A side hustle is a job that you can do in addition to your main job. In many cases, it is freelance work, but it isn’t always – and there are many people that create a side hustle that becomes really successful and ultimately becomes their full time work. We write a while ago about business ideas that you can start immediately, and some of these ideas cross over with some of those – but the ideas in this post are perfect for side hustles.

Tech-Based Side Hustles 

If you’ve got tech knowledge, there are so many ways you can create a side hustle – but these are some of the best-known, and the ones with the most potential for earning.

The key to being successful with developing software, apps and extensions is to hit on an idea that a lot of people will use. Creating software isn’t necessarily easy, but if you have a great idea then turn it into your side hustle!

While having coding knowledge is absolutely an advantage, you don’t always have to have those skills to create a great app – there are loads of free platforms that allow you to build apps without coding. Once you’ve created your app, you’ll need to shout loudly about it on your social media to get it noticed and increase those downloads. 

If you’re already in the business of making apps, or developing software, then creating extensions for web browsers isn’t a huge jump to make. 

If you love building aesthetically pleasing websites with a fantastic user experience, offer your skills to small businesses! 

When a company creates an app, website or a new system, there are nearly always bugs – it doesn’t matter how great the developers are. They don’t always have the resources to do the testing themselves, and so you can earn by doing testing for them.

If you’re great with PCs, Macs or phones and tablets, why not offer that as a service? It is easier than ever to offer support to people, and with remote access you won’t even need to visit their homes to give them the help they need. 

7. Buy and sell domain names 

Trading domain names is a bit of a gamble, since nobody can predict the website names that will suddenly be in demand – but if you have a few pounds to invest and can sit on those names for a while, then there is potential to make big money. 

It might not be an exciting side hustle, but collating mailing lists that you can sell has the potential to be lucrative. Businesses often don’t have the time to collect information like postal or email addresses, so do it for them. 

Creating social media posts is an essential part of marketing businesses, but it can be time consuming. Offer to do create social media assets for businesses, and schedule their posts for them, and you could be onto a great side hustle that has the potential to grow. 

While email marketing is a really powerful way to connect with customers – particularly for B2B businesses – many companies don’t have the time to really get the best from it. If you can create interesting content, and manage their mailing list, then this can be your side hustle! 

If you’re great at starting a project but lose interest quickly, you can put that to use by setting up businesses to sell. You’ll need to be great at the little details like securing domain names and social media handles, setting up websites and registering the business with the appropriate authorities, then when you’re ready, sell the business on a website like Flippa.

Creative Side Hustles

Whether your main income source is creative, or you’re in a completely different career and you’re looking for a creative outlet to make some money, then these are the ideas for you. 

If you’re an incredible digital artist or designer, then you can use that to create a brilliant side hustle. 

13. Use freelance websites to create marketing assets for businesses


14. Create art to sell on your own website


15. Create personalised wedding stationery


16. Design logos 

Artists that prefer working with traditional mediums can sell their creations on websites like Etsy, through their social media and on their own websites. Invite commissions to make bigger bucks.

If you’ve been searching for great t-shirts, hoodies, posters and so on and haven’t been able to find what you’re looking for, why not create the designs that you’re looking for? There are loads of print on demand services that you can use, meaning you won’t need to risk being left with loads of stock if your designs aren’t as popular as you expected they might be. You don’t even need to order your designs (unless you want one for yourself, of course!) since you can use mock up design tools to make sales. Set up a website, sell through marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, or even just on social media to get started. 

19. Write a book

This idea is definitely going to take a bit of time, since most adult novels are in excess of 80,000 words, but if you have a great imagination and some fantastic ideas, then get them down on your screen! Since the Kindle Store (and other eBook stores) allow anyone to publish, you don’t need a publisher – simply set up your account and self-publish, and you can set up your work to be printed on demand if you have customers that want it in print.

Once you’ve written your book – whether it is a novel, or non-fiction – then you can record it for Audible or Apple Books. 

If marketing is your main income, and you love it, why not help smaller businesses to reach more people?

There are websites that allow you to create articles for businesses such as Textbroker. You can also offer to create content for businesses by advertising your services on freelance websites like Fiverr and Upwork.

If your use of English is so accurate it gets annoying for your friends and family, but you don’t have the inclination to write a book, put that talent to work by offering proofreading and editing services. 

Creating a blog means potential money in your pocket, if you have time to invest – but if you love what you’re writing about, then monetise it with affiliate income. Amazon, eBay, and Etsy are some of the biggest affiliate programmes, but there are plenty of others. 

