How to earn extra money - Successful hobby or microbusiness can boost your household budget

For most of the citizens of Serbia, consumer basket exceeds the value of their salary. People say it is inappropriate to ask how we manage to survive then and how that gap is filled. They also say we got used to living like that, surviving from one debt to another for years.

In order to keep their monthly balance in the black, most people decide to take on an extra job. Given that the labor market does not really offer a good choice of such jobs, it would be the best for you to start your own microbusiness or to try to make money from your hobby if you have any.

So when you come home from work, you can roll up your sleeves. Feeling tired or being overloaded with the "regular" work is only an excuse for most people. Nobody expects from a miner to do the physical work after returning home from a mine, but if you have an eight-hour-per-day office job, the only thing you need in order to earn that extra money is a good idea and persistence. Usually, one does not need a big initial capital for an extra job. According to the latest data, the biggest salaries in Serbia are paid in the IT sector. Therefore, people can make most money by maintaining or designing several websites at the same time. One can earn between 100 and 150 euros for uploading a basic website.

They had good ideas

The life stories of our interlocutors show that imagination has no boundaries. We will now present you a diplomat who makes jewelry, a doctor who bakes cakes, and a lawyer who makes unique greeting cards. If this seems complicated to you, you may know someone who makes extra money from web design or photography... Regardless of which additional job they chose, their balance is still in the black at the end of the month.

Dusan Miletic, a student of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Belgrade, does not wait to get a diploma to start making money. He earns for his living by designing and maintaining websites. When asked how much money he makes, he says that everything depends on what you do and how much time you spend doing that.

For example, businesses and others who need a web presentation are ready to pay between 100 and 150 euros for a basic website featuring no demanding applications. The price for website maintenance ranges between 20 and 40 euros per site per month, which covers only data upload. Development of forums, games and similar application is charged separately..

On average, it is possible to work on 5 to 6 websites at the same time. Of course, this depends on what you are doing. Miletic says it takes him 2 or 3 days to upload a static web page, whereas a more complex website can take up to 20 days to finish.

Money-making jewelry

The mantra that diamonds are a girl's best friend was changed a long time ago. Pearls have been replaced with effective and original jewelry whose price is less important than the feeling of uniqueness such jewelry can provide you with.

(Mila Mamuzic and Nakit Mila)

That's exactly what got Mila Mamuzic, a graduate political scientist, into making jewelry. Although she studied to become a diplomat and an expert in international relations, Mila has been working at one of the marketing agencies in Belgrade for a long time now. Together with her sister Zeljka, she decided to start making unique jewelry, bracelets, necklaces and other popular pieces under the brand name Nakit Mila (Mila Jewelry).

- Our jewelry passed the first big test when we showed it to our friends and colleagues. After that, we set up a special page on Facebook, which has proved to be an excellent move, given that our jewelry sales have been growing significantly ever since. One can also check our offer at several specialized websites (mojekrpice.rs and kupoholicarke.com) - says Mila Mamuzic.

The Mamuzic sisters are buying the material for their jewelry in specialized shops selling raw materials, as well as online. Aside from using social media networks for promotion, they also invest in classical forms of advertising, such as print flyers that they distribute to hair and beauty salons.

When it comes to their income, our interlocutor says that it is proportional to the effort invested.

- When we are active regarding novelties, when we constantly launch new products and advertise them on social media networks, when we invest in a nicer-looking material of higher quality, that is immediately recognized and reflected in the number of orders placed and our profit. One can make a good money from this, but it is really necessary to be constantly committed – says Mila Mamuzic.

She adds that considering that both she and her sister have permanent jobs, jewelry making is still only their hobby for now, but she also says that they "do not lack either ambition or will to turn all this into something more."

Sweet recipe for extra profit

(One of the cakes baked by Ana Stevanovic)

Ana Stevanovic from Belgrade, who is waiting to get a job as a doctor, is proud to wear her pastry chef hat. This young physician started baking cakes and cookies while still in her third year of studies. As she says, she can earn between 10,000 and 15,000 dinars per month by baking cakes. Customers come to her at the recommendation of others, and nobody has had any complaint yet.

- It all started with me baking birthday cakes for my friends and parents, and then people who tried these cakes called me to order a cake for themselves. I later started buying professional decoration tools, boxes...

A cake shaped as the coat of arms of the sports club Crvena Zvezda, which she baked for the 14th birthday of a kid named Marko, showed that medicine can sometimes be helpful even in cookery. Along with a "cake with as few calories as possible," the mommy of this boy struggling with excessive weight also got some nutritional advice from doctor Ana.

Jelena Djelic