The Lazy Side Hustle Shuffle

Everybody knows that I am a big fan of the side hustle.  Finding a revenue stream outside the traditional W2 can do nothing but boost the path to financial independence.  Of all the opportunities, lazy side hustles are my favorite.  Instead of learning a new trade, one uses the skills from a primary hustle to develop another part-time gig. As a primary care doctor, I was especially suited to consult, work with hospice, and be a medical director of nursing homes.  But it’s not just for physicians.  Accountants can do books on the side, or take on a few tax returns for friends and neighbors.  The idea is to use well-worn skills in an alternate form to boost income.  There is, however, a down side which I have been loathe to bring up.  The lazy side hustle shuffle.

What you say?  A down side to side hustles?  A negative to lazy side hustles?

As improbable as it seems, no revenue stream is perfect. Let’s look at why side gigs are not always as profitable as we hope they will be.

Your Dispensable

The lazy side hustle shuffle is real.  Often, because of the nature of these types of side hustles, you are dispensable.  It’s the problem with being a consultant.  A company has hired you on to fill a specific need.  What happens when that need disappears or a new  administrator feels that another consultant can do the job better?  You have to shuffle on to the next opportunity.

For years I was the medical director for a home health company.  I got paid to attend quarterly meetings, review care outcomes, and even got a trip once  a year to Las Vegas for the year-end review.  It was all quite ducky until Medicare changed regulations and stopped requiring home health companies to have physician medical directors.  Guess who got the boot?

Feast or Famine

I have done medical expert work for malpractice trials for years.  A great side gig, a physician can bill as much as a thousand dollars an hour to review records, attend depositions, and give testimony at trial.  Although stressful, it gives physicians a chance to actually benefit from this horrible malpractice environment that we suffer through every day.

The lazy side hustle shuffle, unfortunately, comes to play here also.  Often you have no control over how many cases you review a year, when those cases present themselves, or even the timing of trial testimony.

Your stuck shuffling from consult to consult, often not knowing whether you will come anywhere close to meeting your revenue goals for the year.

You’re The Fat

Being a consultant for a medical company, new practice, or new technology is exciting.  You get to step into the forefront of a medical field.  Your expertise allows companies not only to make a profit but also change the way medicine is being practiced today.  Maybe you will get your name attached to a new medical device or surgical procedure.

It’s great when everything is working out.  But you must not forget.  You are the fat.  And what happens when times get lean?  They cut the fat.

Similar to the point about being dispensable, you are an extra.  You get no benefits and you have a short-term, easily to dissolve contract.

The company has only invested in you so far.  You’re easy to drop.

It’s the nature of the lazy side hustle shuffle.

In Conclusion

I would never discourage anyone from participating in a lazy side hustle.  While traditional side hustles often involve creating your own business or real estate, many of the lazy subgroups require doing part-time work for someone else.  This is great.  It maximizes previous training and requires less effort.  On the other hand, be ready for the lazy side hustle shuffle.  You will jump from project to project.  Some will last months, others years.

But you will continually be taking on new ventures.