What is a side hustle, and why is it such a popular concept these days?
The concept of earning a little extra money on the “side” of your primary job or 9-to-5 career is nothing new.
For as long as people have struggled to make ends meet with a traditional income, we’ve searched for ways to increase our earning potential.
The side hustle isn’t just a way to adapt to today’s complex financial environment. The right side gig can also offer people an opportunity to pursue their passions and unlock new skills.
Here’s your complete guide to the side hustle, and how you can start your own.
In this article:
- What is a Side Hustle?
- The Benefits of Running a Side Hustle
- 15 Fantastic Side Hustle Ideas to Consider
- How to Start a Side Hustle: Quick Steps for Success
- Conclusion
What is a Side Hustle?
Simply put, a “side hustle” is just an extra employment opportunity you pursue alongside your regular job. You still put the work into your 9-to-5 career, ensuring you’re earning a consistent and steady income, but you also pursue other money-making opportunities in your spare time.
A side hustle or side gig is similar in some ways to a part-time job, but it gives you a lot more control than simply seeking out a secondary form of employment. Most side hustlers are freelancers or contractors, who choose their own hours, clients, and projects.
With a side hustle, you basically develop your own miniature business, specific to your passions, skills, and abilities. That could mean writing blogs for money, creating and selling digital art, or earning cash as an online influencer.
It’s also worth noting that people can have more than one side hustles. Depending on how much free time you actually have, you can pursue a range of different opportunities at once.
The Benefits of Running a Side Hustle
While committing to extra work alongside your standard job might not seem like the most enticing prospect, side hustles have a lot of benefits. Around 75% of people say they love their side hustle, and many actually use their free time to pursue their passions and new career opportunities.
Side hustles can be a valuable tool in today’s complex economic environment. They don’t just offer an extra source of income, they can help you to build skills, and discover new opportunities for lucrative employment. The biggest benefits of side hustles for most people include:
- Extra income: Most of us could benefit from earning a little extra income each month. The money you earn from your side hustle can be an excellent way to pay off debts, like student loans, increase your savings for future purchases, or just have more disposable income.
- Flexibility: Unlike the traditional part-time or second job, a side hustle gives you absolute flexibility. You can choose how many hours you want to work, what kind of services you want to offer, and even which clients or customers you choose to work with.
- Networking: Running a side hustle is an amazing way to meet new people, both in your professional and personal life. You’re likely to encounter a huge variety of different individuals as you work on developing your career and finding new opportunities.
- Pursue your passions: A side hustle gives you a low-risk way to experiment with careers and business ideas that are connected to your passions and interests. Even if your side business doesn’t thrive as well as expected, you’ll still have an income from your primary job.
- Skill building: Working on a side hustle teaches you a lot of the skills that new entrepreneurs have to learn. You’ll discover how to manage your team, work as part of team, and even act as a leader in your industry. This can help you to grow professionally.
- New Opportunities: A side hustle can help you build experience in the industry you’re most interested in. You’ll also connect with new people who could introduce you to higher paying roles and full-time jobs, more aligned with your passions.
15 Fantastic Side Hustle Ideas to Consider
The opportunities for side hustlers are constantly evolving, particularly as the “gig economy” becomes a more popular concept. No matter your skills or interests, there’s likely to be a side hustle idea that’s perfect for your specific needs.
Here are some options you might want to explore.
Freelance Writing
If you have a passion for words and some incredible communication skills, then freelance writing can be a fantastic side hustle. You can make money online by offering blogging and proofreading services to other companies. Or you could create website content, video scripts, or email marketing campaigns.
You could also create and monetize your own blog. This means creating a content-rich site about a topic you’re interested in, and then unlocking earning opportunities with ads, affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, and partnerships. In the US, the average freelance writer earns about $22.27 per hour, so there’s definitely plenty of money to make here.
Podcasting
Similar to blogging and social media, podcasting has become a staple of the evolving digital world. In fact, since they began, podcasts have grown more popular year after year. If you have a good knowledge of a specific topic, and you know how to create engaging content, you can thrive in this industry. Plus, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get started.
There are free recording platforms available to help you create your content, and most hosting platforms for podcasts are pretty cheap. You can even buy a decent microphone for podcasting without spending too much money.
Selling Handmade Goods
Do you have a creative hobby? Maybe you’re excellent at knitting and crochet, or you can paint custom portraits for customers on demand. If so, you could earn plenty of money selling handmade goods online. You can sell directly to customers through your own ecommerce store, or consider signing up for a marketplace like Etsy.
