#9 - Side-Hustling
Published by imaG March 16th, 2008 in SRBPL
Regardless of whether they have a job or not, inside every Black male or female is a hustler. A hustler is known to squeeze a dollar out of a dime, a nickel out of a penny, and a penny out of thin air. So whats better than having a job? Having a job and making tax-free money on the side.
Hustlers come in many different sizes shapes and forms. The lowest scale hustler is the Kool-Aid cup girl. You may see a sign somewhere in the neighborhood, not too far to attract strangers but close enough to attract the neighborhood kids, saying Kool-Aid cups for 25 cents. Most children will visit once daily for a Kool-Aid cup. Make sure enough sugar is added or you will not have repeat business. If a male over the age of 25 visits for a Kool-Aid cup, this is not good. You’re next best move would be to quit selling the cups because you have attracted the wrong crowd.
Moving up on the totem pole is the Bootleg man. The bootleg man has everything, from the newest Mary J. Blige CD (to help Black women deal with the drama) to the hottest movie in Box Office right now. Generally, the movies are low quality, sometimes they don’t even finish, but at least you saw half of it, for half the price. You also have the 1 up on your friends because you’ve seen the movie before it hit the theaters. You will most likely see the Bootleg man with the candy lady, on a street corner, or stopping by your local barber shop or beauty salons.
Continuing up the totem pole is the Avon lady. Sophisticated hustler, she is. You may see an Avon catalog going around at work, or she may send a mass invitation to all the African-American women in the neighborhood to attend an event at her house, refreshments provided. Once they arrive they’re greeted with smiles and an array of Avon products to test out. If you do not order something from the catalog, you are not only cheap, but poor, and will not be invited to the next Avon gathering.
If you are friends with a side-hustler, you most likely have whats called, “The Hook-Up.” The biggest mistake you can make as a side-hustlers friend is telling another person where you acquired the hook-up. This makes for bad business for the side-hustler, and inevitably, you will lose your Hook up privileges.
Note: Avon is interchangeable with Mark or Mary Kay.
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Enough said, and on point. From hustler to hustler, gotta make that paper stack. Although, I don’t do Avon, I used to do the bootlegging, but it got old fast. You give the hook-up to one person, supposedly a good friend, and they run their mouth. All of a sudden everybody EXPECTS the hook-up…so your money goes down.
One thing I can say, if you gotta hustle, don’t just dip into one pot. You gotta put seeds in alot of projects to keep the cash flow going. Eventually, your hustle game might get so good that you need to hire an associate hustler to manage your hustle. That’s when you know you are doing it big.
Hey this is funny yet true. As a caucasian man with plenty of black friends I find them building ways to get extra cash on the side and they are always talking about it. It’s a good way to make money cause I think everybody should hustle. But hey man nice post this blog is awesome…totally
at last something I can relate to. Hustlers keep the world going. I literally can’t count how many of my aunts sell mary kay/avon. and my mom and dad…have at least 3 or 4 different boot leg connecs. And i get to redistribute those @ school. its great. good post man. keep up what youre doing
People need to stop selling those Avon stuff lol. Every sista I know have one.
Ain’t nothing wrong with a side hustle! But I do get tired of the Avon/Mary Kay peddlers in my family!! I keep telling them I DON’T WEAR MAKEUP, STOP GIVING ME BOOKS!
There’s also the blogger. Does anything to get people to his website so his Cpm adds can earn him some bucks. He’s my favorite.
http://aniggaincyberspace.com/2008/04/11/black-nerd-revolution/
Would that be you?
Laughs.This article is definitely on point and you got me to thinking about the side-hustlers I have ran across like the underground brave/weave/extension hairdressers, the street clothes sellers, the “in-house” candy store proprietors, the incense and perfume street sellers, the Final Call and bean pie salesmen, the black religious group/cult paraphrenalia salesfolk, the hot food home box-dinner cooks/bakers, the HBCU open-air booksellers, the hot truck cooks at HBCU’s, the mixtape D.J.’s.rappers, musicians, and the yard sale CEO’s.
So true, so true. I work @ Target, but because I also go to school, I can only work so many hours, and I really don’t make that much. I’m an honors student with a 3.5 GPA, so I figured I start tutoring as a “side-hustle.” Shit, I make more money doing THAT (I don’t come cheap) than my “main job.” The only reason I haven’t quit Target is for resume building purposes (it’s my first job ever).
Congrats man, you a real hustler
Do music production work, but that situation can be so shady depending who you’re dealing with. I prefer to do R&B and most everybody down here wanna be Rappers. I don’t have a problem with rapper, there just too many of them, and more than half of them wanna try and get over. Let’s face it, everybody wants something for nothing.
since I moved to the northwest there’s almost no black culture here, so I can’t find a box dinner/home cook meal slinger up here. this means I eat crap all the time, I survived on those from my neighbor when I lived in philly
It really sucks, I miss the hookup