There are 113 ways you can start a business.
You Can Escape the
Rat Race (9 to 5 job) Here are some ideas.
113 Side Hustle
Business Ideas You Can Start Today
(visit my page
every day to learn from scratch)
One of the most common questions I hear is how to start a side hustle
when you don’t have any good ideas. This is a little list of side hustle
business ideas to get your creative juices flowing.
It’s by no means an exhaustive list, and I encourage you to add your own
idea to the bottom if it’s not on here.
The beauty of these side hustle ideas is that many don’t require a huge
initial investment or even necessarily a highly specialized skill-set. And
certainly, not all qualify as “business ideas,” but each has the potential to
earn you money in your spare time.
1.
Driving. If you’re free
mornings, nights, or weekends, you can earn extra cash driving your fellow
citizens around
2.
Delivery Service
3.
Notary
Public Service. Notary certification is granted by the state and the cost is generally
less than $10
4.
Customer
Interviews. Many companies use customer interviews to get feedback on new products
5.
Affiliate
Marketing. Refer website visitors to buy products online and earn a small
commission on each sale. This is actually how I’ve made the bulk of my living over
the last 10 years, so it definitely works
6.
Earning Money with Credit Card Rewards
7.
Online
Surveys. These won’t make you rich, but can be an easy way to supplement your
income and you can do them in your downtime
8.
Renting
Out Your Car. In select markets, you can rent out your car on a daily or hourly basis
to earn extra cash
9.
Blogging is difficult to monetize but can be a fun outlet to practice
your writing or build an audience around a particular idea.
10.
If you have extra room in your house, you can earn money renting it out
to visitors
11.
Selling
on eBay. eBay can be a tough, low-margin, competitive environment, but
that’s not to say there aren’t any opportunities left to earn extra cash on the
world’s largest marketplace.
12.
Selling
on Amazon. One of the most popular side hustles lately has been Amazon’s FBA
program, in which you find bargain deals locally, and ship them off to sell on
Amazon
13.
Private Labeling. you identify hot-selling products and bring your
own to market to compete with them
14.
Virtual
Assistant Service. Virtual assistants provide administrative support to clients from
their home office
15.
Teaching Online. Udemy is an impressive
online education platform where students can connect with teachers from all
around the world in any subject. You can create your own course around a topic
you’re an expert in and set your own tuition rate.
16.
Baking. Do people love
your desserts? Maybe you could provide cake, cookies, or cupcakes to some corporate
event in town
17.
Alternative”
Investments. For me, alternative investments are vehicles like peer-to-peer
lending, real estate crowdfunding, business lending, and even cryptocurrency.
18.
Lose Weight.
19.
Becoming
an Adjunct Professor. You may need a graduate degree for this one, but it can be a fun
way to share your knowledge with the next generation of students and earn some
good money on the side — especially if you can teach online or with
pre-recorded lectures.
20.
Teaching
English. Earn up to $20 per
hour teaching English to young students.
21.
Being a TaskRabbit . You can earn money in your spare time
completing real-world tasks on their unique platform.
22.
Proofreading. Do you like
to read? If you have an eye for detail you can set up shop on Upwork as a
proofreader and bid on jobs large and small.
23.
E-commerce. Sell products
online through your own store or through Amazon or eBay
24.
Raw Land Flipping.
25.
Tutoring. Put that
education to use by helping students learn in a comfortable one-on-one setting
26.
Picking up Trash
27.
Focus-Grouping. I made $100 an
hour at an in-person focus group
28.
Kindle
Publishing. Selling ebooks on Amazon
29.
Sperm
Donor. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a business, but it’s
probably more fun than donating blood
30.
Selling on Etsy. world’s largest marketplace for
unique hand-crafted goods.
31.
Selling on Fiverr. one of the greatest sites in the
world.
32.
Selling on Teespring. print-on-demand t-shirt platform,
where you can custom-design your own shirts and sell them through the site.
33.
T-Shirt
Printing Service. Create silk-screened t-shirts for events and
organizations. Bonus points for creating the designs yourself.
34.
ports
Coaching. School teams are sometimes in need of coaching help and this can be a
fun and active side hustle.
35.
Podcasting. With a unique
angle to your podcast, you can attract a large following, which can translate
into serious sponsorship dollars.
36.
Rental
Properties. Real estate investing is one of the oldest and most popular side
hustles in the books.
37.
Pool
Cleaning Service. If you live in a warm climate with a lot of pools, this could be a
fun and interesting side hustle to enjoy the summer outdoors.
