A skill you already use at school, work, or in your free time can become a source of income if you identify a problem that people are willing to pay for you to solve, explains Peter Ndumia, Co-op Bank Branch Manager at Ridgeways Mall. Speaking during this week’s episode of Co-op Bank's Youth Forum, Ndumia explained that starting a business or side hustle requires understanding what one is good at, identifying a gap in the market, and packaging one's skills to meet that need.“What do you know best? How can you use that skill and turn it into a service or product that can make you money? The key is finding a need that someone is willing to pay for you to resolve,” Ndumia explained on Friday, October 1.He advised young people to look at their talents, hobbies, school knowledge, work experience, and the tasks that people regularly ask them to help pinpoint a skill they are good at.“To identify your skill, look for that one thing that comes effortlessly for you. There is that thing that people come to you for, and you enjoy doing that. And be patient while trying to identify your skill,” he said.The next step is to turn the skill into a specific service that people are willing to pay for. According to Ndumia, instead of simply saying one knows mathematics, for example, a young person can offer one-on-one tutoring to high school students.Ndumia says the same approach can be applied to skills such as graphic design, photography, writing, editing, coding, music and other areas that can be offered as freelance services.“You need to change it from ‘I know it’ to ‘I now offer it.' Be specific,” he explained.He advised beginners to document their work and use it to build a portfolio. A portfolio can include previous work or sample projects created to demonstrate what they can deliver to potential clients.He encouraged youths to use platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Facebook to showcase their work and make potential clients aware of their services.“To attract clients as a freelancer, package yourself so that you can move from doing things for family and friends for free to being paid. Create a profile of what you do and have examples of your products for people to see,” Ndumia said.To resolve the challenge of finding the first client, Ndumia advised beginners to start with people within their existing networks, including friends, family, classmates, colleagues and local businesses, while continuing to submit proposals and improve their work.“When you choose to start doing work for free, decide whether or not you are willing to make that start. If you decide to do it, document and share your work to form part of your portfolio. You never know who is watching,” Ndumia said.Most importantly, Ndumia said, is finding mentors to help nurture one through the business and help them grow naturally, especially during times of frustration.
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