This is my first post in this community.

Where did I learn about hivehustlers?

I was reading a post of @poeticsnake where I read about this community. I would not really have given it another thought but my paths crossed with this very smart guy @thatsweeneyguy who won almost all the prices in snekky's discord on competition night. He was really hustling and bustling in there 😉 Sweeping up all the prices right from under our noses.

He talked about hivehustlers, telling us about the community, and gave an invite to the discord server. If you are interested to join, you can click here: https://discord.gg/gj5HEzt

What does it means to hustle?

I talked to @thatsweeneyguy about hustling, to see if I understand it correctly. I thought about it as entrepreneurship, people who start businesses. He confirmed that, but today when I thought about writing this article to go look up the word to see the exact meaning.

The word hustle means that you work hard. It means that you work hard every single day. It means you do the things other people won't do, and you do them with a sense of joy and purpose because you love it. It means working smarter.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/real-meaning-word-hustle-anthony-iannarino

Background

My father has an entrepreneurial spirit. He is always busy with something. The last 20 years plus, after he retired he is selling dog tags at local markets. He made a good extra income for years. He was also renewing people's motor licences up till 4 years ago. At 79, he is still doing his dog tags and selling 2nd hand stuff at local markets.

My brother is a successful entrepreneur. Was and is the owner of several successful business ventures.
So I guess it runs in the family.

My hustling journey

Like my Dad, I was always busy with something. I typed after hours for an Architect for about 10 years.
Also in my free time, I started to source domestic workers for employers. I compiled a manual for employers with everything that the law expect from employers. When I placed the worker, the employer received this manual, employment contract and forms to register the domestic worker with the unemployment fund. I did this also for quite some time. When we moved to the coast, I sold this as a small business.

My big go at business started when my late hubby and I sold our home of 21 years to start a business. It was a big mistake. My father warned me, but I was fed up with working for bosses, helping to make other people rich, and for them you are just another employee. My boss was buying a private airplane for 1 million Rand but was not prepared to give me a raise.
So yes, we had a plan, and we had the start up capital. As all of you surely know it's not easy to start a business and banks don't want to lend money for first time business owners.

So we opened Student 1Stop, a Copy Shop, Internet Cafe and Laundromat. A strange combination, I know, but our target market was students. The business was in the middle of a big population of students near to the University.

In that days you went to an Internet Cafe to get internet access. So students could get their information from the internet, make assignments, print or copy and bind their work. We had big copiers, binding and laminating machines.

The students were renting student accommodation with no laundry facilities, so we could also do their washing. We had that laundry running for 20 hours a day. We had a shift from 8am - 7pm and from 7pm till 4am. We were hustling inside that business, I also typed and helped students with assignments and my son also starts to repair student's PC's.
I still think it was a good concept. There was only 1 factor that was our downfall. The business was seasonal. When the University closed for holidays, which was 4 times per year, the whole area became a ghost town for 2-6 weeks depending on which holiday. So we would make enough money and then came the holiday with a period of almost no income. After the holidays we would get everything up to date again, our rent, rental of the machines and salaries. Then it was holiday again and it became a vicious cycle.

We managed to keep the doors open for 4 years but tragedy struck, my hubby died. I was devastated. I am not a person who can be alone, I met a guy and got married to him six months later, but he was living in another town. I left my 22 year old son in charge of the business, which was another fault and which was not fair to him. He also lost his dad, in a sense he lost me but when you suffer such a loss you don't think rational. 6 Months after I moved with my new hubby to another town, the business closed its doors.

A new chapter

I start a new life in a new town. My new hubby said I don't have to work for a year. I continued the domestic placement business in the new town. Hubby and I made gifts to sell on local markets. We made different foods to sell om the markets, like curry and rice, venison pies and home made mustard. I was not satisfied with my income so I got permanent employment again.

Another new beginning.

Then 8 years ago, we decided to move a 1000km away to come live at the coast. Again I wanted some freedom and did not want to work for a boss. I got to know owners of holiday homes and started to rent out their homes for holidaymakers. I have been doing this for almost 8 years. This is very hard work, most days I work since I open my eyes, till after 12am. You must advertise, do quote after quote, do the bookings, liaise the whole time with owners and clients, see that houses are ready before guests came, book them in and out, do inspections, refund breakage deposits.

It's very time-consuming but I do have freedom. Most days, I can decide, this morning we are going to the beach, I will work later. I can go on holiday and still do future bookings.

I always wanted to write, and in 2017, I was introduced to steemit. By the end of 2017, I was doing so well, I was considering to stop the holiday letting and just write. At that time I was doing 3 posts a day. But then crypto fell and I stopped in the first quarter of 2019. It was back to business as usual.

Then 2020 and lockdown happened. In the wink of an eye I had no income and nothing to do. After I played another game on my phone I was thinking: I cannot waste my time like this. So I looked into Steemit again but discover Hive. Hive helped me to earn a little bit during lockdown.

My newest venture

I am looking into starting to sell eggs. I started negotiations with suppliers. I must get it at prices to be able to sell it cheaper than the supermarkets. If I can manage to do that, I will be doing good.

Thank you for reading.

hope777