Can you chat about your passion on a regular basis? Then you can make money from affiliate schemes, sponsorships or by getting your listeners to pay you on platforms like Patreon. 

We’ve all heard about YouTubers that earn millions from their videos – and while not everybody can emulate their success, you can definitely make money from creating videos on YouTube. Generally it isn’t a quick process though, so be sure that you’re really up for the challenge before you get started. 

If you don’t have time to create video from scratch, but you’re great at finalising other people’s recordings, then offer that as a service – freelance websites are going to be key here. 

Have you got a crafty hobby? There’s only so many items you can create and give to your friends and family as gifts – so why not sell them? Whether you enjoy knitting, crocheting, embroidery, woodwork, pottery making or anything that ends up with other types of handmade items, either create a website to sell them, or sell them on Etsy. 

We know, there are so many people that are doing this now that it isn’t worth getting into – but even with a relatively small following, you can monetise your social media feed and become a ‘micro influencer’. Businesses want to work with influencers on all the social media platforms, so whichever one(s) you enjoy the most at the ones that you can get involved with. Start by creating affiliate content and work up from there. 

If you’re an avid photographer, and you’ve got hundreds of unused photos then you can make money from selling them on stock photography websites like Shutterstock and Adobe Stock. Earnings aren’t typically high – often only around 20p per photo – but you can sometimes earn more, and if your photo is used a lot, then you’ll earn more. 

31. Offer professional photography

If you’ve got a ‘day job’ but you can offer professional photography during evenings and weekends for weddings, photographing products for businesses and more, then there’s your side hustle!  

Video more your thing? If you’ve got hours of footage that you can offer to businesses, upload it to stock video websites and get paid for it. 

If you’ve always dreamt of being an actor but life had other plans for your career, then why not become an extra? Depending on what is being filmed, you can typically earn between £80 and £120 per day. 

You can offer to record your voice for all kinds of purposes on freelance websites, but there are also specialist agencies that you can sign up for. When you’re creating your listing, be sure to note your accent, and if you can do other regional accents too.   

Is Matt Groening, or Walt Disney your hero? If you can create cartoons that are funny, surreal or likely to go viral, then you can make money from animated shorts. 

Memes are the funny images that get shared online – and if you can create the funniest ones then there is potential to make money by making memes! 

Yes, really! Quizzes are in demand from websites, pubs and on freelance websites. You’ll need to plan your questions carefully, and be sure they are at a suitable level for the audience. Alternatively, if quizzes are your thing, you might set up a website to host your quizzes and monetise it with affiliate marketing. 

Lily Allen kickstarted her career on Myspace, and since then there has been thousands of budding musicians that have found fame on social media. If you love playing but you’re less keen on performing to millions, release your recordings on streaming services, or if writing music is your talent, then either sell songs to artists, or release your music as stock music tracks.

Whether you’re a garden designer or you’re simply great at keeping on top of weeding, if you’re green fingered then you can offer your services to locals. 

Can you take ugly old furniture from charity shops, and refinish it to look perfectly on trend? This is a great side hustle, and selling pieces on Facebook Marketplace or Etsy can make it easier to sell. You’ll need space to work and store your items, but if you’re good at what you do then you’re likely to be able to make this work well for you.

If you’re handy with a needle, and can alter clothing to fit, then this can become your side hustle! 

Like our last side hustle idea, if you’re great at spotting charity shop dresses, tops or shirts that can be customised to a piece that fits this season’s trends, then you can sell those pieces as part of your side business. 

There are recipes for creating both online, but starter kits are widely available too. Sell through Etsy, or your own website – but be sure to use recycled, or eco-friendly packaging when you’re sending orders!

Fun Side Hustles 

Many of these side hustles might barely be considered work – especially those that involve pets and gaming! 

If you’re a massive fan of shopping but don’t have the budget to splurge every week, why not turn that passion into a profitable side hustle? Find products from suppliers that work with the drop shipping model, and you won’t even need cash to buy stock. There are drop shipping platforms available that give you access to multiple suppliers, and connect to website builders like Shopify and marketplaces like Amazon and eBay. Most of the systems you need start with free plans, so you can get your side hustle up and running without any money at all.  

There are some people who hate shopping for clothes, even online – and they want help with curating their wardrobe. That’s why services like Stitch Fix and Lookiero are doing well. If you’ve got great taste and can help people find the right items to complete their outfits, you might be able to turn shopping into your side hustle. 

