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The double-shift dilemma: Is moonlighting worth the cost?
What you need to know:
- You can invest as you're working and grow the business little by little.
- When it becomes sustainable, you may decide to quit and concentrate on your new enterprise.
- The returns may be even better than what employment offers.
Working two to three jobs is not surprising given the current economic situation. Organisations aren't hiring on a large scale, but scaling down operations, declaring redundancy, outsourcing, or even relocating, if not rethinking their business model. Salaries are stagnant, with hardly a review, and in some instances, they're reviewed down. If you see well-salaried employees engaged in side hustles, they're grappling with the realities of the day. Think of moonlighting. It helps to augment that income as an employee can go for months in their primary jobs without pay. But before moonlighting, consider the following.
Organisation policy
Does the organisation you work for have policies that bar employees from engaging with another employer and especially the competition in a similar field? What if you're clocking out and heading for a work shift in similar roles to the competition across the street? If you've not apprised your employer of the same, you may be accused of breaching terms of your contract. You may also be accused of selling the organisation's secrets to the competition. Your loyalty to your employer could be in jeopardy as well. To avoid such, ensure you know the organisation's policies beforehand.
Conflict of interest
It pays to seamlessly switch from your primary job to that you're moonlighting in. If, for example, you're a high school teacher, you can teach in a college or satellite campus of a university in your locality if you've the expertise. If you're employed in a pharmacist business, and have knowledge in areas of treatments like doing minor surgeries and other general treatment, moonlighting in a health facility comes in handy. It doesn't make sense to change from that office suit and don overalls to moonlight in a factory making heavy-duty machinery and reporting to your primary employer the next day looking fatigued and less productive.
That moonlight gig can break the family you're toiling day and night for. You leave for work before anyone is up and report home when everyone is dead asleep. You're a total stranger in your house, and the time you are with your family is on weekends or public holidays. You hardly know how your children are progressing and you're hardly there when they hit life milestones. And if they're in boarding schools, the only time you speak to them is when the principal puts a call to you. You're a no-show during parents' meeting; no wonder your children grow up disconnected from you and attached to their mother. Try to strike a balance and set aside some quality family time.
Is it worth it?
Not everyone is cut for business, and employment is not for everyone. You can invest as you're working and grow the business little by little. When it becomes sustainable, you may decide to quit and concentrate on your new enterprise. The returns may be even better than what employment offers. Before taking a moonlight gig, ask yourself whether it is worth it, and see at what cost it comes with in terms of stress, fatigue, and loss of family time.
