A Sydney model has almost doubled his income using an unlikely side hustle that saw him pocket nearly $3,000 in just one weekend.
Benny Mitchell, 25, was forced to get creative when his modelling career and gig as a school sports coach were put on pause by Covid-19 lockdowns.
One of his mates suggested he sign up for Airtasker, an app where people allocate a budget for odd jobs like moving a fridge or transporting furniture.
With a lot of spare time on his hands and in need of a regular income to pay his rent, Mr Mitchell started completing up to four or five jobs a day.
Sydney model Benny Mitchell has almost doubled his income using an unlikely side hustle that saw him make nearly $3,000 in one weekend
Benny Mitchell, 25, (pictured) was forced to get creative when his modelling career and gig as a school sports coach were rudely interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic
‘I realised you can make a decent amount of money,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I like being busy, and I like that you can choose your own jobs.’
In his biggest weekend to date, he made between $500 and $700 daily from Thursday to Sunday, pocketing a total of $2,800.
Mr Mitchell said he finds it fairly easy to organise his time between AirTasker and full-time modelling, which he says pays roughly $4,000 a photoshoot.
The 25-year-old first started modelling in 2019 when he was scouted at Tamarama Beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
He said work on AirTasker was more consistent than modelling, with the app allowing him to choose what jobs he took and work flexible hours.
In eight months, the model has made more than $52,000, nearly surpassing the average annual earning (after tax) in Australia, which is $56,700.
Mr Mitchell (pictured) said he finds it fairly easy to organise his time between AirTasker and full-time modelling which pays roughly $4,000 a photoshoot
The 25-year-old quickly learnt how to put his foot down when clients asked for extra jobs for free – but said his experience on the app has been positive.
Mr Mitchell has a 4.9 star rating on the app from almost 400 reviewers.
He told Daily Mail Australia one client had been particularly impressed with his work.
‘I was lying in bed with my ex at the time, and a woman I had done a job for that day messaged me at 9:30pm saying it had been nice to meet me,’ he said.
Mr Mitchell said the woman asked if he would be interested in hanging out sometime which had made his then-girlfriend suspicious he had been too ‘flirty’.
‘Now that I’m single, I could probably use it as a dating app,’ he joked.
He plans to put the money he’s made modelling and on AirTasker towards producing music videos and buying equipment to bolster his budding music career.
Mr Mitchell, whose artist name is MBM, plans to work with hip hop group Triple One, Peter James, Raj Mahal and Danté Knows.
Mr Mitchell (pictured), whose artist name is MBM, has set his sights on a music career
It comes as new AirTasker data reveals wage growth on the popular app is overtaking salary increases in full-time roles.
The company’s new ‘side-hustle calculator’ found Australians who pick up odd jobs on the app are set to earn more than the average full-time worker, who according to the Bureau of Statistics earn up to $92,029 a year (before tax).
Cleaners who fit three tasks into an eight-hour-day, working five days a week, are earning an average of $111,612 a year (before tax).
The data also revealed a 10.5 per cent increase in the average task price of pick up and delivery jobs – which coincides with the rising price of fuel which increased by 32.1 per cent in the last year.
‘Tasker wages are rising in correlation with periods of high inflation, ensuring fair wages during these periods,’ AirTasker CEO and co-founder Tim Fung said.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk