Wouldn’t you love to have a side hustle and make some extra money from home and who knows maybe one day turn it into a profitable business?
Choosing the right side hustle can be really challenging.
Your time is limited so you want to be sure that you are putting it into something that will pay off.
Also, side hustle should be something you, at least somewhat, enjoy doing. Since you’ll be working on top of your day job.
And of course, you want to make sure that your side hustle is in demand. There should be a large enough audience that is willing to pay money for what you have to offer.
And there should be room for expansion in case you’ll ever want to turn your side hustle into a business.
But it’s not always the most paid work that pays off the most.
Side hustles are more like a marathon, than a sprint. In order to make money from your side hustle, you must be able to stay in the game. Because the thing with side hustles is the longer you do it, the better you get and more money you can make.
That’s why it’s best to choose something you are fairly good at or that is not too challenging to learn. If a side hustle is too demanding you will have a hard time keeping it up.
Having all that in mind here is a list of side hustles that are profitable, have room for expansion and cover a range of interests for you to find the best fit.
10 SIDE HUSTLES TO MAKE MONEY FROM HOME
Online tutoring
If you have good knowledge on some subject then tutoring is a great side hustle. It doesn’t require investment to start, you are using the knowledge you already have, you earn by the hour and you set the time and price.
Online tutors are always in demand. Particularly language and science subjects.
Language students from all over the world are looking for native speakers of their target language to converse. In most cases, you don’t need any degree. You just need to be able to speak in your own language on a variety of topics.
On the other hand for science subjects, you do need a degree. High school students are often looking for online tutors to help them out with science subjects.
To find a job, you can try platforms that connect students and tutors or look for facebook groups and subreddits to offer your services there.
In the tutoring world word of mouth is the best marketing.
Finding good tutors is really hard so the better you are at it, the more students you will get and the more money you can charge.
Selling stock photos
There are 1.8 billion websites in the world and the great majority of them use stock photos. There is a huge demand for new, fresh stock photos that depict every aspect of life.
You don’t even have to have an expensive camera or equipment. With daylight or bright lighting, you can take good quality photos with your phone camera.
Pretty much anything can be a stock photo.
You can take pictures of your daily life, groceries and food you cook, city scenes, nature, plants and animals, crafts you make, landscapes and monuments you see, abstract scenes.
You can sell these photos on established stock photo websites or you can create your own website with a store.
Photography is a skill that gets better with practice. In the beginning, your photos might not have a high price but if you stick to this side hustle, with time you will start getting better prices.
Selling website templates
If you’re into coding and web design then you should definitely monetize on that skill.
The majority of websites out there are created using website templates.
There is an enormous market for it. Bloggers and small business owners rarely know how to create a website design and hiring a designer can be really expensive. But templates are affordable and convenient.
To set yourself apart from the sea of templates, find your unique style, maybe a color combination or a shape. And make sure to cover different types of websites like magazine, blog, eCommerce, portfolio, etc.
Once you create a template you can sell it over and over again. To monetize this side hustle you can create your own website or you can sell your website templates on platforms like themeforest. This way you can have a nice stream of passive income.
Selling plants
If you like gardening and have a space for it then consider growing and selling plant seedlings, grafted plants, selling seeds of rare vegetables or propagating and selling rare indoor plants as a side hustle.
At the beginning of spring balcony gardeners start to look for seedlings to plant. Most popular are strawberries, cherry tomatoes and peppers (sweet cocktail and spicy).
You can grow heirloom vegetables for seeds and then sell those. Gardeners are always looking for rare heirloom vegetable seeds, especially those of tomatoes and peppers.
If you are a more proficient gardener and know how to graft plants. You can monetize that skill and prepare grafted cucumbers, tomatoes and melons. Gardeners that don’t have the skill or time to graft plants are looking for already grafted plants to plant in their gardens.
Another profitable side hustle is propagating and selling rare indoor plants. If you already have an enviable collection of rare indoor plants then half of the work is already done. If not then start collecting them.
Demand for indoor plants, especially rare and unique ones, is only growing.
Product testing
Product testers are valuable to both companies and customers. Companies want to know what their customers really think about their product so they can improve. And customers want to know how they will benefit from a product before they decide to buy.
