The holiday season has arrived for South African students. This is a time to relax from schoolwork but also a time during which they have a lot of free time. Some will relax first and then work for family businesses, for those without family businesses, a side hustle can be a great idea to make cash during the holidays.
A side hustle can be defined as a side business or a second job. The income made from a side hustle is used to support current income, or in some cases, it becomes the main source of income.
For students, side hustles are a great idea because they can make extra money, and they can gain some real-life work experience which will help them in the future.
In this article, we go through the top side hustle ideas for students in South Africa.
1. Paid App Testing
Most businesses care about how their apps work and if the user experience is good. To test their apps, businesses will hire students for paid app testing. You will be paid to push buttons and test any in-app links to make sure everything works properly. Some of the paid app testing gigs are paid in dollars and can go up to $100 for a 60-minute test.
2. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is when you are asked to advertise a service or brand on social media. You get a unique link or code that people can use to purchase the items. You make your money as a commission for any sales that are made using your link or code.
3. Develop Apps
If you have any coding experience or are studying coding at school, you can develop mobile apps as a side hustle. Typically you work as a solo developer but because it’s school holidays you will have enough time to develop the app.
4. Personal Shopper
Personal shoppers are becoming quite popular in South Africa, even companies like Takealot have personal shopper programmes. Being a personal shopper means buying items on behalf of someone else. This means you go to the shop, buy the items and deliver them to your clients. You make money by charging a service for doing the shopping on behalf of the client.
5. Sell T-shirts
Most people who work in fashion started as t-shirt designers. If you have a passion for fashion or just want to make extra cash, you can design your t-shirts. You don’t have to only sell to people around you or online, you can also approach event producers and festivals to offer your services. Also, you can speak to local artists who need merchandise to design t-shirts for them.
6. Sell Your Photography
There are websites that are always looking to buy stock images. Sites such as Shutterstock and Getty Images are some examples. You can sell your photos to those websites or advertise your services for events such as weddings, parties, graduations etc. All you need is a good camera, memory card, photo editing app and the skills to take really good pictures.
7. Transcribing
There are a lot of companies that need transcribers for language translation on websites and apps. You can make money by transcribing for multiple businesses. You can apply on platforms like Way With Words Jobs and Rev. Transcribing can make you up to R 300 per hour.
8. Food (Baking and Cooking)
During this festive season, a lot of people are not interested in cooking every day. You can take advantage of this by offering cooked food or baked goods to people in your community and beyond. You will need to have access to a kitchen and maybe conduct a survey to see what type of food people want.
Additionally, you can make extra money by offering delivery services to your customers.
9. Social Media Management
As a young person, you are probably in tune with all things social media. You can make money during the holidays by doing social media management for brands. Alternatively, you can approach small businesses that don’t have a big presence on social media to help them for a small fee. All you need is your phone and social media knowledge.
10. Pet and house-sitting
As the festive season starts, a lot of people are taking holidays overseas leaving their pets and houses unguarded. You can make money off this by offering to pet sit or house sit during the holidays. You can search on websites such as Trusted House Sitters for jobs this festive season. These jobs can pay up to R 1 000 per day depending on your responsibilities.
Don’t let the festive season go by without making cash for the next year. By starting any one of these side hustles, you can make enough money to ensure you go back to school with full pockets.
Staff Writer, Writer
Driven by a passion for supporting the South African small business community. Our staff writers are dedicated to sharing stories of resilience, innovation, and success, while also providing practical guidance and expert insights. We believe in the power of entrepreneurship to transform lives and communities, and we are committed to providing valuable resources and information to help SMEs thrive. Our team’s goal is to be a trusted partner for small business owners across South Africa, fostering a vibrant and supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem.