Although not every Etsy seller is guaranteed success, successful creators can earn around $43,000 to $46,000 per year. Plus, selling handmade goods means you get to spend your time in your “second job” doing something you actually enjoy.
Influencer Marketing
Did you know even “micro-influencers” (with around 1,000-10,000 followers) can earn about $1,420 per month by working with other brands and companies to promote their products? Some companies are even investing more heavily in micro-influencers these days, thanks to the high level of engagement these social stars achieve with their followers.
You don’t necessarily need to be an Instagram celebrity to thrive as an influencer. All you need is a passion for creating great content, and the ability to connect with your followers. There are even influencer directories available to help you find companies to partner with.
Dropshipping
Starting your very own ecommerce store can take a little more time and work than a “side hustle” would generally allow. However, you can still get involved in the ecommerce market in your free time. Dropshipping is an easy way to start selling products online, without any of the risk or complexity involved with managing and shipping inventory.
All you need to do is set up a store or storefront with a marketplace like Amazon or Ebay. Then you choose a company to produce your products. That company also handles fulfilling your orders for you, so you can focus on things like marketing instead.
Print on Demand
If you like the simplicity involved with a dropshipping business model, but you want a little more creative freedom over what you sell, print on demand could be the ideal alternative. By 2032, the market for print on demand is set to reach around $469.9 billion, demonstrating just how popular this business model really is.
Like with dropshipping, you’ll work with a third party print on demand supplier who creates and ships products on your behalf. The main difference is you get to customize the products you sell. This means you can make your own unique line of home accessories, clothing products, and various other products.
Sell Digital Products
Being an online seller doesn’t have to mean actually shipping products to customers. In the gig economy, there are plenty of professionals selling digital items for a massive profit. You can sell everything from MP3s and PDFs, to videos, templates, eBooks, and more. If you’re a musician, you could even sell recordings to movie producers.
Other options include selling photography online to stock media websites, or selling logos and graphics to websites in search of branding assets. You could even create site themes and templates for Shopify, Wix, WordPress, and similar platforms.
Online Teaching
By 2030, the market for online learning is expected to be worth around $602 billion. You don’t have to be a certified teacher to get involved with this market. You can offer tutoring or mentoring sessions to customers on demand through your own website. You could also consider creating your own courses and selling them on sites like Skillshare or Coursera.
There are plenty of options for earning money with education these days. Whatever your skill might be, whether it’s music, or business admin, there’s likely to be someone out there who wants to learn from you. You could even use this strategy to earn a passive income.
Virtual Assistant
Today’s business owners are pressed for time, and often struggle to manage all of the complex tasks they need to complete each day. While AI and automation might help with some things, many leaders are still turning to human assistants for help with their to-do list.
As a virtual assistant, you can sell your hourly services to companies, helping with everything from content research, to scheduling appointments. As a VA, you’ll be free to work from home, choose which clients you want to work with, and set your own hourly rates.
Dog Walking or Pet Sitting
Do you love animals, and want to spend more of your free time with them? Dog walking or pet sitting could be the perfect side hustle for you. This local business idea gives you an excellent opportunity to earn money offering services to your time-pressed neighbors and friends. You can even find potential clients on directory sites like Rover.com.
The great thing about dog walking and pet sitting, is you can easily expand your service into a full time career. The more clients you earn, the more money you’ll make. You can even take courses and learn how to train dogs for more ways to increase your income.
Ride Share or Food Delivery Driver
If you have a car of your own, why not put it to good use to earn a little extra income? You can become an independent contractor with companies like Uber and Lyft, and offer your services ferrying customers to their locations in your free time, similar to a taxi cab. Alternatively, you can become a delivery driver for companies like DoorDash or Grubhub.
Anyone with free time and access to a vehicle can also sign up to deliver parcels through platforms like Amazon Flex. You simply sign up for a block of time when you want to work, and you can take as many or as few delivery assignments as you like.
Airbnb Host
Not everyone will have a lot of spare room in their house, or an extra property they can temporarily rent out to travelers from around the world. But if you are lucky enough to have your own property, you could consider using it to make some extra cash. All you need to do is make sure you give your visitors a great experience, and keep your space in good condition.
Remember, if you don’t have a room or property, you can rent out, there are sites that will allow you to rent out other assets instead. For instance, you could offer people access to your available storage space, or allow people to hire your parking space.
Handyman
If you’re a dab hand at DIY, and you don’t mind travelling a little to client homes, then a handyman role could be a good side hustle opportunity for you. These days, people are looking for affordable professionals to help them with all kinds of tasks around their home and garden.
You could help people with putting together IKEA furniture, hang shelves, or simply fix a few broken odds and ends around a property. Sites like TaskRabbit are excellent for finding clients who are willing to pay you for your support.
