Running a side business is becoming pretty mainstream these days. In fact, 40% of Americans have a side hustle.
If you're looking for something to do on top of your day job, I've assembled a list of the best side hustles.
Did you know you don't need a hefty upfront capital to get started?
On the contrary, these side hustle ideas can help you generate $500 to $3,000 in extra monthly income.
Whether you want to start your dream business and grow it to a full-time gig, supplement your income or pursue your passion, these hustle ideas can be excellent options.
Read on.
What is a Side Hustle?
A side hustle is a way to make a few extra bucks outside your regular 9 to 5 job. It enables you to generate more money to give you the freedom to pursue your passions, lower your financial worries and buy items you want or need.
With most 9 to 5 jobs, you don't have much left after paying your bills. More so if you're in the early phases of your career.
When you calculate the transportation costs, rent, bills, and food, you might realize you barely have anything left. What a bummer.
So, you'll want to start a side hustle to help make extra spending money and save some.
What are the Best Side Hustle Ideas?
A good side hustle will enable you to make enough money to supplement your income. It'll allow you to travel, buy your own car, cater for urgent expenses, etc., without touching your salary.
The 43 side hustles below have profit and growth potential to let you achieve these things and more. Check them out.
1. Start a Blog
Blogging is one of the best side hustles you can start.
To start, you need to buy a domain name and affordable hosting. You'll then create content revolving around your chosen niche.
Some ways of making money through your blog include affiliate marketing, sponsorships, ads, subscriptions, etc.
You can generate good money as a blogger. Adam Enfroy, one of the most successful bloggers, earns $250,000+ monthly!
Starting a blog requires proper education. Check the best blogging courses on the planet from my comprehensive list.
2. Start an Affiliate Marketing Business
Affiliate marketing involves promoting other people's products for a commission. A merchant assigns you an affiliate link for their product.
Once a person clicks on the link and buys the product, you earn a commission. You don't have to create a product or service. All you need to do is promote the product as an affiliate.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to earn passive income as you work on your passions or a side hustle.
To get started, look for a list of high-paying affiliate programs to find the products to promote on your website.
Please read my post on how to start an affiliate marketing blog for step-by-step instructions.
3. Start YouTube Channel
YouTube users watch 250 million video hours every day.
If you have an audience, you can use the platform to make money by selling your digital goods, affiliate marketing, AdSense, and brand deals.
To get started;
- Pick a niche, for instance, cooking, gaming, beauty, marketing, business management, etc.
- Create engaging content for your audience.
Include a call-to-action in your videos and description directing viewers to the next action, including buying a product, visiting your site, or subscribing to your channel.
Grow your audience to keep making money with your YouTube channel. You need to know how Youtube SEO works to get more views and subscribers. There are good tools like Tubebuddy to help you with Youtube SEO.
4. Start a TikTok Account
TikTok is a creative and fun side hustle idea to generate extra money.
The platform boasts a staggering one billion+ users, making it one of the most popular social platforms.
You can make money on the side using TikTok affiliate marketing and brand partnerships. You can also use the platform to direct followers to your other online business.
Adrian Brambila is a perfect example of a successful TikToker using the platform to make good money.
Adrian is a former dancer and self-made multi-millionaire. He creates and shares content in the making money online niche.
Adrian's TikTok Mastery course teaches how to supercharge your results on the platform.
5. Sell Online Courses
Some people could benefit from your expertise. So, if you have expert knowledge in a particular area, you can create a course and sell it online as a side hustle.
With the e-learning market projected to hit $325 billion by 2025, selling online courses can be a great way to earn passive income once you've established a customer base.
Depending on the work you put in, you can generate enough income to relieve some of your financial stress. You have to make sure you deliver real value in your courses.
6. Start Online Coaching
The online coaching market is valued at $243 billion.
You can make decent money as a part-time online coach with such stats. If you're a fitness enthusiast, you can start online classes teaching people how to get in shape.
The beauty of online coaching is that you can do it in the comfort of your home.
Starting your own business as an online coach can be a great side hustle if you enjoy working with people and solving problems.
7. Run Fiverr Gigs
We live in a gig economy. And, Fiverr is one of the best places to sell your gig.
Services start at $5 on Fiverr. As a top seller on the platform, you can make a six-figure revenue annually while still having a full-time job.
You can sell any service on Fiverr. You can transition from working during your spare time to a Super Seller on Fiverr in a few months. Still, like any gig, you must deliver massive value to make a decent income on the platform.
You can charge as much as $100 per hour as a Super Seller.
However, it is not enough to publish a gig on Fiverr and think the customers will come. It doesn't work that way. You need to know how to get visibility to your gigs over your competitors.