As a product tester, you have two earning opportunities.
First is what you earn by testing a product, be it in cash, merchandise, or gift cards. You can apply for product testing on as many platforms as you want. You can pick a single niche or few, depending on your interests.
Second, earning opportunity is by building a product review website. For every product, you test, write an honest review post and publish it on your website. If you liked a product you can get into an affiliate program and start recommending it to your readers. This way you can earn from affiliate commissions and advertisements.
To be successful in this side hustle it’s important to always be honest. There are too many fake reviews out there so an honest one will definitely be appreciated by everyone.
Online craft workshops
If you have a craft that you enjoy making then online workshops might be a right side hustle for you. It doesn’t have to be just workshops, you can create courses and tutorials and sell those.
People are looking for guided workshops and courses to create something unique and beautiful.
Home decor is currently the most popular. So think in a direction of small decor pieces, throws, pillows, abstract art pieces, improving affordable, basic furniture pieces (like IKEA Lack coffee table).
Give your best to make the craft as simple as possible and break it down into easy steps. Make sure that materials are easy to find and technique is beginner-friendly. Your students will love you for it.
Transcribing
If you can type quickly and have a good hearing you can be a transcriptionist. The job of a transcriptionist is to listen to audio recordings and type out conversations.
Depending on your typing speed, you can earn a decent side income doing transcriptions. And of course, as with everything else, here also the more you work the better you get.
The fastest transcriptionists are paid triple the average rate.
The key to this side hustle is patience. Until you learn all the terminology and learn to use abbreviations for faster typing. To get ahead faster, choose only one industry and work in it.
You can easily find work since there are many transcription platforms you can apply for.
Selling printables
Selling printables is a great side hustle because at the same time you are creating a stream of passive income.
Many people choose printables over physical products because they are cheaper and available immediately after purchase. They can print them in the quality they wish and as many times as they need.
If you can’t afford to invest money to start a side hustle then selling printables is ideal.
There are many free tools you can use to create beautiful printables. From there you can go to Etsy to sell your products. And of course, don’t forget to promote your work on Pinterest and Instagram to attract customers.
There are so many options for what you can create. You can make calendars, planners, budget templates, organizational templates, congratulations cards for every occasion, pantry labels, lettering templates, wall prints, coloring pages, etc.
This is also a fun side hustle that, with the right tools and a little creativity, anyone can do.
Writing
There are countless ways you can make money writing. In fact, there is increasing demand for content writers.
Content marketing is a booming industry because businesses (big and small) are trying hard to connect with their customers. One of the ways they are connecting is by publishing informative content on their website. For this purpose, they hire content writers.
If you like writing and there is a topic you are particularly interested in and you know a lot about it, then this could be your ideal side hustle.
There are many platforms that connect writers and clients where you can find work. You simply browse through offerings and apply for writing jobs you want to do. You have all the flexibility to choose when and what you will write.
Narrating
Audio everything came and it’s here to stay. People love the convenience of listening to content on the go, and businesses know it.
Narrating is a booming business.
There are audiobooks, e-learning programs, voice assistants, animation, video games, advertisements and more. They all need a variety of voices. Voices that are natural, friendly, conversational and approachable.
To start you will need a soundproofed room or at least a closet and a microphone. But that all seems like such a small investment in comparison with how much you stand to earn.
You can find narrating work on platforms for voice actors or you can go a step further and send cold emails to companies that need narrators. Make audio samples of your voice, write pitch letters and send those out.
PRO TIP TO MAKE ANY SIDE HUSTLE PROFITABLE:
You can make any side hustle profitable if you dedicate yourself to it.
When you treat side hustle like a real job, that’s what it will become. But if you behave like it’s your hobby then that’s what it will always be.
To make good money from your side hustle you must be determined and committed.
Take an active approach and seek new opportunities. Schedule the time you will work, write it in the calendar and set a reminder. Make a plan with steps and goals. Those, who have a good work ethic and avoid procrastination like the plague, are the ones that succeed in turning their side hustle into a profitable business.
Don’t wait for a stroke of luck, create your luck.