, you can still make use of gig economy apps to earn some extra money and grow your side-hustle.

So whatever your circumstances, the following guide to squeezing the most out of the apps that are available right now will make a real difference to your bank balance, and also help you avoid common mistakes.

Choose the Right Apps

Most importantly of all, you need to make sure that the apps you use for your side hustle are actually compatible with your existing skillset and your resources.

For example, gig economy apps for couriers are great if you have access to a vehicle or a bike, but less appropriate if you’ve got no wheels or you don’t like the prospect of lugging heavy boxes from A to B as well.

On the other hand, apps like Fiverr are fit for users with all sorts of specialisms, whether that might be graphic design, audio production, web design, or anything in between.

In short, it helps if you focus on apps that are in your wheelhouse, rather than those that will require you to learn something new before you can earn anything from them.

Manage Your Time Well

Wanting to make some more moolah with gig economy apps is one thing, but actually finding the time to do so is quite another – especially when you are a college student!

This is especially relevant because a lot of these services rely on users being on the ball when it comes to hitting deadlines and dealing with time-sensitive tasks.

If you struggle to keep track of time, using the best time management apps to wrangle your schedule is sensible.

This could also mean the difference between raking in cash on gig economy apps, and getting penalized for failing to hit targets.

Consider Service Fees

Whichever app you use, be prepared for the provider to take a cut of your earnings. This is an unavoidable part of the gig economy as a whole, but there are differences between the service fees charged.

For example, while Upwork can charge fees of up to 20%, this scales depending on how much money you make from a given client. The more work you do through the platform, the smaller the proportion of your earnings you will pay for the privilege.

Basically, it’s worth looking into fees before you commit to a particular app, or else you could feel the pinch further down the line.

Look Into Your Location

Another factor that will impact the viability of using certain gig economy apps is where you live.

For people in highly populated towns and cities, you could take your pick of all the available options. For those in more isolated, out-of-the-way areas, your choices may be more limited.

This mostly applies to apps like Uber, Lyft, Amazon Flex, and so on. Availability is rolled out more broadly on a regular basis, but it is not always a guarantee right now.

Of course, the benefit of being in smaller communities on a gig economy app is that you might get a larger share of the available jobs as and when they get posted, while those in busy regions might have to battle to get work.

In essence, it is a case of doing your research, weighing your options, and mastering your time management if you want to make the gig economy work for you.

About the author

CB Community

Passionate members of the College Basics community that include students, essay writers, consultants and beyond. Please note, while community content has passed our editorial guidelines, we do not endorse any product or service contained in these articles which may also include links for which College Basics is compensated.