Side hustles are a passion of mine. I wouldn’t be a millennial millionaire and have achieved financial independence at the age of 30 without making extra money from side hustles.
I’ve always been hustling. It’s in my blood. I can’t help it. Everything I look at in life I see a business opportunity or hustle idea.
A side hustle can help you increase your income in your spare time, fast-track your financial goals, and chase your passion.
Below is a list of the best side hustles that I personally recommend to make extra money, invest more, and reach financial independence, with tips from other experts who’ve turned their passions into profitable side hustles.
30+ Best Side Hustle Ideas to Make Extra Money
Here are the most lucrative side hustles to start in 2023:
- Make Deliveries
- Drive with Ridesharing Apps
- Become a Proofreader
- Resell Open Box Furniture
- Start A Blog
- Become a Freelancer
- Take Online Surveys
- Rent Your House with Airbnb
- Become a Virtual Assistant
- Pet Sitting or Dog Walking
- Start Buying & Flipping for Profit
1. Make Deliveries
Making deliveries is one of the easiest, most accessible side hustles of 2023. You can easily pick and choose the hours you work, and everything is done through an app on your smartphone.
There are several reputable delivery apps that are worth checking out.
Deliver Food with Doordash
Doordash is a solid option for individuals looking to make money fast. You select available deliveries in your area and can get started making deliveries within minutes.
Deliver Groceries with Instacart
With Instacart, you can pick up and deliver groceries to earn extra cash on the side as a part-time shopper.
Deliver Packages with Amazon Flex
Amazon Flex lets side hustlers use their own vehicles to make deliveries. Designate a time that you want to work using their app, pick up packages from Amazon fulfillment centers, and deliver them to specified destinations.
To become a Flex driver, you must be 21 with a valid driver’s license and be able to pass a background check. Of course, you also need a decently large vehicle with car insurance.
2. Drive With Ridesharing Apps
Ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft work best if you live in a major city with plenty of offices and tourists around. Some companies also allow you to rent a car on demand so that you don’t have to worry about wear and tear and servicing.
While you may not make a lot of money driving for companies, any hustle is worth at least trying to see if it fits your lifestyle and earning some extra money in the meantime.
If you decide to make money with driving apps, save as much money as you can to invest and earn even more money.
Pros:
- Flexibility: Drivers can choose when they want to work and for how long, allowing them to fit rideshare driving around other commitments.
- No special qualifications: To become a rideshare driver, no special qualifications are required beyond a valid driver’s license, a clean driving record, and a suitable vehicle.
- Social interaction: Rideshare driving can be a great way to meet new people and engage in interesting conversations with passengers from all walks of life.
Cons:
- Wear and tear on the vehicle: Rideshare driving can put a significant amount of wear and tear on your vehicle.
- Limited benefits: Typically you will be considered an independent contractor and are not entitled to employee benefits such as health insurance, retirement plans, or paid time off.
3. Proofreading or Copyediting
Bloggers, websites, and businesses need proofreaders and will pay well for these services.
Not only can you start a proofreading or copyediting side hustle from your laptop from anywhere in the world, but you can also set your own rates and bill by the hour.
You can also build your own business where you broker other people’s time for money and hire others to do the proofreading.
4. Reselling Open Box Furniture
With little to no upfront costs, Sharetown Reps pick up, store, and resell oversized open box items such as: furniture, mattresses, and fitness equipment on platforms like Facebook Marketplace and Offerup. What makes it low risk? Reps pay for their inventory only after it has sold.
This gig does require some heavy lifting so you will need a helper and a large vehicle such as a truck, van, or SUV to transport items, but the return on your time investment is absolutely worth it. If you have an entrepreneurial mindset, enjoy selling, and are ready to start earning some extra income, Apply Now!
Pros:
- Earn money with low risk and no up-front inventory costs.
- High return on time investment, spend 6-10 hours per week picking up items, storing them, and selling them on marketplaces.
- You can choose your own helper, perfect for couples or duos.
Cons:
- Not your typical gig job, you will need an entrepreneurial mindset and customer service skills to manage pick-ups, storage, and selling of items.
- Heavy lifting is involved and bringing your own helper to complete pickups is required.
