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A ‘side hustle’ refers to a means of boosting your income. And, whether in-person or online, there’s a whole host of options available. We’ve rounded up our top 18.
1. Freelancing
Freelancing is a tried-and-trusted way to earn extra money. Freelance graphic designers, writers, editors and website developers are in high demand, while other fields offer freelance opportunities as well.
Skilled mechanics, trained bookkeepers, video editors, interior decorators and even licensed estate agents can find flexible project-based work within their skill sets.
Costs and platforms: Market your freelance skills to your personal network cost-free via email and social media accounts. You can also reach potential clients using freelancer portals such as Fiverr, PeoplePerHour and Freelancer.com, which handles project management and payments for you.
A website is a must and also allows you to set up a convenient online invoicing and payments via Square or another online payment provider.
2. Pet sitting
A pet-sitting side hustle is ideal for animal lovers and easy to set up and promote. You can provide in-home care for pets while owners are working or on holiday, or keep pets in your home for daytime or long-term care.
If you take care of dogs on your own premises, you may need relevant insurance and licences.
Costs and platforms: If you set up at home you may need to investment in kennels or gates. Find and manage clients using popular pet-sitting apps such as Rover or Pawshake, or set up your own bookings and payment system.
3. Dog walking
Love dogs but don’t have enough free time for pet-sitting or space to commit to a doggie daycare setup? A dog-walking service might be a suitable side hustle for you. It’s easy to fit into a busy schedule and offers the added benefit of getting exercise while making extra cash.
Costs and platforms: Costs are minimal since owners generally provide leads, but you might want to invest in a few leads of your own and waste bags. In urban areas, you can find dog walking gigs using GoWalkies or Rover, or manage your own bookings and payments.
4. Blogging
If you enjoy writing and sharing information with people, consider starting a blog focusing on a niche that interests you, such as travel, food, beauty or fashion.
As you attract traffic, you can monetise the blog with ads or affiliate sales. Ads pay per view or per click while affiliate sales pay you to promote a product or service. When someone clicks on an affiliate link, you get paid a commission if they complete a purchase.
Costs and platforms: Expect to spend £50 to £100 per year to run a basic blog. You’ll need to buy a domain and build a blog website using a WordPress hosting service or web builder platform such as Wix or Squarespace. All offer user-friendly design tools and attractive blog templates so you won’t need to pay a designer or developer.
5. Tutoring
Do you have academic, musical, fine arts or sports skills? Tutors and personal instructors are always in demand, opening up all sorts of flexible side hustle opportunities.
You can market in-person and virtual instruction services to parents looking for convenient sessions for kids. But adults too love to expand their horizons and may be able to attend sessions during school hours if that’s better for your side hustle schedule.
Costs and platforms: Start-up costs are minimal in many cases, and apps and online platforms such as MyTutor can help you market services and manage payments.
6. Self-publishing ebooks
Self-publishing ebooks is another side hustle idea that’s perfect for writers. But, equally, you don’t need to be a skilled wordsmith to cash in on this opportunity.
If you can craft a creative story or explain how to do something, you can hire ghostwriters and editors to complete and polish your work. Then, you simply publish to Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing and other ebook platforms such as Lulu, and others, and wait for the royalties to roll in.
Costs and platforms: Self-publishing ebooks can be very low-cost if you write your book and develop your own cover art. But most serious authors tap cover design and editing pros for the finishing touches and spend upwards of £100 per title to publish.
The cost of hiring a ghostwriter also varies significantly depending on the level of involvement, the length of the ebook and the nature of the topic. The London Ghostwriting Company, for instance, charges between £250 and £900 a day.
Publishing to most ebook platforms is free, but these outlets take a percentage of the sale price, plus marketing adds costs as well.
7. Online courses and coaching
Do you have an area of expertise? You can cash in on your knowledge by creating and selling online courses and coaching programs in your spare time.
