Influencers who turned side hustles into successful businesses

A side hustle is a way to supplement your income outside of your regular work.

Your day job might help you pay for the essentials, but a side hustle? That’s the game-changer that’ll make a difference in your wallet and maybe if you do it right, you could scale it up to become one of your main sources of income.

A few Kenyan celebrities have managed to build what initially started as a passion to become successful businesses.

Take for example filmmaker Abel Mutua who turned his storytelling skills into an income stream after starting his popular YouTube channel.

Abel Mutua & Phill Karanja takes to the streets of Nairobi to ‘hawk’ their new Film (Photos) Abel Mutua & Phill Karanja takes to the streets of Nairobi to ‘hawk’ their new Film (Photos) Pulse Live Kenya

His YouTube channel would then give birth to two of Kenya’s highest-grossing feature films Grand Little Lie and Click Click Bang after his fans requested him to re-enact some of the stories he narrated.

You too can start your own content creation journey without breaking the bank.

All you need is a good smartphone, which you might already have, bundles and a wealth of content ideas. Opening an account on most of the popular Social media apps where you can share your content is also free.

You might not start making money immediately but if you build an online community over time, you can leverage that to land advertising gigs or come up with merchandise and products that you can sell, such as Kate Actress, who recently launched a line of lip care products worth millions.

Other than working in films, Kate is also an influencer who leveraged her 2 million followers on Instagram to market her beauty content.

Kate Actress and Mabosha Maxine during the launch of Kate's beauty & cosmetics products Kate actress launches own beauty & cosmetics products [Photos] Pulse Live Kenya

Betty Kyallo is another example of a successful side hustle story. She invested in the salon business while she worked as a news anchor and scaled up the business to also include barber shop services in the upmarket Kilimani area. She eventually quit the media to pursue her personal business and has become very successful.

The above-mentioned influencers have been nominated for the 2022 Pulse Influencer Awards in the business category alongside Just Ivy, Wahu, Lornzie Gatabaki, Wabosha Maxine, It’s The Errands Girl, Joanna Kinuthia and Chantelle Petit.

It's not just about entertainment. Social media can also be used to share your professional expertise outside of your 9-5 job. For example, if you’re good at designing websites you could share valuable info that will get you gigs as a consultant.

Starting a side hustle doesn’t have to require heavy financing but it is important to think about the best financial partners because it’s everyone’s dream that their efforts will eventually pay off.

One such partner is Absa Bank which offers an account with tailor-made solutions for the unique problems you would encounter.

As a budding business person, a personal account is a perfect start and as your side hustle grows, the bank will offer tailored services to suit your business’ new status.

The online space requires a financial partner that understands the risks involved and can never compromise the security of your accounts.

It also allows your online community to send money directly to your account, without the hassle of setting up a pay bill number for when you want to receive payments or when your fans want to support your content.

You will also enjoy access to a foreign currency savings account available in dollars and pounds, to unsecured loans of up to Sh6 million for personal customers and Sh10 million for business customers.

These are benefits that are offered at premium rates by other financial institutions but Absa provides them at no extra cost.

The personal account does not require you to pay monthly charges, and has no minimum balance.

It also offers a 0.3% cashback paid monthly on all ATM/debit card swipe transactions, access to an Absa cheque book and instant money transfer through Pesalink and you get to enjoy Absa Connect lifestyle events to help you network

Apart from hard work, one other important ingredient of success that many people overlook is luck. I don’t mean the type of luck where you come across money on the streets.

You might think of luck as an element beyond your control but allow me to indulge your mind on how to make luck work for you.

Lucky people generate their own good fortune by being prepared to take up opportunities that come their way. That is what happens when you open an Absa One Current Account.

At this point, you are probably asking how you can open an AbsaOne Current account. Just apply online and the good guys at the bank will contact you for more details.

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Influencers who turned side hustles into successful businesses

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