Luckily, an excellent online course teaches how to do Fiverr gigs successfully to get paying customers. Brambila Method is an ideal course for those who want to make extra income using different side hustle strategies, not just Fiverr gigs.
Please read my full Brambila Method review here.
8. Sign-up for Upwork
UpWork is one of the best freelancing websites.
You can sell your services on the platform and make a pretty penny with it. Some of the high-demand services on UpWork include social media management and building websites.
Those aren't the only jobs available, though. The platform offers all manner of jobs in different fields.
To get started, head over to UpWork, create your profile and start bidding for gigs.
You can land a side job quickly based on your bid. Grow your portfolio and ask for reviews from clients to help you draw the attention of new potential clients.
9. Start a Podcast
Podcasting, like blogging and social media, is fast becoming a staple of online content.
Podcast stats indicate that over 80% of podcast listeners spend more than seven weeks listening to podcasts.
Joe Rogan, one of the most experienced podcasters, earns a staggering $30 million annually. Sure, you may not make as much money as Joe as a part-time podcaster. However, you can generate enough to supplement the income from your day-to-day job.
Some ways to monetize a podcast include brand deals, affiliate marketing, sponsorships, and joining ad networks.
10. Start a Credit Repair Business
The credit repair business market is worth $4.4 billion.
With a market that big, starting a credit repair business can be a profitable side hustle idea to pursue.
As a credit repairer, your job is to help your client fix errors in their credit reports. In addition, with many people struggling to maintain good credit scores, you can find clients quickly.
Better yet, you can use tools like Credit Repair Cloud to help you launch and run a credit repair business from home.
You can read my post on how to start a credit repair business for more insights.
11. Start AI Copywriting
It's now easier to take up freelance writing as a side hustle, thanks to AI.
With a good tool like Jasper AI, you can offer services like writing blog posts, scripts, and sales copy. And the best part is that Jasper does the heavy lifting on your behalf.
Imagine generating 100,000 words of web content and not having to do most of the writing yourself. That's the power of using AI to create content.
Jasper comes with an integrated grammar checker to help you polish your copy. You can even use it to write YouTube scripts and social content for local businesses in a few minutes.
With the increasing demand for AI-generated content, you can cash in on this market to help you earn money on the side.
Read my comprehensive Jasper review to find out how you can use the tool to start your own business.
12. Start a Dropshipping Business
Dropshipping is a very popular side hustle to earn extra cash.
This business model involves selling products without stocking any inventory.
You'll need to set up your online store to get started. You'll then look for reliable suppliers and sell their products in your store at a markup price.
When a buyer places an order, you'll contact the supplier to ship their product to the customer and keep the markup. And you don't have to worry about warehousing costs.
Some good dropshipping platforms include Alidropship and Sellvia.
13. Buy and Sell Websites
Buying and selling websites on marketplaces like Flippa can be a high-paying side hustle that you can grow into a full-time business.
People are looking to buy websites for investment, gain topical relevancy, or redirect to their main sites. No matter the reason, you can make extra money in this business.
When looking for a website to buy, consider crucial metrics like growth potential, niche, and the number of visitors.
Once you find a good site, you can buy it and sell it later at a profit.
Leveraging good domain appraisal services ensures you get quality websites and serious buyers.
14. Become a Graphic Designer
If you know something about graphic design, you can use your creativity to start a business that'll allow you to earn more money.
You can start by targeting small brands and transition to more prominent brands as you build your business.
To thrive as a graphic designer online, you need to be passionate about your job and willing to go the extra mile to deliver quality work.
While there are many graphic designers on the internet, you can find an edge by building a strong portfolio.
You can make $1,000 to $3,000 per month if you're good at what you do. Photoshop is the de-facto software for all professional graphic designers.
15. Start an Amazon FBA Business
Amazon FBA (fulfillment by Amazon) is a business model leveraging the power of Amazon.
It is not easy to be successful on Amazon, but if you can pull this off, you can make some serious money.
It enables you to tap into Amazon's big audience on the front end and its stellar logistics on the back end.
Amazon has millions of product opportunities, but finding the perfect product for you is the key. You can utilize Amazon product research tools to find good profitable products.
Amazon FBA in a nutshell:
- Open an Amazon seller account.
- List the products that you want to sell.
- Advertise your listings for potential customers to access and buy your products.
I've created a list of the best FBA Amazon courses to help you learn how the Amazon FBA business model works in detail.
16. Create a Course on Udemy
Udemy is perhaps the most well-known online course platform. So, if you have a skill or knowledge you'd like to share with others, you can create an online course and sell it on Udemy.