When you’re dedicated to your Xbox, PlayStation or PC gaming, and you’re spending a lot of time doing it, then why not make money from it too? You can monetise your Twitch stream with the Twitch Affiliate Program, and once you’ve built your subscribers further, you can follow the Path the Partner route to become a Twitch Partner. 

While creating stock photography can get you much more money in the longer term – especially if taking beautiful photos is your passion – you can also get paid for snaps that you take on your phone. Apps like Mobeye offer small ‘missions’ that allow you to earn from little tasks like taking photos of books, fruit and more. 

If you’re an animal lover and you can take care of pets when their owners are on holidays, then you’re on to a winner. You can visit pets in their own home, feed them, and send photos to their owners while they’re on their travels. Either way, if you turn it into a serious business then you might want to consider insurance. 

In a similar vein to the previous idea, if you want the best part of owning a dog – going for walkies – without the expense of paying for food and vets bills, then offering dog walking for local people could be your side hustle. 

Do you love listening to new music? Get paid to write reviews on websites such as Slicethepie and HitPredictor. 

Are you the one in your friendship circle that can spot a wrong ‘un a mile off? Get paid to help people to narrow down their dating prospects. 

52. Become an astrology expert 

Do you know your Leo from your Libra? If you believe in the power of the zodiac, offer it as a service, create a website, or monetise your social media. 

If you want a side business that doesn’t take up a huge amount of your time, then getting involved with a company that already works with home representatives is an easy way to start earning. Avon and The Body Shop are great places to start, but there are plenty of other opportunities to choose from.

House sitting is a great way to enjoy nicer surroundings, but if you’re in an area with a lot of second homes, then you can use your spare time to prepare homes for their owners, or their visitors. How much is involved will depend on the home owner’s needs.   

Can you create a fantastic celebration, taking care of decorations and booking DJs and caterers? It sounds like a lot of fun, but also a lot of work – so you’ll need to be sure not to over-stretch yourself. 

This side hustle is going to take a bit of work – not only do you need to create your board game, but you’ll also need to get enough people to put money into your crowdfund, and then get it manufactured to bring to market. It isn’t for the faint-of-heart, but Cards Against Humanity started out this way – and sold half a million copies in the first two years on the market.

Side Hustles That Need Specialist Skills

These side hustles aren’t for everyone, since many of them require specific training, certifications, or talents – but if you’ve got them, they can underpin your business! 

This side hustle has huge opportunities – because there is demand for all kinds of tutoring! 

63. Monetise a YouTube teaching channel 

You’ll need to advertise your service, but with a you can turn a couple of hours per week into a pretty lucrative income – especially if you combine your service with a strong social media feed.  

There are so many different types of coaching, and with just a few hours per week, you can build your income. Ideally, you’ll have either specialist coaching, or teaching qualifications, depending on where you see your side hustle going.

65. Business coaching

66. Sports and fitness coaching

67. Personal training and workout coach

68. Weight loss coaching

69. Sell online workshops

If you’re offering tutoring or coaching, then it isn’t too much of a stretch to create courses online. This has the potential to create passive income – particularly if you’re teaching or coaching in a subject that is evergreen, such as a language, or science. You can create much of this on YouTube, but you can also create it for learning marketplaces like Udemy.

71. Loan specialist equipment 

Do you own expensive specialist equipment, such as sports equipment or power tools? If you do, you may be able to make a bit of cash loaning it out. 

Can you support small businesses to achieve their ambitions by doing tasks like managing inboxes, social media, bookkeeping or basic design work? Become a virtual assistant and you can get paid for those tasks by businesses around the world. 

If you can offer similar services to virtual assistants but you prefer to deal with businesses in person, then offer secretarial and assistant skills to local businesses. 

Even though there is voice recognition software, audiotyping is still in demand, so if you’re a super-fast typist with excellent English language skills, this is the side hustle for you. 

While there are automatic captions, nothing beats a real person listening and typing – which is why some companies want transcribers, especially for their high performing videos. 

If you’ve got a car, then you can put it to work for you. Become an Uber driver, a food delivery driver or sign up to deliver for companies like Deliveroo. If you’ve got a van, you might be able to pick up shifts for courier companies delivering. 

You’re going to work anyway, so if you’re driving somewhere that you can share the commute – and share the cost – it can make you a little cash. There are a few carpooling apps, and many big organisations have their own ride sharing arrangements, sometimes in association with local authorities, so check with those first. 