You will need space and a large vehicle to store and transport oversized items.
5. Launch A Profitable Blog
A successful blog can make over $10,000 per month on advertising and affiliate revenue. When readers click on links to try a product or service, you get paid.
I didn’t launch Millennial Money to make money fast — I launched it because I really like thinking and writing about money and feel it’s my personal mission to share sound personal finance advice and spread financial literacy.
The money from the blog is simply a by-product of my passion for writing.
Blogging Resources:
- How to Start a Blog [Guide]
- How to Launch a Profitable Blog [Free Email Course]
6. Freelance Work
When it comes to freelance work, you can do just about anything there is a demand for. Platforms like Fiverr make it easier to find odd jobs and get paid, allowing you to focus on growing your freelance practice and making even more money.
Freelancing is the perfect side hustle for flexibility. You get to set your own hours and rates, but remember that you will be competing with other freelancers from all over the world. In any case, this means that you can easily keep your day job while joining other side hustlers in the gig economy.
Graphic design, editing, and virtual assisting are some of the most popular freelancing gigs on Fiverr, but the possibilities are endless.
7. Take Online Surveys
Quick disclaimer—online surveys are not the most profitable side hustle on this list. But if you’re looking for an easy way to make a few more bucks each month while you’re babysitting and the kiddos are asleep, they could be worth a little of your time.
Online survey sites pay you to share your opinions through surveys, play games, watch videos, and read emails.
Branded Surveys is one of my top picks for online surveys. It has a loyalty program that gives you the potential to earn bonus rewards for referring friends and taking more surveys. It pays out via PayPal, gift cards, and bank transfers.
I also recommend Swagbucks. It’s highly rated by Trustpilot reviewers and pays you for everything from watching surveys to surfing the web. Branded Surveys and Swagbucks both offer signup bonuses, so you can make some cash just for getting started.
8. Rent Out Your House with Airbnb
Renting out a spare room, apartment, or house can help you pay the bills and save money. You can easily see the going rate of similar places in your area and work it out from there.
If you have multiple properties, Airbnb can prove to be even more profitable as the economies of scale kick in to drive your earnings up.
Where you’re hosting on Airbnb matters a lot – some cities have a much higher earning potential than others.
9. Become a Virtual Assistant
Becoming a virtual assistant is one of the most in-demand, profitable, and best side hustles in the digital economy.
You can work as a virtual assistant from anywhere in the world on a laptop, making it a good side hustle for digital nomads or full-time travelers. As more people are launching digital businesses, there is an incredible demand for people to help run them.
For a comprehensive blueprint, check out my post on how to become a virtual assistant.
While I have never personally worked as a virtual assistant, I know many people who have made quite a bit of money doing it, including my friend Sarah who after just 3 months of launching her own virtual assistant business was able to quit her full-time job and both make more money and spend more time with her kids.
10. Dog Walking or Pet Sitting
If you’re an animal lover, then this side job should be fun and rewarding. Apps like Rover offer a number of dog-related services including dog walking, boarding, pet sitting, and house sitting.
You can choose the services you’re most comfortable with so you can enjoy every hour that you work.
While walking dogs is not going to make you rich, it’s a great way to fit some regular exercise into your schedule, while earning some extra cash.
11. Babysit
If you enjoy working with kids, babysitting or nannying can be a rewarding side hustle. Mary Grace Gambrell, who has nannied both as a side gig and a full-time venture, started out babysitting in high school to get experience, then nannied during her university’s summer vacations.
After graduation, she built a profile with her experiences, the age groups she’s worked with, and the types of activities she enjoys doing with kids on sites like Care.com, where she now earns upwards of $30 per hour for her sitting services.
As a side hustle, nannying is a great fit for college students and workers who have a consistent opening in their schedules, for example, if your classes or shifts end early on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you could get paid for pickups or after-school care.Mary Grace Gambrell
12. Freelance Writing
You can earn hundreds of dollars per article as a freelance writer — anywhere, anytime. Parker King, a freelance writer and founder of The Nurse’s Purse, a personal finance blog for nurses, says freelance writing has provided her with flexibility, extra income, a great professional network, and deeper expertise.