App or Website Tester
Success in the digital world relies heavily on a company’s ability to deliver a good user experience to their customers. Nothing harms a business faster than a website or app that’s brimming with issues or security errors. That’s why many companies are willing to pay people to test their digital assets.
Websites like Enroll and UserTesting can connect you with a variety of app and website testing gigs. Some can pay as much as $100 for just an hour of testing. All you really need is a computer and a little curiosity to make this gig work.
Tax Management
Are you good with money? Do you know how to navigate complicated things like tax and VAT? Maybe you’ve even considered exploring bookkeeping or accounting as a career in the past? If so, you can earn a lot of money with tax planning services.
You can offer your support to all kinds of companies on an hourly rate, helping them to prepare reports for tax season, evaluate their financial situation and more. You can even improve your chances of a long-term income by becoming certified as an accountant.
How to Start a Side Hustle: Quick Steps for Success
Now you know some of the amazing options you can explore if you want to make extra money with a side job, you might be wondering how you can get started. The exact process you follow to launch your mini startup or small business can vary depending on a range of factors.
Here are a few steps to help get you started.
Choose the Best Side Hustle for You
The first step in starting a side hustle is deciding what you actually want to do. One of the best things about a side hustle is it gives you an opportunity to really explore your passions. That means it’s usually a good idea to start searching for opportunities based on your interests.
If you love creative work, you might explore graphic design opportunities on Fiverr or Upwork. If you like the idea of working with local people, you might choose babysitting or dog walking.
Make a list of what you enjoy and what you’re actually good at, and think about what kind of side hustles are likely to work well around your day job. For instance, if you work 9-to-5 you might not be able to offer daytime VA services.
Determine Your Time Commitment
Once you’ve picked a great side hustle idea, the next step is figuring out how much time you want to dedicate to that venture. It’s really up to you how much of your free time you’re willing to commit. If you have a full-time job already, you’ll need to think carefully about how many hours you can manage each week, without the risk of burning out.
Creating a schedule to help keep you on track can be helpful here. You can block sections of time in your day out for your traditional job, your small business, and your personal life. Keep track of your schedule for a few weeks, and don’t be afraid to make a change if it’s not working for you.
Create a Business Plan
A side hustle is essentially an opportunity to start a small business of your own. This means you’re going to need a business plan. Your business plan will help you to determine what you need to do to make your side hustle successful, and it should guide you towards your goals.
Make sure your business plan includes all of the essential information you’d need to show to an investor if you wanted funding help. This means outlining your market, your target audience, your competitors, and what your services or products include.
You’ll also need to think about how you’re going to fund your side business upfront, and set some earning goals or pricing strategies. Research your industry to determine how much money you can reasonably expect to make.
Know the Laws
While starting a side business is a relatively straightforward process these days, there are certain roles and regulations you’ll need to be aware of. Depending on the type of business you’re going to run, you might need to apply for certificates and permits. There’s also a chance you’ll need to pay for business insurance to protect you if anything goes wrong.
Another important thing you’ll need to account for is tax law. The taxes and business fees you’ll be subject to will vary depending on the structure of your business. Most side hustles are likely to start off as a “sole proprietorship”. However, as your business grows and you earn more income, you might want to consider speaking to an accountant about your options.
Build a Client or Customer Base
A lucrative side hustle all depends on your ability to connect with potential customers or clients. Where you find these people will depend on the company you choose to run. For instance, if you’re running a dog walking business, you might use social media sites and local advertising to connect with people in your immediate area.
If you’re earning a side income by selling online services like graphic design or blogging, you might join gig economy websites. It’s worth creating your own site and online presence, so you can attract as many potential “consumers” to your side business as possible. Remember that investing in regular marketing will significantly increase your earning potential.
Focus on Generating Growth
Finally, most side hustles will start as relatively small ventures, but that doesn’t mean you can’t grow and expand your opportunities over time. In fact, the more effort you’re willing to put into building your side hustle, the more you’ll be able to earn.
Pay attention to the activities and strategies that are earning you the most income, and double down on those to boost your potential over time. You might find that eventually, your side business can take over as your primary source of income.
Dive into Your Own Side Hustle
Running a side hustle gives you an opportunity to launch your own business, become your own boss, and increase your income in your spare time. Plus, since you keep your regular job, you’ll still be able to maintain a consistent source of income.
As more Americans, and people all over the world begin to invest in side hustles and side gigs, the opportunities for earning are potentially limitless. If you’re willing to put in the effort, you’ll have no trouble earning a great side income from your part-time hustle.
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