Shutdown Side-Hustle Speedrun – $10k+ in the First 30 Days (While Still “Essential”)
You’re either furloughed (free time) or essential (working for free IOUs). Either way, Uncle Sam just turned you into a 100% commission salesperson with no cap.
Day 1: Flip your status on LinkedIn Headline: “Furloughed Fed | Active TS/SCI | Immediately Available for 1099 Consulting – Shutdown Special Rates” Openly post: “Thanks to the shutdown I suddenly have bandwidth — who needs help winning contracts, decoding FAR clauses, or writing proposals this month?”
Day 2-7: Hit the contractor DMs Every defense contractor you ever dealt with is now short on bodies because half their feds just got furloughed. Offer “shutdown surge” consulting:
Proposal coloring sessions ($3k–$8k per 2-day sprint)
Source-selection sensitivity training for industry ($2k per Zoom)
Past-performance write-ups (you literally graded theirs last year)
Day 8-30: Triple-dip legally
Collect backpay later (you will)
Bill 1099 consulting to contractors who are billing the same agency you work for
Pick up Uber Black / Amazon Flex in your personally owned vehicle (POV) on furlough days — tax-free per diem still flows for many
Real example from 2018-2019 shutdown: A GS-13 COR at DHS pulled $38k in 1099 income in 35 days while “non-excepted” just by running virtual proposal shops out of his basement.
Shutdown Side-Hustle Speedrun – $10k+ in the First 30 Days (While Still “Essential”)
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