After writing for personal finance blogs for several years, I’ve been able to translate the skills and expertise I’ve acquired into my own personal finance website and build ongoing relationships with clients.Parker King Founder of The Nurses Purse
To launch your writing side gig, Parker advises doing your homework before setting your rates, creating an online portfolio of content you’ve written, and getting references from clients you’ve partnered with.
You can find work through sites like FlexJobs, Fiverr, Upwork, or LinkedIn, and tap SEO agencies who are hiring freelancers.
Learn More:
13. Do Odd Jobs
If your heart isn’t set on one particular side hustle and you’re open to doing a variety of gigs to pad your wallet, consider taking on some odd jobs. There are loads of other one-off jobs you can do to earn extra cash, from running errands and cleaning to putting together furniture or doing yard work.
The Steady App is a great resource if you’re planning to do odd jobs. Steady connects you to gigs based on your skill set, experience, and interests.
It also has an income tracker tool that keeps all your earnings organized in one place and helps you set income goals. You can even earn incentive bonuses from Steady’s partners when you carry out certain tasks.
14. Rent Out Storage Space
Neighbor is an online peer-to-peer platform that’s been dubbed the “Airbnb of Storage.” It allows hosts to easily rent out extra storage space for everything from cars to overstocked inventory.
You can turn your garage, spare room, or even closet into a profitable side hustle that earns several hundred dollars a month.
Josh Robbins, a Neighbor host on Trustpilot writes,
I've been a Neighbor host for 4 years. It's honestly the easiest money I've ever made. Neighbor does all the work. I just accept the invite when someone is interested in my space and then make sure I'm available for the renters to get into my garage when needed.Josh Robins Neighbor Host
15. Share Your Car
With apps like Turo, you can share your car with people looking to rent one and make a bit of money on the side for it.
Turo accepts many different vehicles, from family cars to classic and exotic ones. Listings are completely free and you get to set your own daily price and availability, so your car will still be available when you need it.
If you have a spare car or barely use yours for multiple days at a time, definitely look into this hustle idea for quick cash.
16. Transcribing
Companies often outsource transcription jobs because they require a lot of attention to detail and can be difficult. Here are a few transcription options:
- Transcribe Anywhere: With Transcribe Anywhere, you can not only find work as a transcriptionist but also learn how to do it.
- Scribie: After passing an online test, you can earn between $5 and $20 an hour, depending on your pace.
- TranscribeMe: The site claims to offer between $15 and $22 an hour. However, your wage is likely to be much lower unless you’re super fast.
- GoTranscript: You can earn $0.77 to $8.50 for different transcription services.
- Speechpad: Spechpad offers $0.25 to $1.00 per minute and demands high-quality and experienced transcribers.
- Scoping: Instead of transcribing audio, scoping involves turning shorthand from court reports into legible writing. You can expect to earn between $20 and $30 an hour
- Medical transcribing: This option requires a certificate from the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity, and the earning potential is similar to scoping.
17. Tutoring
If you are highly educated, then becoming a tutor could be a great side hustle.
There are several online tutoring platforms that can help you find work. For example, Chegg facilitates online tutoring via video call in a wide range of subjects, and pay starts at $20 an hour.
Another option, Studypool focuses on homework help – students post questions they need help with and offer a price, which varies depending on time and difficulty. Studypool claims on its website that you could make up to $7,500 a month.
Steady App is another great job marketplace to find local tutoring opportunities.
18. Become a Photographer
If you have an eye for photography and a high-quality camera, there are several ways you can put your skill to use to make more money.
Katie Jaynes, a professional photographer in South Carolina started out taking senior photos for friends in high school, then continued to shoot for family and friends. To build her side business, Katie says,
I began learning more, second shooting with established photographers, and eventually booking my own wedding clients.Katie Jaynes Founder of Katie Jaynes Photography
Once she started making as much with photography as her job, she was able to transition into her photography business full-time.
Here are some of the most popular side hustles for photographers:
- Wedding photography: The average wedding photographer makes $1,200 to $3,600 per wedding. While it’s a competitive market, you can build a successful business with a solid portfolio, strong editing skills, and the right equipment.
