If there\u2019s anything that characterises the centre of Manchester, besides the almost insane variety for shopping, it\u2019s the cabs that buzz around before being hailed down and boarded by a rushing passenger. But as fewer and fewer of us hail cabs on the222 street, Uber drivers have experienced a bit of a boom. It\u2019s the sheer convenience of it all, no need to rely on luck to find a taxi willing to go to your destination, or spend ridiculous amounts of money on a 10 minute ride.<\/p>\n
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Uber has its problems, as do most \u2018gig economy\u2019 companies, but they\u2019re a great way to employ people left behind in traditional employment. Manchester is an economic powerhouse but that doesn\u2019t mean everyone and their mum has a job, quite the opposite really. Gig companies provide an excellent outlet to give people a chance to employ themselves, all while giving them the flexibility that is so rare with mainstream jobs. Whether it retirees looking for a bit of a cushion on their pension, young people looking for beer money or women from conservative families that want to\u00a0 support their own lifestyle while putting themselves through university. Weirdly specific? Meet Aisha Hussein<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n All families are a bit dysfunctional, at least that\u2019s what Aisha told herself. But not all families prevent their daughters from getting jobs, nor going to a university outside their home town, nor doing anything that \u2018should’ be considered normal in Manchester.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It always takes time to realise that there are faults in the people we love. There are two choices when that realisation hits. People aren\u2019t inherently rational, unless they\u2019re willing to change something about them, they won\u2019t. The choices are resentment, and acceptance but a willingness to choose your own path. There\u2019s only one option Aisha was likely to choose.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So here she was. Largely estranged from her family, with a car and student accommodation all she had as what could graciously be called assets. A car might be a strange thing for a student to have in a big city, but Aisha loved the independence it gave her. Driving mates to and from university, taking 3 am car rides in the rainswept streets, and now providing her livelihood.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Living away from her parents was exhilarating for Aisha. But like every decision, it had its consequences. The tradeoff was financial support and comfort for her mental health and independence. With her parents\u2019 all encompassing hand not over her head, she had to face the rain alone \u2014 but she could bask in the sunshine of her own choices.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Not many university students own cars, let alone a huge, estate vehicle. Aisha would\u2019ve preferred a sleeker one with a carbon footprint smaller than that of a blue whale, but the estate was on sale. Too good an opportunity to pass up surely. Who\u2019d have thought a car with a dodgy paint job and faded grille was to be her saviour.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After what could be charitably described as the final \u2018falling out\u2019 with her parents, Aisha turned to full time Uber driving. Well as full time as one can get with professors hounding her for work and friends hounding her for drinks. A girl with a scarf driving an estate got some funny looks, even in Manchester. But all you need an Uber to do is ferry you from one spot to the other in (relative) comfort, so the driver doesn\u2019t entirely matter. Until they start asking for drunken relationship advice, an area in which Aisha rather excelled.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was one of these drunken chats that set her off on a path away from the grind of Uber, and the mishmash of personal pickups she\u2019d done for little more than a pittance. She survived, yes, but she wanted to love. What\u2019s life without a weighted blanket and mood lighting?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This particular drunken passenger was middle aged, a far cry from the university students that she picked up from seedy establishments after midnight. She seemed well dressed, which is either a good sign or a massive red flag depending on which area of town she works in.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Aisha was already stressed about the pandemic (people don\u2019t seem to need taxis when there\u2019s nowhere to go) when the woman slumped into the back seat.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She was hugging a box and kept rambling on about something called \u201cDropship\u201d and how she\u2019s going to be rich before \u201cthey know it\u201d. Not exactly the finest of wisdom. A woman to woman chat and plenty of belly laughing later, Aisha had a plan. Sometimes help comes from the most unexpected of places. And people.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Drunken chats aren\u2019t the most reliable of sources to form an impression of something, so Aisha decided to do her own research. Finding time between classes, friends and the few Uber passengers she got, she looked up and waded through the masses of information online about dropship. Information is inherently unreliable but for a mass communications student, it wasn\u2019t difficult to sieve the dodgy information from the real gems.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In her late night researching powered by an unhealthy amount of coffee, she realised that proper solid wood furniture was the one thing missing from the catalogues\u00a0 of dropshippers online. For good reason: it\u2019s expensive. But she had a plan \u2014 target the smallest, most popular pieces first and scale up as she gets some sort of capital flow going. Not bad for a communications major. But intelligence isn\u2019t linear after all.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Huddled up in her car between rides, with just the soft purr of her engine for company, she set up a few dropship accounts and sent a few emails to companies she found reliable. After an online degree that had been about 80% emails and powerpoints, this was child\u2019s play. But that didn\u2019t mean it was any less tedious. She\u2019d learnt enough to know that an efficient dropshipper removes half the stress of running this type of business; it\u2019s worth investing time and energy finding the right one. Even if it means you need to live on coffee for a few nights.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n