How to Make Big Money as a Professional Queuer (2023)
How to make money as a professional queuer in 2023
The naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria has become one of the hottest topics of discussion in the country in the last 30 days or thereabouts. While many people have applauded the policy which is aimed at promoting cashless economy, others believe that the Nigerian society is not ready for it yet.
One of the major effect of the policy in the last few days of using the old naira notes before it finally loses its legal tender status is a gross shortage in the supply of cash. Banks are not pay, Automated Teller Machines are scarcely dispensing and even POS Operators and not paying. And when they do, their charges are quite exorbitant.
The naira redesign policy interestingly has given rise to great business opportunities for young Nigerians who are not too busy. One of the biggest of such opportunities is the chance to become a professional queuer, a business that involves making money simply by standing on the line for other people. This is especially common for people queuing for a slot at ATM or POS points.
Incidentally, a quick check on how to make money as a professional queuer shows that this is not new. From Washington, to London down to Lagos, this is actually a business model that works.
In today’s blog post we shall look at how one can make money as a professional queuer in 2023.
What is a Professional Queuer?
Another name for a professional queuer is ‘line stander’. Other people prefer to refer to it as a ‘queue stander’. But it can also be referred to as ‘line sitter’. However, whichever name you prefer to call it, a professional queuer is a person who takes a position in a queue in place of another, often for payment. The stander may queue to buy a physical object, maybe in a supermarket for their client, or may hold the space for that person, in the case of queueing for a service.
Why Will People Pay to Have Someone Queue on Their Behalf?
You might want to ask, “why would a normal person want to pay another person to stand on the queue on their behalf”? But the truth is that there are many reasons this can happen. The most common reason is of course shortage in consumer goods or shortage in the supply of certain services.
What happens is that once there is shortage in the supply of certain services or consumer goods the demand becomes more than the supply. And once this happens, the time it takes to access the few available supply increases. For example, in the case of Nigeria and the trouble of currency redesign, it is very common to see people queuing in front of banks and ATM points as early as 5am for a service that will eventually start by 8am. Sometimes individuals get to sit or stand for as much as 5 to 6 hours before it will become their turn to access the service.
Now, imagine you are a busy professional or a 9 to 5 person yet seriously in need of cash for a particular day, what do you do? Miss work to queue for 6 hours? I am sure you already know the risk of doing that. Forget about getting the cash and have the important need unmet? That may not be the best solution either.
A good compromise in such a situation will be to buy time with money. And how can you achieve that, engage someone that is less busy and who will be willing to accept an amount that is less than the worth of you 3 hours and have them stand on the queue for you.
Such people are referred to as professional queuers and interestingly, they are available in all major cities in 2023.
What are The Job Descriptions of a Professional Queuer?
Maybe you are considering taking up a job as a professional queuer. Maybe the idea of making money as a professional queuer is one that appeals to you and you are considering what exactly the job entails. Let me explain in a layman’s understanding.
There is no technical jargon involved here. Your role as a professional queuer is simply to stand in the line for another person. It is typically a service for busy people who don’t have the time to spend hours in line. Whether it be to purchase fuel, withdraw cash, collect a driver’s licence or a birth certificate, the role is the same.
In some cases the client might give you money to make the purchase on their behalf, if it is something that involves a product. And at other things it might be a service that can’t be performed on proxy, such as one that requires bio-metric verification or disclosure of ATM card PIN. In such cases, you will have to alert the person to come over once you are close to the front role.
How Much Do Professional Queuers Make?
Standing in a queue for others will soon become a very popular job among many people, especially considering the fact that it is a job that requires neither skill nor hard work.
For now, there is no standard rate that is generally agreed on as to the charge for being a professional queuer. However, from those who has been doing the job we can have an idea of how much they charge and how much they can make in a day. Freddie Beckitt, from Fulham, west London, says he charges £20 an hour to stand on the queue for others for highly popular and sought-after events in London. According to him, he works an average of 8 hours a day resulting to £160 in a day.
Robert Samuel is another person who makes a living as a professional queuer. And he tells the story of how he earns $1,000 in a week simply by standing on the queue for others.
Where to Get Queuing Jobs in 2023
Just like every other job in 2023, you can get queuing jobs both online and offline.
If you prefer online you can get one by listing and optimizing your profile as a professional queue on social media platforms such as:
- LikedIn etc
You can also register on popular job platforms like Upwork and Freelancer.com
And for offline the popular places to go and get queuing jobs without applications are:
- Filing Stations
- ATM Points
- Immigration Offices – for Passport Collection
- Licensing Offices – for drivers license collection
- National Population Commission Offices – for collection of birth certificates
- Grocery stores and supermarkets etc
Skills Needed as a Professional Queuer in 2023
Incidentally you don’t need any skills to work or make money as a professional queuer in 2023.
“You don’t need any skills, except the ability to suffer. For some jobs, you need to look good. If you want to buy things for rich people, you can’t look like a farmer or they’ll think you’re a scalper.”
However there are certain entrepreneurial traits or virtues that will greatly enhance your chances of getting a queuing job as a professional queuer. Some of them are:
- Humility
- Patience
- Honesty
- Punctuality
- Consistency
With the above attributes, you can be sure not only to get first time jobs as a professional queuer but also get repeat jobs always.
The Secret to Making Money as a Professional Queuer
How to make money as a professional queuer in 2023 – the secret
The secret of how to make money as a professional queuer is to go early. As simple as this sounds, but that is the most important secret you have to learn. If you can deny yourself a few hours of sleep and get to the queue point early enough you will become about the first person to be served. And with that you earn an easy money without having to wait for too long nor wait under the sun.
You can become more entrepreneurial by outsourcing the jobs too. If you are able to secure enough line standing jobs you can recruit other people who are even less busy than yourself and pay them a percentage of the money you charge.
Does How to Make Money as a Professional Queuer Work in Nigeria?
How to make money as a professional queuer in Nigeria.
Does this work in Nigeria?
Definitely.
Nigeria is probably one of the easiest places for queuing jobs as a professional queuer. And the reasons are not far fetched. The following are some of the indicators that this might actually be a great business idea:
- Most people maintain 9 to 5 jobs
- There is usually queues and uncertainties in accessing most services
- There are lots of unskilled workers out there making labour very cheap
- There is often shortage of supply of essential goods and services
- Service delivery is often slow, poor and inefficient
In fact a social media user recently shared a post of how he made 12,000 naira in a day with a plan to continue the next day.
My submission is that this business idea is still relatively new in Nigeria and anyone to venture in now and be consistent around it can have a first movers advantage.
Wrapping it Up on How to Make Money as a Professional Queuer
How to make money as a professional queuer
In a dispensation when many people are in search of how to make money without much skill or expertise, you can consider how to make money as a professional queuer as as very viable option. From our discussion above you can see that there are many people who are already taking up jobs that involve how to make money as professional queuer. Interesting, the job seems to pay more than the average salary of a medical assistant or other skilled professionals in America.
If you are looking for business ideas in 2023, you might want to consider how to make money as a professional queuer irrespective of you country.