- Stock photos: Businesses and publications are always looking to buy stock images. You can sell pictures on sites like Shutterstock, iStock Photo, and Getty Images and get paid when they’re downloaded. According to Katie, “This is a great way to make passive income, as you can photograph things once but sell the photos to multiple people.”
- Mini sessions: If you want to boost your income without taking up too much time, consider offering short photography sessions with smaller packages for events like Christmas, Easter, and graduations.
- Volume photography: You can also make money as a part-time volume photographer shooting lots of pictures in a short amount of time. This could involve shooting school portraits, sports teams, and photo booths at events.
19. Run Facebook Ads and Digital Marketing Campaigns
SEO Consultant
I have worked as an SEO and digital marketing consultant for over 10 years, booking side gigs ranging from $500 to over $100,000. This has been by far my most successful side hustle.
Even though SEO has become more of a commodity service, I have built a referral network that continues to generate new clients. In total, the SEO work I’ve done has resulted in hundreds of millions in additional traffic.
If you want to take your traffic to the next level, take a few minutes to read my Free SEO Tips for Bloggers and consider getting your feet wet with an SEO side hustle.
Facebook Ads
Another profitable side hustle in the digital marketing sphere is running search and social campaigns. You can get started by reaching out to small businesses in your local community. The business owner might also be looking for a part-time social media manager.
I specialized in Google and Facebook CPC campaigns when I was working as a digital marketing consultant. I used to make over $10,000 a month running Facebook ads and it’s never been easier to do.
Learn More:
- Check out this Facebook Ads course from my friend Bobby Hoyt, who used Facebook ads to drive more than 1 million unique visitors to his site last year.
20. Sell Baked Goods
If you love spending time in the kitchen and want to earn more money, you can sell baked goods for a profit.
We talked to Carli Campbell, a full-time nursing student who’s built a lucrative baking business on the side. She grew up baking with her mom and continued it as a hobby before starting her business. To hone her craft, she got a mentor and watched YouTube videos, using trial and error to get her recipes and decorating techniques down.
According to Carli, one of the biggest advantages of selling baked goods is that “while it’s tedious work, baking lets you show your artistic skills and express your creativity.”
Carli also pointed out that there’s a high ROI:
Because baking custom cakes and cookies is a really involved and skilled process, people are willing to pay a lot for a quality cake. And fortunately, ingredients and materials are super affordable.Carli Campbell
21. Wash Other People’s Clothes
Believe it or not, you can get paid to wash other people’s clothes with the hampr app.
Here are a few of the requirements you need to meet to become a “washer”, the name for hampr workers:
- Be 18 years of age or older
- Pass a background check
- Have a driver’s license, car insurance, and a reliable vehicle
- Own a washing machine that’s 4.2 cubic feet or larger
- Have an iPhone with at least iOS 10, or Android 5.1 or newer
Hampr lets you choose which jobs to select. You simply drive to the customer’s home, pick up their laundry, wash it according to their instructions, and return it 24 hours later. With this side hustle you can get paid with weekly direct deposits, and hampr claims its washers make an average of $2,000 per month with the app.
The hampr app also allows customers to favorite the washers who impress them and block the ones who don’t. Once you’ve been favorited, you’ll be one of the first to get notified when a customer has another order available.
22. Wash and Detail Cars
Everyone can wash their car pretty easily, but most people don’t actually enjoy it. If you’re looking for a manual side hustle with low upfront costs, washing cars could be your go-to. All you really need are access to running water and some basic supplies like soap and microfiber towels.
While you can get your side hustle up and running on your own, we recommend using an app like Steady or TaskRabbit to find customers in your area who are looking for car washes.
To increase your profits, you could offer more extensive detailing services, where you not only wash cars but restore them. Car detailing professionals offer services like light paint touchups, waxes, and other protective coats, and interior cleaning and spot treatment.
Whether you use a gig app or strike out on your own and use social media or a website to promote your car detailing business, it’s important to build a solid reputation and secure solid customer reviews that speak for themselves.
