University of Manitoba course on side gigs expands students’ financial potential

The University of Manitoba’s new side hustle course is equipping participants with skills to sell out farmers market stands and pay off their student debt via other business ventures.

Following a successful pilot year, “How to Start a Side Hustle” — a free six-week workshop organized by the Asper School of Business — has become a fixture on the Fort Garry campus.

“Entrepreneurship is all about capacity to act,” said Ben Isakov, a startup coach at the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship, a hub for budding businesses at U of M.

“We all have ideas. Great ideas are dying every day around us because people don’t take action — in many cases, people just don’t know that they are capable.”

The term “startup” is intimidating because it’s often associated with clean technology, biotech and other large, tech-related ventures, Isakov noted.

As far as he is concerned, smaller projects, be they businesses that sell handmade items such as soap and crafts, or consulting services or otherwise, are “equally (as) important as big startups.”

Concerned about wasted potential related to student, staff and alumni side gigs, his team started a side hustle 101 course at the start of the 2024-25 school year.

The centre hired Jeff Mitchell, an entrepreneur who runs a firm in Kitchener, Ont., that specializes in business development, to teach the online program. Isakov provides complementary coaching support.

More than 350 people, including current university students and employees, have applied to take part in it. The initial three cohorts had between 20 and 30 spots. The fourth is scheduled for October.

Participants do customer surveys, financial planning and edit their vision. The growth of a wedding co-ordinator business and launch of a financial projection software program are among the success stories.

Emily Thoroski said she learned how to network with confidence and pitch herself as The Environmental Musician, a Winnipeg scientist and songwriter for hire.

“I go to schools and I write environmental songs with kids and I do a presentation about conservation,” said the U of M alum who graduated with a master’s in environmental communications in 2023.

“It started out with just a few schools learning about me.”

Thoroski described her business as a far-off dream before developing a concrete plan with a social media strategy, a project she undertook during the side hustle 101 course.

She said she hopes to turn it into a full-fledged career.

University lab manager Tony Wong recalled learning about time management, conflict resolution and price-setting theories when he was working on a commerce degree at U of M.

“To actually apply (those lessons) is something that most students don’t get to do because they’re focused on their class,” he said, adding that “real life is actually very different from theory.”

Wong is upscaling a software program he designed to help non-profits better calculate their funds and expenses in real time.

He noted he’s been grateful for the frank discussions he’s had with coaches about exit planning should an entrepreneur want to sell their successful business.

“One of the big things that this course has done for me, and continues to do, is really shift my mindset in terms of what tangible partnerships or different streams of revenue (are available to me),” said Sam Davidson, an undergraduate program adviser and awards officer who moonlights as a professional wrestler.

Under his stage name “Red Hot” Sammy Peppers, Davidson competes, entertains audiences and sells merchandise to fans.

He applauded U of M for not only making room for his extracurricular passion, but also supporting it with free professional development.

“In this day and age, in our economy these days, additional streams of incomes will not hurt anybody, especially with the high tariffs,” Isakov said, noting that the U of M program helps entrepreneurs start a side hustle for little to no cost.

He both coaches at the Stu Clark Centre for Entrepreneurship and runs a consulting business.

This story was originally published in The Free Press. It is republished under a Creative Commons license as part of the Local Journalism Initiative.