We pour a lot of money into owning a car – but what if we could be using our car to make money instead? There are lots of ways in which you can turn your car into a source of income. Below are just a few ways to make car ownership profitable.
CHARGE PEOPLE FOR A LIFT
You could make money by charging people for lifts. This could involve starting your own taxi company or simply use ride-sharing apps to pick people up when you fancy.
The likes of Uber and Lyft have become popular platforms for finding customers. Make sure that your vehicle is kept clean to maintain a professional image.
BECOME A DELIVERY DRIVER
You could also use your vehicle to help with deliveries. If you’ve got a large vehicle such as a truck or a van, it could be perfect for doing courier work. That said, you can still handle small deliveries in a small car.
You can take on work independently through apps. This could include delivering takeaway food (which tends to be more time-sensitive) or delivering goods (which may involve heavier loads).
HELP PEOPLE WITH REMOVALS
If you’ve got a vehicle with a lot of storage space such as a van or pickup truck, you could use sites like TaskRabbit.com to help people with removal jobs. There could be people out there looking for someone to remove their old sofa or wardrobe. Such people are likely to be willing to pay you simply to take their stuff to the dump.
Certain removals work could be quite labour intensive so bear this in mind. Having tools to dismantle furniture could help in some cases.
RENT OUR YOUR CAR
You may even be able to make some money renting out your car to someone. If you work from home and rarely use your car during the week, you could consider renting it out for someone to use on their commute. Alternatively, if you own a sports car or luxury vehicle, you may be able to rent it out for events such as weddings.
Just make sure they’re insured to drive your vehicle and be careful as to who you rent your car out to.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER
Any money you make from your car needs to be taxed. It’s important to familiarise yourself with the business admin side. You likely don’t need an office and can work from home – sites like PhysicalAddress.com can be used to outsource an address if necessary.
You need to be sure that any jobs you take on are actually profitable. Work out exactly how much you’ll need to spend on fuel before agreeing to a long journey – especially if you’re going to be carrying a heavy load.
Make sure to maintain a good work-life balance. Be sensible about which jobs you take on – if you’ve already got another full-time job, you don’t want to be spending all your evening taxiing people around or delivering food.
Photo Credit: Newspress