Thanks to user-friendly, low-cost online course platforms, this is another side hustle idea that can be easy to launch. Plus, combined with social media marketing, ebooks, YouTube promotion and blogging, online courses and coaching side hustles can grow into a lucrative business.
Costs and platforms: Online course platforms such as Udemy, Thinkific and Teachable walk you through the course creation process and help you pair courses with personalised coaching.
Most charge monthly fees or retain a portion of your fee when you sell a course. You can also add online courses and members-only content to website platforms including WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, and others to create your own branded platform.
8. Selling digital products
Do you have a creative streak? Creating and selling digital products in your free time is another low to no-cost side hustle idea.
Digital artwork, logos, music, photography, video and website design templates are a hot market. You can cash in by creating these digitally and selling via download on your own website, social media platforms or myriad digital product marketplaces.
Costs and platforms: You can create digital products using your own graphic, photo, video or music software, or tap free online platforms such as Canva, PhotoPea and the Garageband app for creation.
Monetise your creations on your own website or an Etsy store, and by uploading to creative marketplaces including Canva, Envato Market, Creative Fabrica, Shutterstock, iTunes and SoundCloud.
9. Starting a YouTube channel
Posting useful videos on your own YouTube channel can be an income generator if you get it right.
YouTube is free to use, and you can monetise YouTube videos once you’ve reached at least 1,000 subscribers and average over 4,000 video watch hours per year. Many dedicated side hustlers have turned their YouTube channel into a profitable full-time gig.
Costs and platforms: YouTube is free to join and you can upload unlimited videos for free. You can also create videos for free using a smartphone with a good camera and free video editing apps such as iMovie, Loom, Canva and AdobeSpark. T
o grow your YouTube channel, you can tap low-cost YouTube ads and share videos on your blog and social media accounts.
10. Social media content creation
Viral social media content takes many forms and you can cash in if you know how to create it. Top platforms such as Facebook, TikTok and Instagram offer creator programs that let you monetise edgy entertainment shorts, helpful guides, commentary videos and more. You need high-volume views to earn money, but it’s a fun and low-cost side hustle idea with big income potential.
Costs and platforms: This is a no-cost side hustle opportunity. Social media platforms are free to join and let you upload unlimited posts and videos. Most platforms provide their own free post and video creation tools, too, so you just need a cell phone with a camera to get started.
11. Influencer marketing
Successful influencer marketers build a brand by posting engaging content across multiple platforms such as an affiliate website and blog, podcast channel, social media accounts and a YouTube channel.
Influencers earn money using all types of content, such as product reviews and suggestions, entertaining videos, how-to tips and tricks, social commentary and much more.
You can launch an influencer brand as a side hustle and earn money through affiliate links, ad income and sponsored content, and monetise videos when views and followers reach certain levels.
For example, earning money on YouTube requires 1,000 channel subscribers and 4,000 hours of views per year, while Facebook Reels profiles require 100,000 reel plays within 30 days to pay out.
Costs and platforms: It costs nothing to start an influencer side hustle on social media and YouTube since those accounts are free. You can also launch a free or low-cost website and blog using WordPress, SquareSpace, Wix and other website platforms, then upgrade your storage space and features as you grow.
12. Podcasting
Podcasting is another popular low- to no-cost side hustle idea that’s easy to launch and build. Podcasts are pre-recorded audio files that you record, edit and upload to podcasting services so listeners can access them at their convenience.
Podcasts can be monetised through ads, sponsored content, affiliate links in the podcast descriptions and paid subscriptions.
Costs and platforms: You can record and edit a podcast with audio recording apps built into your smartphone, tablet or computer, then upload them to channels you create on platforms including Anchor, Buzzsprout, Spotify and many more. Some have free plans, and most offer premium paid plans that support earnings via paid listener subscriptions, downloads and ad revenue splits.
13. Ecommerce re-selling
Many successful side hustles centre on classic e-commerce, where you buy, stock and sell a collection of items from multiple sellers yourself.