23. Become an Amazon Seller
Amazon enjoys a worldwide audience. You can find pretty much anything on Amazon. This means there’s a potential for repeat customers, which lowers your cost of acquisition (how much it costs you to acquire a customer).
You can make money reselling items on Amazon or selling your own products under your brand.
If you don’t have space for your stock, you can also use Amazon FBA (Fulfilled By Amazon). Through this scheme, Amazon will not only handle your stock but take care of returns and customer queries, leaving you free to focus on selling more and building up passive income.
24. Sell on Etsy
Etsy is the go-to marketplace for everything handmade, including jewelry, clothing, and home decor. If you’re good at making things that people might want to buy, setting up your own shop on Etsy can be one of the most lucrative side hustles available today.
There’s a $0.20 listing fee and a 6.5% transaction fee whenever you sell something. If the sale comes through an offsite ad hosted by Etsy, there will be an additional 15% charge but this is optional in most cases.
25. Start a Dropshipping Business
Dropshipping offers an easier way to get into the online retail business. You don’t have to hold any stock; you simply take the order and let the manufacturer do the rest without any of the risks usually associated with purchasing and holding stock. You’ll earn a nice commission for your work.
You will need to build your own eCommerce website, which you can easily do with WordPress and other CMSs (content management systems).
To maximize your sales, make sure you have a strong marketing plan with a strong enough advertising budget. You can leverage the power of social media to boost those numbers. Your website can also bring you passive income via affiliate marketing.
26. Start a YouTube Channel
If you want to be a content creator and earn money while connecting with an audience, you may want to start a Youtube channel as a side hustle.
As a Youtuber, you can make content on just about any topic, from travel vlogging to baking tutorials to mechanical how-to videos. YouTubers earn money through a combination of sources:
- Adsense: Adsense is Google’s commission program that pays Youtube channels for display ads.
- Paid partnerships: You can also make money from deals with other brands that you promote in your content.
- Affiliate links: Youtubers also bring affiliate marketing into play by placing affiliate links in videos.
If you’re promoting a business that extends beyond Youtube, you can also use your channel to grow your audience and get more clients.
27. Start Your Own Podcast
Starting a podcast is as exciting as it can be financially rewarding. You will need to focus on growing your listener base to a good number before you start seeing serious money coming in, with sponsorship making the bulk of your revenue.
Podcasts come in all shapes and sizes so you can be as creative as you would like to be. Podcasts have huge earning potential – and, according to Bloomberg, top podcasts can bring in more than $1,000,000 per year in revenue.
28. Social Media Influencer
Influencers are social media royalty who make money from the posts they upload. The amount of money you make depends on how many followers you have. The unwritten rule is that you can make $10.00 for every 1,000 followers once you get past the 100,000 followers benchmark.
The amount of money you can earn varies depending on the platform, whether you’re an Instagram influencer, Twitch streamer, TikToker, or a successful YouTuber.
As an influencer, you can pick any niche you like – from sports to philosophy to food to makeup.
Learn more:
29. Join Focus Groups
As far as hourly rates go, focus groups offer some of the most lucrative pay rates out there. By being part of a focus group, you get to share your opinion and provide feedback about upcoming products and services, which in itself can be very rewarding.
Focus groups are usually held in physical locations but we are starting to see these move to the online space.
30. Start a Coaching or Consulting Business
If you have a lot of expertise in a given area, consulting can be a very lucrative side hustle that allows you to help people in need. Executive coaches tend to make the most money, but you can also become a life coach, sports coach, health coach, or anything in between.
How much money you’ll make will depend on the nature of the problems you solve, with more complex problems demanding higher hourly rates. There are also different certifications available that can increase your credibility.
To succeed as a consultant, look for areas that are experiencing growth then figure out how you can add value.
31. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing has huge potential to make decent cash without too many investments. You’ll need to build a website (or more than one) to attract visitors and attempt to convert them to paying customers. You do not make the sale, but instead earn a commission from the company offering the affiliate program for each sale they make.
There are many different affiliate programs, from selling software to online casinos. Different programs tend to have different rules so you’ll need to check the ones you’re interested in to understand how much money you could potentially make.
32. Buying and Flipping for Profit
I have been buying and selling both VW Campers and mopeds since I was in college. This is probably the side hustle I have the most fun doing.
