A man from Walthamstow has made up to £10,000 from a side venture he launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, carrying out repairs around his local area.
Jay Khan, 25, set up a dry cleaning and alterations business, with his family in February 2020 but after the pandemic struck, Mr Khan had to source additional ways to boost his income – and fast.
In May 2020, Mr Khan started using Airtasker, a local services marketplace, to put his upholstery skills to use and earn some extra money.
Mr Khan told Express.co.uk: “I thought I’ve got a great opportunity right in front of my eyes, I have a wide set of skills I could make extra money from on top of my main job.”
When he first joined, Mr Khan was completing around four to five tasks a week. He said: “I was offering a lower fee in order to build my profile and build up good reviews. Now I’ve built a strong profile and ratings, I can earn more by doing fewer tasks.
“Some tasks such as dress shortening could take around 30 minutes. Others are more time-consuming, such as making cushion covers, which can take four hours.
“I enjoy using my skills and being able to help people. The tasks I enjoy the most are the more unusual and creative ones.”
Since launching his side venture in 2020, Mr Khan has earned up to £10,000. He said: “It was a massive help using Airtasker through COVID.
“Thankfully my business picked back up after lockdown and I’ve not needed to rely on Airtasker as much, but I still use it in my spare time and it helps pay towards holidays and additional expenses. In a good month, I could earn around £2,00 to £3,000 completing a variety of tasks from upholstery to handyman jobs to trampoline repairs.”
Meeting new clients through the app has also boosted business for his full-time role, owning and running Highams Park Dry Cleaners. Mr Khan added: “Having my business and additional income when needed means I can do what I want, when I want, and not have to worry too much. If you put your mind to it and have a goal, you are being successful. And always having a goal means you have a purpose.”
A study by business comparison site Beasy, which surveyed over 1,000 individuals nationwide, found that over half of Britons (57 percent) want to launch a side hustle to earn extra income as living costs soar.
Younger people are especially eager to pursue entrepreneurship, with 57 percent of Gen Zs (16 to 24-year-olds) saying they would rather ditch university to start a business, highlighting the discontent with conventional education routes.
This is largely because half believe self-employment now provides “more job security” than a regular nine-to-five job.
However, while many are motivated to start side hustles for financial reasons, more than half (53 percent) admit they don’t know what tools and services they need to get their venture off the ground, Meanwhile, two in five (40 percent) felt juggling a day job and a side hustle would be too time-consuming.
Arif Miah, co-founder of Beasy commented: “Our research highlights a fundamental shift in attitudes towards entrepreneurship and self-employment in the UK.
“With traditional career routes now seen as less secure, especially following a year of high-profile redundancies in many sectors, people are increasingly viewing starting their own business as a path to greater stability and control over their futures. However, there are practical hurdles within this country that are preventing people from taking the leap.
“Startup admin needs to be simplified, the route into business needs to be democratised, and anyone who wants to start a side hustle should be empowered to do it.”
Mr Miah added: “This will allow us to unlock one of Britain’s most valuable assets – the ingenuity and determination of its people to innovate in the face of adversity – which will drive the next generation of innovative start-ups.”