The good thing about Udemy is that you can create and sell a course on any topic.
Whether you're a web developer, social media marketer, chef, SEO expert, or musician, you can create and sell an online course to a global audience.
In addition, Udemy will market the course. Your job is to create a course and upload it on the platform.
17. Teach a Language Online
Teaching can be one of the most rewarding side hustles. It has low startup costs, and you can run it as a part-time job at home.
According to statistics, over 30 million people attempt to learn a new language every year, so you shouldn't have trouble finding students.
English is the most studied language on the planet. Over 1.5 billion people around the world are learning English, according to the British Council. Other popular languages include Chinese, German and French.
So, if English is your first language, you can consider teaching people, enabling you to make money.
18. Work as a Voice Actor
Do you have a unique voice that can catch the listener's attention? If you do, working as a voice actor can be one of the best side hustle ideas for you.
You only need a laptop + microphone, and an internet connection.
You can do voice-overs for clients around the work. Other opportunities include voicing ads and video games.
You can voice-over gigs on platforms like Fiverr and Upwork.
Rates may differ depending on your experience.
19. Offer Personal Shopping Services
Not everyone wants or can go shopping. If you have spare time, you can help people with shopping.
If you have advanced knowledge of products, trends, and services, you can start a shopping assistant business as a part-time job.
You can run your business by giving product and service suggestions online. You can also help your clients select good products. And you don't have to be present in person to become a shopping assistant.
To get started, create a profile on platforms like Fiverr and TaskRabbit to advertise your service. You can also partner with local businesses and clients.
20. Start a Sales Funnel Agency
If you have experience in digital marketing, you can start a sales funnel agency to enable you to make side hustle money.
Your job is to help businesses create sales funnels to boost conversion. You'll also test the funnel and optimize it to help your client increase revenue.
Better yet, you can teach business owners how to build sales funnels. With businesses eager to learn how to create profitable sales systems, it is easy to land well-paying clients.
You can charge your clients by the hour to maximize your earnings. You can build a full-time income with a few clients, depending on your rates.
You need special software to build sales funnels. I have compiled a list of the best sales funnel builder software on the market.
21. Get Paid to Test Apps and Websites
Few people, if any, will use an app riddled with glitches.
So, developers hire testers to play with the applications and ensure everything works perfectly before launching.
Guess what? App and website testers are in high demand. You can become one and get paid for it.
Matchmaking platforms like Enroll, Userlytics, UsTest, and UserTesting are great for landing your first side gig as an app tester.
You can earn over 100 dollars for a 60-minute test. That means you can make good money in just a few hours.
22. Sell on the Facebook Marketplace
You can make extra cash selling physical goods on Facebook. The platform allows you to sell handmade products or items you've bought from a wholesale supplier.
To get started, you need to create a listing of all the products you want to sell on the platform.
In addition, upload high-quality images and detailed product descriptions. Also, include the price. Your target market can buy the items once your listings go live.
23. Design and Sell Your Own T-Shirts
The print-on-demand business model has revolutionized the way people can do online business. Thanks to platforms like Teespring, it's now possible to sell custom-printed products without any upfront investment.
All you need is a design, and Teespring will handle the rest. They'll print your design on various products, from t-shirts to coffee mugs, and ship them directly to your customers.
Best of all, you only pay when you make a sale. So if you're looking for a way to earn some extra income, print-on-demand might be the perfect solution.
24. Clothing line
Launching your own clothing line might sound like a full-time job more than a side hustle.
There are a few key things you'll need to do if you want to create your clothing line side hustle. Firstly, you'll need to find a niche market you can target with your designs.
This could be a particular style of clothing, or it could be a specific type of customer.
Once you've identified your target market, you'll need to come up with a unique selling proposition that will make your clothing line stand out from the competition.
After that, you need to start designing and producing your garments and selling them online on platforms like Shopify.
25. Sell Your Photography
If you're good with the camera, you can leverage your keen eye to make extra money. And side hustles like brand and wedding photography pay well.
One strategy to consider is high-volume photography. This business model allows you to take photos of different individuals in one setting, like events or yearbook photos.
Volume photography can help you generate extra income with minimal setup. You can use applications like PhotoDay, to help organize photos and automate the overall workflow.
As a part-time photographer, you can make $1,000 to $5,000 per month, depending on the number of gigs you win. You can also pursue photography as a full-time job.
26. Walk Dogs
People treat pets as members of their families these days. Starting a dog walking service could be a great side hustle if you have spare time.
Anyone can walk a dog. All you need is to create time to pursue the venture.
You can start by walking dogs in your area. As the business grows, you may consider a dog-walking agency. You can combine your service with pet sitting.
