Recently a reader asked a question. I was going to respond in thecomments but my last post was so weak that I thought you all deserved something a little better than my late night emotional digital outburst.

So the reader said that he wanted to know, as he develops into his carreer as a teacher, how to keep an eye out for a hustle that he could jump into and take advantage of.

Hustles present themselves to you every day, no matter where you are. They show up, hang around for a minute and pass on to the next guy if you failed to grab onto it.

I dig teachers. I have a bit of an envy for teachers which is probably why I set this blog up in the first place.

I have friend who is a teacher that got into real estate as his sideline hustle. He now owns a few houses hat he rents out. He isnt making a killing on the month to month. Each house only brings in a hundred bucks or so a month – but in 20 to 30 years they will be paid off and worth a few $100k each. I have another friend who is a professor at a pretty large university. He took his expertise to the next level and saw that an educational and theraputic tool used in the field hadn’t been changed in 50 years. He and I modernized it and made it cross cultural. He invested $25,000 and flipped it into $125,000 in a year.

I have another teacher friend who has written and published three books. Another teacher friend that owns an ice cream shop. One more teacher that runs an after school tutoring school (think Sylvan or Kumon). I know that one of my teachers (economics teacher actually) went on to open a couple of drive through sub shops (think ToGos or SubWay).

The best thing you can do is find something that you are an expert in and something that you care about. Find a way to use your resources as a teacher (other teachers, your union, your students) or review your environment (antiquated tools or teaching materials). You can take a look at your goegraphic location (empty retail spots across from the school). As a teacher, you are exposed to a few hundred kids a day. This is not only a test market but also a potential client pool.

The district probably has an issue with you actively promoting your business in class, but if you work with other teachers to host a fundraising car wash in the parking lot of your business for the school band, or host after school study lounge at your coffee/ice cream shop – there is likely no conflict

If you work in a poor school and see the things that happen to students in that area, think about writing a book or teaching guide for other teachers. Offer to lecture (for pay) at a local college. Think about hosting workshops for educators in the same environment.

As a teacher you have a world of opportunity around you. Plug into it and you will be surprised at what pops up. If you work in another field though, the same types of opportunities are around. I have worked fast food, retail, industrial and almost any type of job that you can think of. Every job presented an opportunity, if you were looking for it. Think about your job. What sorts of contacts are you making? What types of people come to your employer? What niche is your employer missing?

Answer these questions and you are on your way to developing your hustle.

Oops. I almost closed this one out without this final thought. Even though you are working for your employer, think about them as a potential customer, partner or test group. You may come up with a way to help your bosses do something more efficiently or less expensively.  Tread lightly and talk to your attorney first, but give them a shot. If you are a good employee and a hard worker with a million dollart idea, they may be first in line to throw some dough your way.

Keep Hustling