Thursday, February 07, 2019
Side gigs part 2, or...
Why driving for Lyft wasn't the answer, but I didn't mind answering the question...
My first ride for Lyft was unremarkable - a quick trip from a out of the way section of Peekskill to Annsville Circle for $6 plus a $2 tip - save that the ride happened at all. Before I was willing to pick up anybody, all I could think of was all the things that could go wrong: getting into an accident, getting a ticket, falsely accused of any number of nasty things, etc. There were not unreasonable fears. There was also the vagaries of driving for a ride share service: You're making some money, but as an independent contractor, putting miles on your car. You could have your driving approval taken away at any time, with neither advanced notice nor the ability to appeal. Essentially, you're selling your car a few miles at a time. It's up to the driver to determine if it's a good trade or not. Keep in mind that I'm glossing over the tax implications to the point of willful blindness, but I don't know how I'll be affected, so I'll leave that to the side for now.
Much like AirBnB, ridesharing owes its existence to unused capacity. AirBnB takes a bedroom that would otherwise be empty, and turns it into a hotel room. Lyft takes a car that would be parked and turns it into a taxi. More importantly, Lyft taps into another form of excess capacity: time. In theory, if I'm not doing something required for physical survival that involves staying in a specific place, i.e., sleeping, I could be working. There's the temptation to eschew all other activities (including sleep) to hit the road. In between rides, you can make calls, listen to audiobooks, podcasts, whatever. If you're familiar with the area, you know where to get food, find a bathroom, etc. Parking lots are useful, as are malls, where you can use the facilities and wait in relative quiet.
The truth is a little different, of course. It takes time to find people, and it takes more time to get another ride after you've dropped someone off. I've found I need around 3 hours to truly make it worthwhile. It doesn't help that Westchester is spread out, so I could be 15 minutes away from the end of one trip to where the next fare is located. Experience has taught me how to mitigate this, but driving for a rideshare will always be more art than science. Still, demand over the summer was consistent, though it tailed off as soon school started. Trips to the airport were plentiful,and if timed right, allowed me to make $50-60 bucks before work. This would be the only way I didn't need 3 hours to make any real money. I would take someone to JFK, hopefully garner a nice tip, then head to work. On the other hand, I could get a trip from Nyack to Northwestern New Jersey with a woman so drunk she was dragged into my backseat. She didn't come to until we got to her house, and proceed to vomit while getting out of my car. It was the here that being an EMT proved useful. I knew by the sounds she was making that an eruption was imminent, so I grabbed her and pulled her out of my backseat. She puked all over the place, but because I aware of what would happen, she missed the upholstery, but did get the door well a little. I had cleaning supplies in the trunk, so I walked her to the front door, and when she made it inside, I cleaned the car and drove to work. Despite this incident, I enjoyed driving, and I'm still approved, but I haven't driven in a few weeks, and I don't plan on starting up again, save for a specific days on the calendar. After totaling gas, being unavailable for friends, family, my fiance, and counting the wear and tear on my car, I decided it really wasn't worth it.
Nevertheless, taking the leap into making money outside of the college, even if Lyft was on the whole, inefficient, provided benefits I hadn't expected. Prior to driving, I couldn't see any way to increase my income, but even after a few weeks of making extra money, I saw opportunity all around me. It was as if I was given a new set of glasses, and wearing them, I couldn't not see all sort of different ways to make extra cash. In fact, it was a Lyft ride that led me to my next side venture: playing dress-up for Halloween.
My first ride for Lyft was unremarkable - a quick trip from a out of the way section of Peekskill to Annsville Circle for $6 plus a $2 tip - save that the ride happened at all. Before I was willing to pick up anybody, all I could think of was all the things that could go wrong: getting into an accident, getting a ticket, falsely accused of any number of nasty things, etc. There were not unreasonable fears. There was also the vagaries of driving for a ride share service: You're making some money, but as an independent contractor, putting miles on your car. You could have your driving approval taken away at any time, with neither advanced notice nor the ability to appeal. Essentially, you're selling your car a few miles at a time. It's up to the driver to determine if it's a good trade or not. Keep in mind that I'm glossing over the tax implications to the point of willful blindness, but I don't know how I'll be affected, so I'll leave that to the side for now.
Much like AirBnB, ridesharing owes its existence to unused capacity. AirBnB takes a bedroom that would otherwise be empty, and turns it into a hotel room. Lyft takes a car that would be parked and turns it into a taxi. More importantly, Lyft taps into another form of excess capacity: time. In theory, if I'm not doing something required for physical survival that involves staying in a specific place, i.e., sleeping, I could be working. There's the temptation to eschew all other activities (including sleep) to hit the road. In between rides, you can make calls, listen to audiobooks, podcasts, whatever. If you're familiar with the area, you know where to get food, find a bathroom, etc. Parking lots are useful, as are malls, where you can use the facilities and wait in relative quiet.
The truth is a little different, of course. It takes time to find people, and it takes more time to get another ride after you've dropped someone off. I've found I need around 3 hours to truly make it worthwhile. It doesn't help that Westchester is spread out, so I could be 15 minutes away from the end of one trip to where the next fare is located. Experience has taught me how to mitigate this, but driving for a rideshare will always be more art than science. Still, demand over the summer was consistent, though it tailed off as soon school started. Trips to the airport were plentiful,and if timed right, allowed me to make $50-60 bucks before work. This would be the only way I didn't need 3 hours to make any real money. I would take someone to JFK, hopefully garner a nice tip, then head to work. On the other hand, I could get a trip from Nyack to Northwestern New Jersey with a woman so drunk she was dragged into my backseat. She didn't come to until we got to her house, and proceed to vomit while getting out of my car. It was the here that being an EMT proved useful. I knew by the sounds she was making that an eruption was imminent, so I grabbed her and pulled her out of my backseat. She puked all over the place, but because I aware of what would happen, she missed the upholstery, but did get the door well a little. I had cleaning supplies in the trunk, so I walked her to the front door, and when she made it inside, I cleaned the car and drove to work. Despite this incident, I enjoyed driving, and I'm still approved, but I haven't driven in a few weeks, and I don't plan on starting up again, save for a specific days on the calendar. After totaling gas, being unavailable for friends, family, my fiance, and counting the wear and tear on my car, I decided it really wasn't worth it.
Nevertheless, taking the leap into making money outside of the college, even if Lyft was on the whole, inefficient, provided benefits I hadn't expected. Prior to driving, I couldn't see any way to increase my income, but even after a few weeks of making extra money, I saw opportunity all around me. It was as if I was given a new set of glasses, and wearing them, I couldn't not see all sort of different ways to make extra cash. In fact, it was a Lyft ride that led me to my next side venture: playing dress-up for Halloween.
