The side hustle easing an increased cost of living

When he started driving on the Uber app just before his son’s birth, “it was 100 per cent about flexibility”, he says. “I don’t mind driving, but I did it for the flexibility.”

Now, as a separated father, sharing responsibility for his six-year-old, he sometimes needs to be able to drop work at a moment’s notice, and that flexibility is more important than ever.

“It’s the easiest thing to do with Uber: I just log on and log off when I want to … I can stop what I’m doing and attend to my son at any time.”

His sentiments are echoed by Ben Holloway, who started driving on the Uber app seven years ago, originally taking up driving to earn some extra cash for a holiday.

It’s since become so much more. With Ben running his own electrical e-commerce business out of Sydney, his earnings can fluctuate, which can be extremely worrying in the current climate. That’s where driving really comes in handy. “If sales are slow or cash flow is tight in my [e-comm] business, I can make up the difference with driving. If I need more income in a particular week I can drive to pay for unexpected or increased bills”

More than 100,000 people drive on the Uber app in Australia, and according to those that do, flexibility is the number one thing they like about it. There’s an increasing number of opportunities to earn: as Australia returns to pre-pandemic patterns of travel, demand for rides has risen 65 per cent since the beginning of the year, Uber says.

Driver partners get 24/7 support, can choose when they want to drive and get their earnings deposited into their bank accounts weekly (or daily with the Flex Pay option). There are also opportunities to increase earnings, for example by driving at certain times of the day, or days of the week, when it’s busy.

For Eugene, driving presents the opportunity not just to earn money whenever it fits in with his schedule, but the chance to meet people.

“I talk a lot to my customers,” he says. “I like talking to customers that relate to my life, people that are maybe separated with kids, how they handle the situation.”

He estimates he’s made 7500 trips, 70 or 80 per cent of them at night, and says 99 per cent of people have been good customers – even if they are sometimes surprised to see a Yaris turn up.

“They open the door and say, ‘Have I ordered a mini?’” he laughs.

To find out more about driving on the Uber app, and to sign up, visit uber.com/startearning