Former mining worker Mackenzie Wyatt started his own handyman business this year and said he’s found it much more lucrative. ·Source: Supplied
A former FIFO worker has revealed how he is making “a lot more” money by becoming his own boss. Many Aussies are taking on side hustles to earn extra cash as the cost-of-living bites and those who turn them into full-time gigs could see themselves earning more than professionals like teachers and nurses.
Mackenzie Wyatt is earning up to $13,000 a month and $156,000 annually as handyman providing gardening, furniture removals, rubbish runs and labour work. The 26-year-old told Yahoo Finance he started up his business after being made redundant from his job as a dump truck operator in the mines, along with the rest of the workers at his previous mining company.
“I was in the mines for about three years. I’ve done probably close to 50 jobs since I was 17 because I’ve never really found something that I really enjoyed doing,” he said.
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“I was in the Air Force, I did traffic control, I did truck driving, I did the mines, I did heaps of manual labour jobs, I did sales.
“I’ve done everything, which has been good because it’s kind of helped me with my business now, every kind of job I’ve taken certain parts out of it to help with where I’m at.”
Wyatt said he was “definitely making a lot more” with his handyman business, Mack of All Trades, compared to his mining job. But as a business owner, he said he also had to pay for a lot more as well.
Wyatt said he gets 60 per cent of his work through Airtasker and the rest through word of mouth. ·Source: Supplied
“I didn’t really take that into consideration when I started the business. I was making a lot of money and used all my profit to buy more tools, expand the business and get a trailer and a tow bar on my car,” he said.
Wyatt said he gets about 60 per cent of his work through local marketplace Airtasker and the remainder through word of mouth from other clients.
“I started Airtasker in January and officially made it a business in March. The first two months were a bit touch and go and deciding what I wanted to do and seeing how successful we were,” he said.
“Then everything just blew up pretty quickly. So I needed to get an accountant and bookkeeper and got all that sorted.”
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Removalist and gardening tasks are among the most in-demand jobs on Airtasker right now, with the average tasks paying $167 each and $183 respectively.
Airtasker calculated that the average removalist could earn a $120,000 per year salary through the platform, based on completing three tasks a day and working five days a week.
For gardeners, it said they could earn $132,000 per year based on the same amount of jobs and hours.
In comparison, SEEK found, the average salary for a teacher is between $95,000 and $105,000 per year, while nurses can earn between $90,000 to $110,000.
Other in-demand tasks included cleaning ($212 per task), handyperson jobs ($341 per task), and waste disposal collection ($129 per task).
Here’s how much Airtasker said you could earn by turning the lucrative side hustles into a full-time job:
Gardening – $183 per task – $132,000 per year
Removalists – $167 per task – $120,000 per year
Cleaning – $212 per task – $152,640 per year
Furniture assembly – $168 per task – $121,000 per year
General Handyperson – $341 per task – $245,000 per year
Waste Disposal Collection – $129 per task – $93,000 per year
Painter – $705 per task – $507,600 per year
Pick up and Delivery – $138 per task – $100,000 per year
Mechanic – $254 per task – $183,000 per year
Wyatt said he thinks it was a “stroke of luck” that his business took off so quickly and said he was able to put more time into the business given he was off work.
He also admitted he took on lower-paid jobs initially on Airtasker to help build up his client base and exposure.
“The starting up phase is the hardest part. Once you start, as long as you’re consistent and you’re willing to keep at it, it’s pretty good,” he told Yahoo Finance.
Wyatt said he does a range of handyperson jobs, including gardening and labour with this before and after shot. ·Source: Supplied
He has now turned it into his full-time job and is working between eight to 10-hour days and can complete anywhere from four to five jobs a day.
He has employed one person full-time and has two or three other workers who help out when needed.
Wyatt said one of the best parts of new job was not having to answer to anyone and working on his own schedule.
“If I need to take a day off, you’re not stressed thinking is my boss going to be upset with me? Or if something happens randomly, you can just stop what you’re doing and go sort it out,” he said.
“I’m working on my own time and if I want to have a busy week, I have a busy week, or if I want to have a quiet week, I can have a quiet week.
“Obviously the money is really good as well. And I’ve never really seen myself having a normal job.”
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