If you speak a second, or even third language that you’re fluent in, then make the most of that! Offering translation on freelance websites means that you can make money translation for businesses, while there are opportunities in the justice service too.

Are you an expert in your field? Offer your services to newer businesses, and do consultation for them, so they can succeed the way you did! 

Do you know an area particularly well, and you know the history? If so, then you can offer tours of the area to interested tourists. Combine this with a great website, maybe some YouTube clips and even an app, and you’re onto a potentially very lucrative side hustle! 

Have you got a project management qualification like PRINCE2, and you can keep tabs on different strands of a project? Keep businesses on track with their projects by offering your skills as a project manager to them. 

Many older people with businesses don’t trust apps like Quickbooks or Xero, and so there is still demand for bookkeepers. 

If you’ve got the skills to complete odd jobs for people – it might be as simple as hanging pictures, or painting a fence – then that can become a side hustle. Starting out with an ad on your local newspaper’s website might be all you need, and then you can go from there. 

For many people, putting furniture together is an easy task – but for others, it really isn’t! If you find it easy, then offer your ability to wield an allen key as a service. 

If you’re great with your money, then sharing what you do on your social media is a good start – but you’ll need professional qualifications if you’re going to turn it into a full time business. 

Can you find the perfect member of staff to complete a business? Recruitment is the type of side hustle that could quickly grow into your main gig, especially if you can identify a niche. 

You might not consider this a specialist skill once you’ve got the hang of it – but if you don’t mind doing laundry, or ironing then get paid for it! You can watch TV while you work, at least! 

Cleaning our homes is something we all need to do, but those of us that are short on time (or the inclination to actually do the cleaning) may consider paying for someone to do it for us. Businesses often need cleaning staff too, outside of normal office hours, which means it might fit around your other work. 

Can you help people organise their homes or work spaces? This is the perfect side hustle for those of us that like a place for everything, and everything in its place.  

You’re probably going to need a bit of cash to get started, and you’re going to need to do some serious research to make sure you don’t end up out of pocket, but cryptocurrency can earn you money. 

Like cryptocurrency, you’re going to need a little cash to get started, and you’ll need to do plenty of reading to ensure you don’t make a mistake and lose your money, but if you do well then you can make decent returns.

Low Commitment Side Hustles 

If you’re not looking to earn huge amounts of money from your side hustles – perhaps you’re just looking to make a small bit of cash that can be invested when you have a spare five minutes but that you can’t always do – these are the side hustles for you. 

If you’re playing games on your phone when you’re out and about, then you might as well get paid for it! There are a number of ways that you can get paid for playing games – and while you can make much more if you’re a serious gamer that plays for hours, if you don’t need to get paid a lot, then this is a good little side hustle. Find an app that pays you to have fun and to earn a few extra pounds on the side. 

Online gaming not your thing? There are plenty of opportunities to make money while you’re watching TV or on your daily commute simply by answering surveys. Bear in mind this won’t be megabucks – probably only a couple of hundred pounds a year – but if you’re just filling time here and there, then it is worth doing. 

Getting paid to Google might sound like a dream, but it is a reality. Simply using a toolbar like Qmee means that when you use their search rather than going to Google directly means that you’ll be able to earn a few pence for each search. The average user won’t earn a huge amount of cash per month - usually around £5 per month – but again, since you’re using it anyway, why not make money for it? 

Yep, you really can be paid for watching videos. An example of this is Swagbucks, but there are other websites that allow you to get paid simply for watching online – so be sure to do some research, so you get the best paying ones. You can earn money, but you can also earn gift cards – so be sure you get the best deal when you’re cashing out. 

Most of us use price comparison websites when we’re checking out who is offering the best deal on insurance, but if you’re buying other items, it is well worth using cashback websites like Quidco. You might not earn loads, but if you’re spending the money anyway, then why not get a bit back? 

Otherwise known as mystery shoppers, there is plenty of scope to make use of your free time by taking on mystery shopper assignments – and this can sometimes include testing coffee shops and restaurants too. Delicious. 

There are loads of ways to get involved in research – whether you take part in studies for a local university, or for market research. If filling in forms bores you, look at taking part in group discussions, online focus groups or telephone interviews instead. 

If you’ve got a bit of space and you’re in an area that is in high demand, you can make extra income by offering rooms on Airbnb. 

Can you help people sell themselves and get their next job? You can charge for this, and since you decide how many people you want to help, this side hustle can be as committed, or not, as you like.