Gage Lund fills the vehicle with oil after draining it in his Hyrum garage on Friday Feb. 24, 2024.

HYRUM – Twenty-year-old Gage Lund of Hyrum opened a mobile oil and lube business he hopes will give him a future as a side hustle when he gets a fulltime job as a mechanic.

Gage Lund checks the oil levels of a vehicle filing it with oil on Friday Feb. 24, 2024.

When Lund finished serving his church mission in September, he quickly set up shop and had his business up and going by October. He was changing oil while attending Bridgerland Technical College.

“I set up a business account with NAPA Auto Parts and my grandpa had a truck that was running kind of rough so I put in the time and fixed it, so it ran good,” he said. “I enrolled in the diesel mechanic school at Bridgerland Technical College, and I bought some tools and started changing oil for family members, friends and neighbors.”

After five months of schooling at Bridgerland, he graduated and is pursuing his dream job as a diesel mechanic. He plans to continue his side hustle of changing oil.

“People contact me and tell me what kind of car and engine they have. Then I check the prices of the oil and filter and send them an estimate,” Lund said. “We schedule an appointment and I do the work. So far it has worked out well.”

Gage Lund adds oil into the engine of a vehicle he worked on Friday Feb.2024.

Before his mission he had an auto detailing business. It was just starting to blossom when he left for his two-year stint in Virginia.

“People asked me what I was going to do for a living, I told them I wanted to be a mechanic,” he said. “I like working on cars. It gives me a sense of accomplishment when I finish working on a car.”

Lund is like others around the state of Utah trying to make extra money by working part-time jobs in addition to their regular employment.

The Deseret News reported roughly 45 percent of Americans have a side hustle, and 54 percent of them are between the ages of 18 and 34. Only 2.5 percent of the national workforce has a side hustle, while 3.8 percent of Utah workers had side jobs.

One study showed that out of all 50 states Utah ranks fourth highest in number of people working side jobs.

WalletHub, a personal finance company that analyzes financial trends in the country, said Utah was a great state for starting a business. Their reporting method used 25 indicators of business-friendliness across three categories: business environment, access to resources, and business costs.

Gage Lund of finishes his oil change on Friday Feb. 24, 2024.

“Utah is the best state for starting a business because businesses have greater access to loans than in any other state, and Utah has the largest annual employment growth in the country, at nearly 2.5 percent, “said Cassandra Happe, an analyst at WalletHub. “During a time when money is tight, having ready access to capital and being in a state where business is booming can mean the difference between a startup thriving and dying during its first few years.”

Not every business is successful and being an entrepreneur is not always easy. One in five new businesses fail within the first year. Being in the right state can make the process a lot easier, though, and Utah is the best state for starting a business, WalletHub said.

 

 







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