Being a rideshare driver is in itself an exciting means of earning extra cash. To be more precise, this is currently one of the best part-time gigs that you can get involved. After all, the rideshare market is booming at the moment so, why not take advantage of it? But, are you aware that you can have a side hustle while you are side hustling! Confused? To clear your confusion, we will discuss the secrets of success that rideshare drivers can achieve by leveraging their ride rideshare status for side business opportunities. Well, nobody denies that money is the major thing for rideshare but doesn’t mean that you do not take the benefits of the networking opportunities out there. Networking is the key, after all, to earn success in life. So while you’re driving for Uber why not draw some inspiration from the very few drivers that have figured out the way to leverage their income by promoting their side hustle while they are driving?
First, self-promotion is an important tool that you positively need to adopt if you aim to become a successful Uberpreneur. ‘Uberpreneur’-Now, you must be thinking what that is. This term has been coined by the Forbes as a title for Gavin Escolar, an Uber driver serving in San Fransisco but is originally from Philipines. This man along with driving for Uber also has a side business of high-end jewelry. He has initiated it as a family business for starters. But, with time it has expanded to become one of the luxury professions that are rapidly growing. He actually set up a mobile jewelry store with his car. Hard to imagine, is it? He has done it and successfully so. His last year earning as an Uber driver can prove that. It was precisely 252,000$!
Thus, Forbes named him as an Uberpreneur, a person who smartly makes use of the Uber platform for the promotion of his or her own business. It is by far one the most creatively amazing ways to kick-start a new business and also because there is not much competition.
Gavin Escolar-The journey of an Uber Driver to an Uberpreneur
Gavin Escolar is a Filipino man who almost echoes charisma in all possible senses of the term. To start off, he is a passionate man with a laugh which is always as loud as the strikingly vibrant colors of the shirts that he wears. If you ever get to ride his car, you are sure to notice shiny jewelry tucked in here and there just peeking out to have your attention. It can be a gleaming bracelet around his wrist or a pair of earring dangling from the dashboard. Once your eyes move around the car, it will instantly find polished catalogs inside the seat pockets that are kept for you to see some more displays of his jewelry collection and all of that not by halting but during your Uber trip.
It won’t take you much time to get a hint that you are not in his car but his mobile-jewelry store instead. Astonished, are you? Yes, Gavin does not just drive for Uber but has also figured out this brilliant way to promote his side business while he is driving. You may have seen entrepreneurs all your life, but how often is it that you get to make an acquaintance with an Uberpreneur? Surely, that is rare.
Initially, he did struggle to make both ends meet when he first tried his hands at being an Uber driver. But, to his surprise, barring a few, most of the passengers were bent on conversing with him, and whenever he mentioned about his jewelry, they asked for his business card.
That was the moment of Eureka for him. He got the idea that rather than restricting to business cards he can very well show the passengers his jewelry. Thus, a master plan took birth, and the rest is history! As a part of his plan, he transformed his car into a mobile showroom for his jewelry. Yes, he not just hanged or showcased his jewelry wherever he could inside the car but also kept extra pieces of his creation stacked inside the glove slot. Gavin never solicits but whenever passenger notices jewelry hung here, and there they strike a conversation by themselves & that is like, Always!
Does Uber allow it?
The best thing to have this side business in mobile form, as is by Gavin, is that one does not always have to worry about sales because as an Uber driver you are already getting a basic pay every month before your jewelry sells. You can be as savvy a driver as Gavin, but you might also question whether promoting your own business while you are on a trip is permissible or not.
So, here’s the answer to that. Uber encourages its drivers to fuel the local economy as it is one of their goals as well. So, they do not have restrictions in this case. Well, not unless you are leaving a bad impression on the passenger by making their ride seem like a sales pitch or something. Yes, because passengers can very well be interested in the person that you are and your creative ideas but a direct sales pitch will obviously make them uncomfortable.
The success numeric!
You will be amazed to know Gavin Escolar’s ratings and the number of passengers that he drove this past year. In the gone by 18 months, he has driven over 3,829 passengers at the least, and his ratings are constantly high. On UberX it is 4.87 / 5.00, on Uber Black, it is 4.85 / 5.00, and on Lyft it is 4.95 / 5.00. His passengers include top-class networking executives. That explains his networking expertise. He has recently been reported to meet Vogue fashion editors while on a trip.
So, yes, Gavin is the pioneer of Uberpreneurship exposing you to a best of all worlds living opportunity. He proves to be a brilliant idol for all the aspiring entrepreneurs out there.