38.
Rent
Out Your Truck. It takes about 10 minutes to list your truck or van on Fluid
Market, and you can earn up to $2000 a month letting others use it when you’re
not.
39.
Swagbucks
/ InboxDollars. Also not really a business, but you can earn gift cards, cash, and
other rewards
40.
Alterations. Handy with a
sewing machine? I believe the market for clothing alteration is ripe for
disruption because of a lack of transparency in pricing. I’ve had some
suits altered from a couple different places with dramatically different rates.
41.
Book Flipping. You can do this both for the ones
collecting dust on your shelf and for the ones at garage sales or the library
book store.
42.
Child
Care. Is it just me, or does “babysitting” sound amateur compared to “child
care”? Register on sites like SitterCity to begin building a
client base
43.
Caregiving. This business
continues to grow as the population ages, and popular sites like Care.com can help match you
with customers
44.
Bookkeeping
/ Accounting / Tax Preparation Service. Help other businesses with their
accounting and finances. This can be a great option for people with an
accounting background from school or from their day job.
45.
Brand
Ambassadorship. Big brands are always looking for assistance with their
on-the-ground marketing efforts, and pay pretty well for the help
46.
Building
an Authority Website. While niche sites (see below) get a lot of attention, an authority site
has a better chance of withstanding the changes in Google’s algorithm and
turning into a long-term asset.
47.
Building
Niche Websites. Building niche sites is a popular side hustle because after some
initial research and time investment they can be a relatively hands-off income
source. These types of sites generally cover a very specific topic and earn
money through advertising, affiliate relationships, or digital products.
48.
Car
Flipping. If you’re a savvy negotiator and know your way around cars, you can buy low and sell high and turn a profit
quickly with this side hustle
49.
Car
Wash and Detailing. A mobile detailing service would be a super-low
cost startup and you could get clients in bunches at office parks, shopping
malls, schools, sporting events, and other places where cars like to gather.
50.
Carpet
Cleaning. Carpet cleaning would be a relatively simple and low cost business
to start. You could get clients on an annual or semi-annual recurring schedule
like the dentist
51.
Catering. If you have a
passion for cooking, a catering business has a lower barrier to entry and time
commitment than say, opening a restaurant.
52.
Cleaning
Service. It may not be glamorous, but it’s something nearly every business
spends money on and usually gets done in the after-work hours.
53.
Computer
Repair Service. There are more computers in this country (including tablets and
smartphones) than there are people. The repair market is very fragmented which
means there is opportunity for solo-operators to break in.
54.
Computer
Tutoring. Some of the computer skills we take for granted are still lacking
for portions of the population. If you can find them and sell them on the
necessity of technical skills for their careers, there might be a business
opportunity here.
55.
Consulting is an ambiguously broad field, but there are consultants for
practically every area of expertise. What are you a relative expert in that
others might pay for your advice?
56.
Cover
Letter and Resume Service. Especially if you have experience in HR,
there is a massive opportunity to help job seekers with their resumes and cover
letters. Since the payoff of landing a job is so high, it can be worthwhile for
applicants to seek some professional assistance on their documents.
57.
Craigslist
Arbitrage. Craigslist and other markets are still filled with inefficiencies
that a trained eye can exploit for profit. There are some great stories of
regular people doing just this
58.
Craigslist
Gigs. There’s a little-known section in the bottom right corner of Craigslist
(at least at press time) specifically for side hustlers. Check it out and see
what kind of gigs you might be able to find nearby or online
59.
Customer
Service. Some companies are now employing part-time customer service
representatives to work from home and handle incoming phone or live chat
service requests.
60.
Dating. The dating sit
61.
Dividend Investing
62.
Dog
Walking. Yes, some people are too busy to walk their own dogs. Post flyers
in your neighborhood or set up a profile on WagWalking.com.
63.
Doula
Service. Doulas can earn $500-$1000 per birth, if you’re into that sort of
thing.
64.
Dropshipping. Dropshippers
set up their own storefront and process sales, but never touch the actual
product. Instead, the items are shipped directly to the customer from the manufacturer
or wholesaler.
65.
Estate
Sale Service. Estate sales are often managed by a third-party company, who takes a
percentage of the proceeds in exchange for handling the event
66.
Event DJ-ing.
67.
.
Freelancing. There are millions of people supplementing their income by
freelancing in their spare time.
68.
Furniture
Making. If you’re skilled in carpentry, maybe people would like to buy
your hand-crafted furniture. OK, this one reminds me of Ron Swanson
69.