I recommend setting up a small website and leveraging social media platforms to market your business. Flyers and word of mouth are good marketing strategies too.
27. Participate in Paid Focus Groups and Online Surveys
Countless focus groups and market researchers want to know how their target audience feels about their products and services.
Websites like Survey Junkie, Swagbucks, and Branded Surveys offer surveys you can get paid to take.
While participating in online surveys or signing up for a focus group may not make you a ton of money, it can pad your wallet with extra cash for the weekend.
Participating in online surveys and focus groups can be a good side hustle for people who want to work from home.
You can make $50 to $150 in one online survey.
28. Plan Parties, Wedding and Events
Do you love super detailed schedules? Are you passionate about logistics? Then, event organizing could be your side hustle.
You don't require special training to become an event planner. All you need is to be outgoing, have good marketing skills, and have deep knowledge of local vendors.
You can start by launching a dedicated social media channel for your side hustle. That way, potential clients can find you easily. You can also consider sending mass emails to your contacts to get the word out about your new venture.
Part-time event planners earn as much as $30,000, according to ZipRecruiter.
29. Become a Transcriber
Do you have a good listening ear? If you do, becoming a transcriber is one of the most viable side hustle ideas you can pursue to generate extra income.
As a transcriptionist, your job is to receive audio files from clients and type out what you hear. The files can be phone calls, audio notes, legal proceedings, or videos.
Apart from a good ear, you also need quick fingers.
You can land transcribing jobs on platforms like TranscribeMe, Rev, and GoTranscript.
You can earn an extra $1,000 to $2,000 monthly as a part-time transcriber.
30. Offer a Virtual Assistant Services
A virtual assistant is a self-employed remote worker to whom businesses outsource administrative work.
Becoming a virtual assistant is a promising job for a side business for full-time admin assistants to take on during their off hours. It is also a good side hustle if you're a seriously organized individual looking for freelance work.
Virtual assistants earn $16 per hour on average. The rate may vary depending on your location and the companies you work for.
You can find virtual assistant jobs on platforms like Upwork, FlexJobs, and Indeed.
31. Start an SEO Agency
Starting an SEO agency can be a great way to earn some extra income on the side. However, there are a few things you need to keep in mind if you want to be successful.
First, it's important to have a strong understanding of SEO and how it works. This will allow you to create customized strategies for your clients that are designed to achieve their specific goals.
Secondly, you need to be able to market your services effectively. This means creating a website and social media presence that accurately reflects your brand and highlights your value proposition.
Finally, you need to be able to deliver results. This means regularly generating progress reports and demonstrating a deep understanding of your client's business.
These simple tips can set you up for success as an SEO side hustler. You can also leverage good SEO tools like SEMRush and Surfer SEO.
32. Sell Digital Products
Digital products include all the non-physical items in the digital world. Most digital products are available as streamable or downloadable files such as videos, PDFs, MP3s, and templates.
Educational and free-to-use audio files can also qualify as digital products.
So, if you're a musician, you can sell your work for ad campaigns and movie soundtracks. You can also upload your music to platforms like Apple Music for your fans to buy, enabling you to earn more money from your work.
If you're a graphic designer, you can sell your designs to websites looking to improve their websites to make them stand out.
You may need to learn some digital marketing skills to increase your chances of success.
33. Become a RideShare Driver
There are several options nowadays if you want to take up rideshare to make more money.
You can opt for trusted and reliable companies like Lyft and Uber. Or, you can go for independent rideshare companies that cater to specific needs, like ZIRO.
Wingz is also another good option. The company ferries people to and from the airports.
You need a clean driving license and enough experience to become a rideshare driver.
34. Deliver Groceries
If you're a good driver but don't want to become a rideshare driver, you can opt to deliver groceries instead.
All you need to do is signup for grocery delivery apps. You can download apps like SparkDriver and Instacart for grocery delivery gigs.
Grocery delivery can be an excellent side hustle if you don't work on weekends or leave your day job early. The beauty of grocery delivery is that you can win repeat customers easily if you offer excellent services.
35. Start an Etsy Shop
Selling on Etsy is a great side hustle to generate passive income if you're a crafter, artisan, or creator. Etsy is a popular e-commerce platform specializing in handmade, vintage, and unique items. Starting an Etsy shop is a great way to sell your amazing creations to a broad audience.
Etsy enables you to connect with customers around the world. The platform also allows creators to sell second-hand and vintage items.
You can transition to building a standalone online store once you gain traction on Etsy.
36. Sell on Shopify
You can grow your bank account by selling on Shopify.
Shopify is an eCommerce platform that allows people to sell items online. To start selling online with Shopify, you must create a fully-fledged store with a shopping cart and checkout.