While it requires more upfront investment, plenty of entrepreneurs grow full-time businesses out of this side hustle. You can also boost income by combining standard e-commerce sales with print on demand goods (more on this below), dropship products and affiliate blogging income.
Costs and platforms: Startup costs for this side hustle can range from a few hundred pounds to £5,000 or more, depending on initial stock purchases. However, a top-rated e-commerce platform won’t set you back too much. Starter plans on Shopify, WordPress with WooCommerce and Weebly by Square range from free to around $29 (£22.90) per month.
14. Taking online surveys
Many marketing research companies are happy to pay for your opinion on various products, systems and topics. This side hustle idea doesn’t help you build your own business, but it’s an easy way to make extra cash in your spare time.
Most survey outfits have you create an online account and connect a PayPal, or other digital payment account for your earnings.
Then, you can search and sign up for surveys that interest you via an app or online dashboard. If selected, you complete the questionnaire or project and typically get paid within a few days. Many surveys pay £1 or £2 for a few minutes of your time, while others offer rewards points or vouchers.
Costs and platforms: This is a no-cost side hustle idea. Legitimate survey groups such as iSay, Swagbucks and PopulusLive have no upfront or monthly fees.
However, reviewing and applying for various opportunities can be time-consuming. To avoid wasting time, check survey or project descriptions to ensure you fit their target demographic.
15. Testing apps and platforms
Market research firms, app and game developers and website designers seek users of all technical skill levels to review their platforms and provide user feedback.
Like online survey side hustles, testing apps and platforms doesn’t help you build a business. However, with payouts of £10 to £150 or more for a few minutes or hours of your time, it can be quite lucrative.
Costs and platforms: This is another no-cost side hustle idea since it costs you nothing to apply for legitimate testing opportunities. Swagbucks, UserTesting and Enroll are a few of the top app and software platforms to check out.
16. Selling artisan products
If you love painting, woodworking, baking, sewing, knitting or crafting other handmade goods, you can cash in on your passion by selling artisan products in your spare time. To earn money with this side hustle idea, sell your ready-made or made-to-order handcrafted goods online and at local fairs and markets.
Costs and platforms: This side hustle idea has upfront costs for supplies and tools, but you can market and sell online with little to no upfront costs using Etsy, your own e-commerce website and social media accounts.
If you plan to sell both online and in-person, consider Square or Shopify. Both offer sleek systems with fully integrated online stores, retail POS apps and mobile card readers.
17. Selling print-on-demand (POD) products
Do you like to create fun graphics and sayings or have a talent for illustration or photography? You can turn your creativity into extra cash by adding your creations to various POD products, such as tee shirts, mugs, pillows, wall decor and much more.
This side hustle idea is a cousin to dropshipping because the POD vendor takes care of all the details for you. You simply upload your artwork and add it to various items available for print to build a product collection. When ordered, your POD vendor prints, packs and ships the item and charges you the wholesale cost and shipping fee.
Costs and platforms: Like dropshipping, you need an e-commerce platform that integrates with POD vendors such as Shopify, WordPress with WooCommerce and BigCommerce. For POD items, start with proven suppliers including Printful, CustomCat and Printify.
18. Selling private label products
Are you a writer, illustrator or interested in capitalising on the latest innovation in self-publishing?
Then POD books might be the right side hustle for you. POD books cover the full spectrum of printable books, from novels and nonfiction to notebooks, planners, cookbooks, colouring books, puzzle books and more.
You can create books using free or low-cost online tools, then upload the digital files to POD book sales platforms. When a customer purchases your title, the sales platform prints and ships the physical books and pays you a royalty.
Costs and platforms: Several free and low-cost platforms make it easy to create POD book files, including Canva, Reedsy and the BookBolt Studio. It costs nothing to list your titles with top POD bookseller platforms such as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Lulu and IngramSpark.
Printing and shipping costs are charged when a book is sold, so you have no upfront print fees for this side hustle idea.
