With some employers in Singapore becoming more receptive to the idea of working from home, employees can afford more flexible working hours, allowing them to maximise their income strategically.
1. Pet boarding
If you are a pet lover and a multi-tasker, you can be a pet sitter for your neighbours or anyone residing near your neighbourhood.
Pet boarding can be day-care service, overnight stay or sometimes even just a few hours of walk and play-time. This requires only basic knowledge of pet care, and it is a great entry point for anyone as long as you have a big heart for furkids. It is a win-win situation for you to earn additional income during your work hours if you are on a work-from-home arrangement since most pet owners will typically require this service whilst they are overseas or if they will be away from home for long hours.
2. Join a focus group discussion or be a mystery shopper
Get paid to speak the truth! Focus groups are paid in-depth surveys that are typically used for market research, either for a new product launch or for existing products.
As part of their research, companies or retailers usually engage mystery shoppers to shop at several of their stores to evaluate and grade the organisation’s customer service skills and attitude before reporting back the overall findings.
While this has a low barrier to entry and does not require any special skills, such gigs may not come by frequently as researchers usually look out for people with very specific demographics that best suit the clients’ intended target audience.
3. Earn interest as you save
In recent years, banks and financial institutions have been pushing out more attractive interest rates to get more consumers to keep their savings with the bank. Typically, these come with certain criteria that you will have to meet in order to enjoy the maximum benefits, such as opening a new Current and Savings Account and depositing a lump sum in the account, setting up monthly GIRO salary crediting or making a minimum spend on your debit or credit card every month.
Rather than letting your money sit idle, it’s best to put it to work by shifting it to a high-yield interest account!
4. Set up an online e-commerce store
With the rise in e-commerce shopping and live streaming, more shop sellers are opening e-commerce shops to reach out to a wide target audience. Many have started to set up home-based businesses ranging from home-baked goodies to apparel and accessories.
With the vast choices of social media and e-commerce platforms, e-commerce businesses are fuss-free to set up with little to no start-up costs and less time commitment than a brick-and-mortar shop. Of course, setting up a business is not easy – you will still need to do your own market research, have sufficient industry knowledge, as well as think about the best business approach you would like to apply to maximise your business profit and minimise the costs.
5. Rent out a spare room
With the surging demand for rentals, the market rates have been booming in Singapore. If you have a spare unit or a room and you do not mind sharing with a total stranger, you can rent that extra space out while earning a very profitable income.
In these unpredictable times, it becomes more crucial to supplement your income in creative ways, to keep your career and finances resilient. Be sure to follow Credit Bureau Singapore on Facebook for more fun and useful financial tips!
This article is contributed by Credit Bureau Singapore.