The platform offers a variety of tools to help you market and scale your business. You can sell virtually anything on Shopify.
So if you've ever wanted to get into the online retail business to make more money, Shopify is a good place to start.
37. Become a Copywriter
Are you a wordsmith? Have you always wanted to become a freelance writer? You can turn your talent into money making side hustle by becoming a copywriter.
As a copywriter, your job is to create marketing copy, social media posts, blogs, product reviews, and more for businesses worldwide.
With the digital making and advertising market projected to double by 2026, you make extra money by getting into copywriting.
You can start your business at home and set your own hours depending on your client or work volume.
To get started, you need a computer, an internet connection, and a website where you can showcase your copywriting skills.
38. Become a Tour Guide
Are you familiar with the local terrain? If you do, becoming a tour guide is one of the fastest side hustles you pick to earn more money away from your day job.
As a tour guide, you will get paid to take visitors around, showing them local attractions.
While this particular side hustle may not pay much, you can create a business website to attract clients. You can also engage with prospects on social media to close deals.
As you gain exposure, you may consider turning your passion into a full-time business.
39. Rent Your Spare Room on Airbnb
You can make money by listing your property on Airbnb if you have real estate or a spare room.
Millions of people prefer booking Airbnbs over hotels, so your property should be occupied enough times to enable you to generate a reasonable amount of money every week.
You can list a house, a room, or a section of your house. As an Airbnb host, you can make decent money easily.
40. Become a Personal Trainer
If you're passionate about health and fitness, you can become your own boss by starting a personal training business.
The entry barrier is low, and startup costs are nonexistent, especially if you work in a gym or studio. Becoming a fitness coach is a side hustle idea worth pursuing if you love being active.
You'll need to get the proper certification and training to get started. Many gyms offer training, so that's a plus if you work there.
41. Start a Moving Business
If you're able-bodied and are free on weekends, you can get paid by helping families move.
You don't need many licenses to start a moving service side hustle. Most independent movers charge anywhere between $75 to $128 per hour, according to HireAHelper.
Starting a moving business is a good side hustle if you're strong and don't mind lifting heavy objects. You can start small, build your way up with customer reviews, and increase your rates over time.
42. Start a Social Media Marketing Agency
Social media users are estimated to reach 6 billion by 2027.
With these many users, businesses want to tap into social media to spur growth. Starting a social media agency can be an excellent side hustle if you want to cash in on the wave.
Your day-to-day duties would include helping businesses run effective search and social campaigns. You'll also get paid to help these businesses leverage social platforms to draw the attention of prospects and increase revenue.
You can narrow down your services by focusing on one platform like Facebook or Instagram.
I'd recommend setting up a website to advertise your services to potential clients.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Side Hustle
Not all side hustles are worth your attention. So, before you settle on any side hustle, you need to ask yourself the following questions.
- Do I enjoy doing what the side hustle involves? The more you enjoy your gig, the easier it is to deliver stellar results.
- Is it something flexible? You want a side hustle that allows you to work on your time without crowding your schedule.
- Does the gig offer room for growth? You want a side hustle that you can grow into a full-time job. I am talking about pursuing side hustles that allow you to quit your job if needed.
- Does the side hustle pay? You want a gig that enables you to make extra money. I'm talking about enough money to supplement your salary.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: What side hustle pays you the most?
The money you can make from a particular side hustle may vary depending on the type of work involved and your rates.
The best side is one that allows you to set your own hours and make money to supplement income from your regular job.
That said, these side hustles listed in this post are worth your effort if you have the required skills and passion.
Q: What are the easiest side hustles?
The easiest side hustles don't have hefty startup costs. All you need is a set of skills to make money. Some of the easiest side hustles include:
- Becoming a rideshare driver
- Becoming a fitness trainer
- Walk dogs
- Starting a YouTube channel
- Becoming a voice actor
Q: How can I make quick cash?
One of the easiest ways to make quick cash is to sell items you own. These may include unwanted items, old clothes, shoes, electronics, etc.
You also raise quick cash by participating in online surveys, renting out your car, flipping stuff, house sitting, and dog walking.
While these options can help you raise quick cash, it is always a good idea to save money in an emergency fund or high-yield savings account to cushion you against uncertainties in the future.
The Bottom Line
Side hustles offer excellent opportunities to add extra cash into your bank account every month.
Be sure to examine each side hustle's potential before taking the plunge. Then, pick one that fits your bandwidth, skills, and interests.
A side hustle can supplement your income and grow into a full-blown business. So, if your hustle brings in some good money, it would be best to grow it into something bigger as you work toward financial stability.