Ghostwriting.
With millions of websites all competing for attention, writing is a
service that’s constantly in demand. Someone’s got to create all that content,
right
70.
Gigwalking.
Gigwalk is a free smartphone app that pays
you to complete small tasks in your neighborhood, like photographing the inside
of a store.
71.
Graphic
Design Service. Quality graphic design is always in-demand, and never before have
there been so many outlets on which to sell your skills. The most popular
design-focused site is 99designs, but you can check out Crowdspring, DesignCrowd, or any of the
freelance marketplaces as well.
72.
Handyman
Service. This is certainly not a great option for my less-than-handy self,
but I’m positive someone else with the right skills can make it work
73.
Home Inspection Service
74.
House
Sitting. I’m more intrigued in house sitting as a way to get free
accommodations while traveling, but I guess it can be a way to supplement your
income at home as well.
75.
Human
Billboard. If you’re not afraid of embarrassing yourself on a street corner,
there are always businesses looking to hire sign-spinners or people in costume
to attract attention.
76. Hyper-Local
Newspaper. Could you start a small newspaper for your neighborhood? Could you sell
advertisements?
77.
Interior Decorating. With an eye for design, interior decorating could be a fun
part-time business.
78. Investing in
Websites. If you have some idle cash and want to put it to work, buying a
pre-existing cash flow may be the fastest path to side hustle
income.
79. Ironing /
Mobile Laundry Service. Holy crap do I hate ironing! I’m certain a
decent chunk of the population is with me on this one and would be willing to
pay to make that problem go away.
80. Junk Hauling
Service. This is an especially feasible side hustle business if you already
have access to a large truck or van. Bonus points if you can re-sell some of
the junk!
81. Medical
Transcription Service. Medical transcription, which involves typing
out doctors’ recorded voice notes, is often a part-time work-from-home
position.
82. MLM Sales. MLM
(multi-level marketing) programs are frequently derided as pyramid schemes —
and many of them are! — but some people manage to do quite well with them,
often starting out part-time. Amway is probably the most well-known.
83. Mobile Oil
Change Service. Save people time by bringing the shop and supplies to them.
If you’re comfortable fixing cars, you might actually check out YourMechanic.com,
which helps match you with customers in need of car repairs.
84. Modeling. Stock
photographers are sometimes in need of subjects for their work. Strike a pose!
85. Movie / TV
Extra. Your odds are better if you’re in LA or New York, but there can
always be “on location” shoots nearby. Check out Central Casting
or Auditions Free to
see if there are any gigs near you. Bonus points if you can get your Screen
Actors Guild credentials!
86. Moving Service. Moving is
never fun, but can be a good way to earn some extra cash on the weekend if
you’re strong and don’t mind carrying other people’s stuff.
87. Mystery
Shopping. Companies will pay you to verify their in-store or on-the-phone
experience, or to spy on their competition. It’s possible to make over $10,000 a year
being a mystery shopper.
88. Organize a
Bundle Sale. An online bundle sale
brings together a bunch of digital products for a limited time. Each
contributor earns a cut on every bundle they sell and you take a percentage as
the organizer.
89. Party Planning
/ Wedding Coordinator Service. Put your organization skills to good
use.
90. Personal Chef
Service. Could you picture yourself making meals in someone else’s kitchen?
This could be a good way to break into the food services industry without the
time commitment and overhead of starting your own restaurant.
91. Personal
Training. People are always looking to get in shape and if you have a
passion for fitness, this could be the perfect side hustle.
92. Pet Grooming. Just like
their owners, pets require haircuts too. A mobile pet grooming service can be a
low-cost part-time business.
93. Pet Sitting. When homeowners
travel, it opens up an opportunity for pet sitting services to come by and take
care of their animals
94. Photography
Service. This is my wife’s favorite side hustle. Turn your photog hobby into an income stream.
95. Product
Licensing. Who says ideas are worthless? With product licensing you can sell the
rights to your idea to large companies, who will pay you royalties for every
sale they make from that idea.
96. App
Development. The mobile app market is hot, but one developer likened it to the gold
rush — where the ones who made the most money were the ones selling the gear
and the shovels. Similarly, an app developer gets paid whether or not the app
goes on to become a hit.
97. Real Estate
Wholesaling. In this side hustle, your job is to connect motivated sellers with
real estate investors. You earn the difference between your negotiated contract
price and the eventual sales price.
98. Rec Sports
Officiating. Recreational sports leagues are often in need of referees and
umpires, and this can be a fun way to spend your evenings and earn a little
extra cash.