A lot more mopeds than VW campers, but when I find a good camper deal I don’t hesitate. I love VW Westfalia Campers from the 1970s and 1980s and have owned 2 over the past 10 years.
They have gone up a ton in value over that time, but you can still find deals on them locally.
I also buy and sell mopeds – little 49 cc Italian and Austrian mopeds made in the mid-1970s to the 1980s. These are super cool and command premium prices in cities since they are easy to ride and get 100+ mpg!
I have Craigslist alerts set up in Chicago for mopeds and pounce quickly on the deals. I actually have a storage facility just for my mopeds and still love buying and selling them.
These two hobbies of mine are actually great side hustles that I don’t ever imagine stopping. Facebook Marketplace is quickly becoming a great local Craigslist alternative to find and sell items too!
3 “Musts” Before Starting Your Side Hustle
1. Figure Out What You Want to Do
Because you’re your own boss, you can test out a lot of different ideas to find the one you really love and/or that makes you the most money. That’s the beauty of side hustling – you aren’t stuck with any one idea.
Still, I recommend you start with one side hustle at first so you don’t spread yourself too thin. Use every opportunity to learn, build new skills, and make new connections.
2. Open a High-Yield Savings Account
Starting with the very first penny, your side hustle money needs to be stored in a safe place earning as much interest as possible, even while you sleep. Learn more about top online high-yield savings accounts.
3. Keep Track of Your Net Worth
Manage your finances and keep track of your side hustle money in one place while tracking your progress towards retiring early. My favorite FREE tool is Personal Capital.
What is the Best Side Hustle?
Not all side hustles are created equal. The best side hustle is something you love that has loads of profit and growth potential. If you just want to fill some extra spare time, try making food deliveries or taking online surveys.
But understand that you can make a ton of money in your spare time. Having the right mindset and strategy as you evaluate your side hustle ideas will help maximize the return on your time.
Benefits of Side Hustling
Here are some of the biggest advantages of starting a side hustle:
Make More Money
By working at a side hustle, you can bring in more cash and start socking it away toward retirement. The more money you bring in now, the less you’ll have to work later in life. There’s never a better time than right now to make money.
Pay Down Debt
Being in debt is no fun. By working a side hustle, you can pay down student loans or credit card debt and start saving more. Starting a side hustle is an excellent way to pay down debt and create a better financial situation for yourself.
Expand Your Skills
We’re living in an unstable world, where many workers are at risk of displacement. The best way to protect yourself is to keep learning, growing, and expanding your skills.
Working a side hustle can teach you valuable skills that you can use to improve your trade and knowledge and become a more well-rounded person.
Build Your Own Career
In the past, people went to school, got a degree, went into a certain field, then worked until retirement. Today, It’s up to you to build your own career and determine where you want to go in life. By starting a side hustle, you can open doors that you never thought were possible.
Keep in mind that if you start a side hustle, there is a nonzero chance that you can become extremely successful beyond your wildest imagination. Plenty of people have done it before. And you can do it, too, if you set your mind to it.
Is Your Side Hustle Scalable?
Before you begin investing your time into a particular side hustle, you should consider the potential for scalability. This will help narrow your ideas to only the most profitable ones.
Shift your thinking from ideas that are strictly limited by your own time, to side hustles that have the potential to be scaled.
| Limited to Your Time | Potential to be Scaled |
|---|---|
| Being a dog walker | Launching a dog-walking company |
| Driving for Lyft or Uber | Launching a Party Bus Company |
| Shoveling snow | Launching a snow removal company |
| Making deliveries | Launching a courier service |
| Babysitting | Launching a babysitting platform or daycare |
| Mowing lawns | Launching a lawn service company |
| Doing handyman services | Launching a handyman company |
How Much Money Can You Make Side Hustling?
I launched my first business at the age of 5 when I started a newsletter for my neighborhood. Selling subscriptions for $10/year to my neighbors, I promised to keep them informed of the happenings in the neighborhood.
They paid up-front either with cash or check. I sold 18 subscriptions and made $180 in one weekend at the age of 5.
