When your 'side hustle' becomes your full-time job: COVID-19 & new businesses

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on many people’s finances.

More than 57 million Americans have filed for unemployment since March. Most have already spent their one-time stimulus check from the federal government.

Many have been able to return to work. Still, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that in October, more than 15 million people were still out of the job or working fewer hours “because their employer closed or lost business due to the coronavirus pandemic.”

With many struggling to get jobs these days, Americans have turned to their hobbies, talents, or side hustles into full-time work.

Zamir Hurtte, a lash and nail technician, decided to take control by making her side-hustle her day job — but she says business has been “off and on.”

“It has some good days and some bad days,” Hurtte said. “Some days I will have multiple clients and some weeks I won’t have any. It really just depends I guess on the service they might want or how they’re feeling because … I won’t work with anybody that feels sick.”

There are signs more people are starting businesses during the pandemic.

The Wall Street Journal reports more people are filing requests for an Employer ID Number — which they’d need to start a business. More than 3.2 million entrepreneurs have applied for one so far this year, compared with 2.7 million at the same point in 2019.

Fontana resident Hannah Fields works full-time at an Amazon warehouse while also running her own side business as a lash technician.

“I work graveyards now with doing lashes on the side on my days off,” she said.

“I was fascinated with lashes and I loved how they looked,” Fields added. “I remember seeing a lot of these new lash techs coming out, [saying], ‘Oh, well, you know I can make my own schedule. I can make my own money’…”

The freedom was a draw for Fields.

“I wanted to open up my schedule more,” she said, “for ministry and travel and family and stuff like that.”

It’s a difficult time to own a business, which must deal with new health and safety restrictions, limits on their operations, and the closure of indoor venues. As the pandemic has swept through the U.S., nearly 100,000 small businesses have closed permanently, according to a recent Yelp analysis.

But for Fields, the pandemic has been a great time to start a new venture.

“The worst thing that could happen is you fail,” she said, “but you learn so much from it — and just don’t give up. You’re going to have moments where you feel like you can’t do this but you know what take a deep breath, pray, do whatever you have to do and get it done because the results in the end are the best.”

This show was reported by the following team: