The side hustle to my dreams

I always knew my love for organization was dangerous and obsessive but it was time I turned that mentality around and start using my skills for good. I genuinely enjoy organization and decorating, but always kept it as a hobby for my own spaces until I signed up with Task Rabbit. I am still surprised at the continued outcome and I didn’t expect the constant demand, but I am so grateful for how it’s all turned out and excited for all the upcoming opportunities. 

In case you’ve never heard of Task Rabbit, it’s an American online marketplace that matches freelance labour with local residents and tasks can include cleaning, moving, furniture assembly, snow removal, organization, pet sitting and much more. I currently have 11 skills listed on my tasker profile with my own rates and if you’d like to check it out, click here.

I started my account at the end of December 2021, it was an interesting time to start as there were a lot of scam requests during Christmas time. There is a “shopping” skill, but you need to purchase items yourself and then invoice it as an expense and wait 15 days to receive your money back. This is extremely inconvenient for my budget, so I quickly removed that "skill". In my first month, I had completed 3 tasks and worked 9.5 hours making a total of $195. January doubled to 7 tasks, 21 hours invoiced, totalling $426 and received my first digital tips. While currently in February, I have completed 5 tasks, invoiced 16 hours for a total of $400. 

The majority of the tasks were all organizational while the minority was packing up for/unpacking from a move. I enjoy both of these tasks as they both go hand in hand with organizational techniques that I am passionate about and I’m excited to see these services in demand. 

Now that it’s been over two months on Task Rabbit, I have learned new techniques that sharpen my skills and allow me to work more effectively and quickly, while never compromising the quality of my finished work. I needed to start learning about the value of my work and time and how my rates will need to increase. Being an independent contractor, you do everything on your own and that needs to be included in your rates. I am constantly working towards this business, learning new skills and techniques on my own time and it is only fair to increase my rates as I strengthen my skills. 

It’s also important to understand, this is a niche yet a luxury service to offer and your time and effort are very much valuable and should be accounted for. Aside from the common exception, we are often doing services for clients that choose not to do it themselves. While I can only speak for myself, I do it because I genuinely enjoy it, but never allow a client to undermine your rates or your skills. 

With anything online and in life, you need to be extra cautious when walking into a stranger's space or working with them, so this is to say. Don’t expect this to be easy, but it is on your terms and you do have the power to make all the decisions necessary on how to make money, on your own time and as you feel comfortable too. 

I am currently pushing for an increased safety feature on the clients' profile - for example, it could show us if they are verified by credit card / ID, just like they are assured we are background checked. We should be able to see if they are new clients on Task Rabbit or how many taskers they have previously hired. It’s a fucked up way to think that every new task I’m walking into might be my last. We never truly know what we are walking into and safety is always my number one priority. I do try to do extensive research with the limited information provided, such as name and location. I ask for photos of what needs to be done, this helps me estimate task length and get a feeling if this is a real task. And depending on the introductory conversation, if I get the vibes that it’s a scam I will act accordingly but we can never be 100% certain unless Task Rabbit adds such features.  

I have been given 5-star reviews ever since I started and TR also provides us with the ability to become Elite taskers, claiming that they earn 3x more than non-elites but this is heavily dependent on your metrics. To qualify you’ll first need to reach 20 tasks in any single category, submit 10+ invoices in the previous month, maintain a 4.7-star rating and keep your metrics between 90-95%. I have yet to reach this point and I believe I can but since I know my work does not equate to a website's unfair rating, I can’t promise I will maintain the elite status after I achieve the goal. 

If you are interested in signing up with Task Rabbit, be aware it can take about a week until you can set up your profile and availability if there are issues with validating your identity. When you first sign up, there is a $25 fee, which if you read above, I’ve made that money back. You will need to complete a background check this is where it’ll take a couple of days until it comes back clear and you need to attend an online orientation. I also had to go into my local Canada Post office to validate my identity where I showed 2 pieces of ID and a letter with my mailing address. 

This entire experience has and continues to bring me opportunities I could have never imagined because I am truly enjoying doing what I’m doing while also having the freedom to make my schedule. I have decided to start venturing out on my own and am getting ready to take on private clients with custom projects. I am so excited about what’s ahead! Taking on custom projects gives me more flexibility on what type of work I can do and where I can work in this world. Join the clutter-free IG family and watch this journey unfold with me.

I believe it’s important to disclose that I did not just snap my fingers and write up a business plan out of thin air. Although it’s not a perfect business plan, this is also not my first rodeo at being an independent contractor but this is one of the first times I feel extremely confident in what I am doing and with purpose. Don’t let any of my small or large details discourage you from giving this opportunity with Task Rabbit a try (or to simply just do something you’ve been curious about, the time to start is now!). With time, you will learn from your mistakes, allowing you to increase your rates as you grow with your skills and clients.  

The beauty of being an independent contractor is the flexibility to do things on your terms and schedule and I wouldn’t trade that for a 9-5, where I even have to ask to use the bathroom. 

I’ll quickly and visually wrap it up by listing some pros and cons of being a Task Rabbit Tasker and you can make your own decision about it. 

Pros: 

• Can make your schedule; set your availability every 14 days
• There are 25+ skills you can have listed on your profile 
• Choose which area radius you work in and change it as often as you’d like
• Choose and update your rate as you grow. It also shows an example of what other Taskers are earning, for reference on which rate you should be starting with. 
• Quick live chat option; improvement needed
• Option to upload business photos to profile; before and afters
• Can receive digital tips from clients 
• Option to opt-in for same-day tasks 
• One-hour minimum, with the option to make it a two-hour minimum for any task 

Cons: 

• Takes too long to get paid. It’s 3-5 business days, which often turns out to be 12-15 whole days
• No validation of safety, never know what we are walking into
• If we need to cancel due to safety concerns, our rating gets affected even before scheduling the task; automatic acceptance 
• If you are unable to respond to a task request within their given time, sometimes less than 24 hours, your response rating gets affected
• If a client asks to reschedule without a given day and the task stays on stand-by, your reliability rating gets affected and to dispute takes 3+ business days
• Low metrics affect how many tasks you can get hired for 

For someone who’s looked for work on Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace, signing up for Task Rabbit was a no-brainer. Of course, I had my own skeptical opinion about paying a fee to sign up, but it does make sense as it goes towards the orientation and background checks. 

In my opinion, it’s fair as I’ve made that money back by being hired through Task Rabbit for numerous tasks. There is a lot more that could be said about Task Rabbit and my actual task experiences but I wanted this to be a quick overview, for now, to give myself more time to be on the platform. If still around, I’ll do another update in 6 months. 

The cleaning and organizational community on social media are so welcoming and kind, I can spend hours scrolling because everything is so satisfying - if you have any further questions, would like to chat about Task Rabbit or check out my work, find me on Instagram @oceanic.organization and you’ll find multiple ways to contact me. I hope to see you there soon, thanks for reading!

Until next time, ox