Now, it’s pretty easy to make at least an extra $1,000 – $2,000 per month side hustling in your first few months, then if you keep at it and look for opportunities to grow you can realistically get to $10,000+ a month in side hustle income if you keep at it.
I’ve earned enough to buy my condo with side hustle money. My car was also bought with side hustle money. And I’ve traveled to over 25 countries using side hustle money.
Learn More:
Do You Have Time to Side Hustle?
If you want to make money side hustling, you’re going to have to put in the time. Before picking a side hustle, evaluate how much time you’re willing to commit.
Map Out How Much Time You Have
If you’re 25 and single, then you have a lot more time than if you’re 35 with 5 kids. But walking dogs in the evenings or on the weekends doesn’t require anything more than the ability to walk.
This doesn’t mean that if you’re busy you can’t find time to side hustle, it just means that you should calibrate the difficulty of your side hustle based on the amount of time you have.
I know many families who work side hustles at night after their kids go to bed and some who even bring their kids along on the weekend.
Consider Your Time As an Investment
I had the opportunity to work personally with two Millennial Money readers, Rob and Melissa, who have three kids and run their own side business flipping items they find at thrift stores and auctions.
Since they have 3 little kids, time is incredibly limited, but they always spend a few hours each night working on their business after the kids go to sleep. Since they are working on it together, they still get to spend time together and make money.
While time is really limited, both Rob and Melissa also realize that the time they are investing today is their investment in a growing business – that will hopefully grow and compound over time.
Just like saving, I viewed the time I was prioritizing for my side hustles, as an opportunity, not a sacrifice. Put side hustle time on your calendar and make it a priority.
Tips for Starting a Side Hustle
Here are a few important things to keep in mind before launching a side hustle.
Be Smart About How You Manage Money
If you’re working under the table or freelancing as a 1099 employee, you’ll still have to pay taxes on the money you earn. Get a good bookkeeping system and consider with a tax advisor so you don’t fall behind and owe a large chunk in earnings to Uncle Sam when tax season rolls around.
It’s also a good idea to set up a retirement plan if you haven’t already done so to delay having to pay taxes on capital gains and dividends when you start investing your side hustle money.
Be Careful About How You Promote Yourself
Even if you’re legally allowed to start a side hustle, your employer may not like the fact that you’re working extra on the side instead of devoting all your spare time to the company. Be smart about how you promote yourself.
That said, if you’re a savvy business person, you may be able to use your side hustle to your advantage when asking for more money from your employer when it’s time for a raise.
Don’t Quit Your Day Job (Yet)
Be smart about quitting your day job and going to work full-time for yourself. This can be a risky move if you’re not prepared.
Before you quit, make sure you’re in a position to absorb risk. Take a look at your side income, the startup costs, how stable it is, and how you can potentially bring in more leads for yourself.
Side Hustles by Niche
To help you further narrow down your search for the perfect side hustle for you, here are a few more lists of the best side hustles for different people:
- Best Sides Hustles for Men
- Best Side Hustles for Women
- Best Side Hustles for Couples
- Best Side Hustles for Single Moms
- Best Side Hustles for Teens
- Best Side Hustles for College Students
- Best Side Hustles for Outdoor Lovers
- Best Side Hustles for Introverts
- Best Side Hustles for Teachers
- Best Side Hustles for Nurses
- Best Real Estate Side Hustles
- Best Side Hustles for Engineers
- Best Side Hustle Apps
Start Making Money on the Side
I encourage anyone who is interested in side hustling to try and look at your side hustle as a business – and then build that business.
I’ve done other side hustles, but these have been my most profitable and all helped me build new skill sets. I strongly recommend that you try side hustles that enrich your skills and teach you new things, and be creative when thinking about ways to make extra money. Those are the side hustles that will pay you back for a lifetime.
To learn more about how to pick, launch, and grow a profitable side hustle check out “Chapter 12: More Money in Less Time: How to Start A Profitable Side Hustle” in my international bestselling book Financial Freedom: A Proven Path To All The Money You Will Ever Need (Penguin Random House), where I break down step by step how you can launch your own successful and profitable side hustle.
Read 63 comments
Read Comments