I Tried Eight Ways to Earn Money. Here's What Finally Worked.

I started the EYFI Challenge excited about one thing: earning money on my own.

I had 30 days to make it happen, and I wanted to explore different ways of earning. I tried selling jewellery, offering resume-building services, looking for freelance work, applying for work-from-home opportunities, and even auditioning for a storytelling app.

Some attempts went nowhere. Others taught me more than I expected. Eventually, I made my first sale by helping a college junior improve her resume.

Here's how my 30 days unfolded.

I Started With What I Could Offer

One of the first things I tried was making resumes for college juniors.

I knew I could help students improve their resumes, especially when it came to making them more suitable for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). But knowing how to do something and finding someone willing to pay for it turned out to be two very different things.

I reached out to several juniors at my college. I also tried connecting with people on LinkedIn. Most weren't interested, and I struggled to convince people that my skills were worth paying for.

After a lot of attempts, I finally found a student who was having trouble understanding why her resume wasn't performing well with ATS. She was willing to pay for help.

I worked on her resume, improved its ATS score, and earned my first ₹600. The payment came in cash.

It wasn't a big amount, but getting that first customer after so many rejections felt like a breakthrough. It showed me that finding the right person who understands the value of your service matters just as much as having the skill itself.

My Jewellery Experiment Had a Different Outcome

I also tried selling jewellery to friends and family.

I invested ₹500 and hoped to sell more than one piece. But despite trying to sell to people I already knew, I managed to sell just one, for ₹700.

That left me with ₹200 after accounting for my initial investment.

The experience was a reminder that even when your potential customers are people you know, a sale isn't guaranteed. Having a product is only one part of the process. You still need to communicate its value and convince someone to buy it.

The Attempts That Didn't Work

The challenge wasn't limited to these two experiments.

I explored several other ways to earn. I tried getting selected for voice-over work on a storytelling app, but my voice wasn't selected. I planned to teach C programming to students through offline tuition, but the timings didn't work out.

I also explored online surveys, website freelancing, and work-from-home jobs. None of these attempts resulted in earnings during the challenge.

At times, it was frustrating. I was putting myself out there, trying different things, and facing rejection repeatedly. I realised that I wasn't very confident when it came to marketing my own skills.

But each attempt helped me understand something about myself and the work involved in earning independently. Not every opportunity was right for me, and not every effort led to a result.

What I Learned in 30 Days

Over the course of the challenge, I earned ₹1,300 in revenue from two activities. After accounting for my ₹500 investment in jewellery, my reported net income was ₹800.

But the biggest takeaway wasn't the amount.

Consistency matters, but so does how you approach people.

I learned that I need to get better at communicating what I can offer and why someone should pay for it. Having a skill isn't enough if I can't explain its value to a potential customer.

I also learned that trying different things is useful, even when they don't work out. Each attempt gave me a better understanding of what earning independently actually involves.

Before the challenge, I was excited about making money. Along the way, I got a reality check. Finding customers, handling rejection, and convincing people to pay for your work can be much harder than expected.

And that was precisely what made the experience valuable.

I'm Nisha Kulkarni, a Cohort 2 Hybrid fellow at Polygnan Foundation's YouStart Fellowship. The EYFI Challenge pushed me to step outside my comfort zone, try unfamiliar things, and keep going even when the results weren't immediate.

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This story was adapted from Nisha Kulkarni's original EYFI Challenge report and edited by the YouStart team.