99.
RentaFriend. RentaFriend.com
facilitates (strictly platonic) paid companionship. Friends report earning
$20-50 an hour to hang out with strangers. Yeah, this sounds a little creepy
and weird but I guess if you’re lonely and have got the money…
100. Small Business
Marketing Service. Many small companies don’t have the staff or know-how to do all their
marketing themselves, especially when it comes to putting their best foot
forward online and on social media. You can help them with that, much like Sean does in his business.
101. Software
Mogul. Software is one of those “perfectly scalable” business models, in that
you can theoretically create something once and sell it over and over again.
102. Teaching
Music. With a love for music, teaching, and working with kids, you could
start a part-time music teaching business.
103. Music
Licensing. Singer-songwriter Cathy Heller found a unique way to “reverse-engineer” her dream
job by licensing her catchy tunes to big brands and TV shows.
Alternatively, licensing stock music
is a bit of a numbers game, but can be a cool way to earn passive income from
your art.
104. Teaching Yoga. A certain
level of expertise and certification may be required, but becoming a yoga
instructor could be a fun and healthy part-time business.
106. Translation /
Interpretation Service. A translation service could be an excellent
way to put your bilingual skills to good use. There are always translation jobs
on Upwork, as a place to start.
107. Travel Agent
Service. Are you a seasoned traveler? Do you always know where to get the best
deals and the best experiences? It might be surprising that despite widespread
access to travel information there is still a healthy demand both for insider
travel knowledge and the hands-off experience of letting an expert handle the
booking.
108. Vehicle
Advertising. According to Wrapify, you can earn up to $500 a month
by putting an advertising “wrap” on your car.
109. Vending Machines. Matt Miller’s passive income vending machine empire
started with just $36 and a bag of gumballs. He’d been flipping used books but
found it took too much time. Looking for something a little more automated, he
settled on bulk vending.
110. Voiceover
Acting. Companies are always on the lookout for professional voiceover talent. Once
you start listening for it, you’ll hear voiceover work everywhere.
111. Web Design
Service. There’s no shortage of crappy-looking websites out there. Pitch
the benefits of good design and help them out.
112. Window
Cleaning Service. Window cleaning can be a nice little weekend side hustle, and requires
minimal startup capital; you may already have a ladder, a bucket, and a
squeegee.
113. Working on
Mechanical Turk. Mechanical Turk
is a service provided by Amazon to help companies complete micro-jobs that
sometimes only pay pennies for each one.
114. Yard Work
Service. Much like the cleaning service above, it’s not the most glamorous
side hustle in the world but the fact is nearly every yard in the country
requires some sort of maintenance. That means there’s a big business
opportunity.
115. YouTube Channel
Host. Google (which owns YouTube) pays channel owners to host their ads
on their videos, meaning if you generate a lot of YouTube views, you can earn a
lot of money with their revenue-sharing program.
116. Storage Unit
Auctions. Popularized by TV shows like Storage Wars, bidding on abandoned storage lockers
can be a viable side hustle — and a bit of a treasure hunt.
117. Local Rental
Business. Corey Jeffreys wanted to get into rental real estate, but lacking
capital, bought a bounce house and began
renting that out instead. In his first year, he turned that $800 investment
into $3,000 and has gone on to build the business into a 5-figure side hustle.
118. Knife
Sharpening. Every house in the country is a potential repeat customer. In this post
and podcast episode, Matt Rowell shares how he got started and now earns $30-60 an hour sharpening
knives.
119. Reader’s Choice! Help me out by adding your part-time
business idea in the comments below!
109. Vending
Machines. Matt Miller’s passive income vending machine empire
started with just $36 and a bag of gumballs. He’d been flipping used books but
found it took too much time. Looking for something a little more automated, he
settled on bulk vending.
110. Voiceover
Acting. Companies are always on the lookout for professional voiceover talent. Once
you start listening for it, you’ll hear voiceover work everywhere.
111. Web Design
Service. There’s no shortage of crappy-looking websites out there. Pitch
the benefits of good design and help them out.
112. Window
Cleaning Service. Window cleaning can be a nice little weekend side hustle, and requires
minimal startup capital; you may already have a ladder, a bucket, and a
squeegee.
113. Working on
Mechanical Turk. Mechanical Turk
is a service provided by Amazon to help companies complete micro-jobs that
sometimes only pay pennies for each one.
How Does Digital Marketing Impact The
Consumer Decision
Making Process? Find next week.
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