Looking for a way to earn extra money? There are tons of profitable side hustle opportunities to accelerate your earning potential. Whether you’re aiming to earn extra cash or saving for a big purchase, these side hustles are a great way to accelerate your financial goals.
Finding the right side hustle for you
Thanks to today's gig economy, there are a lot of lucrative side hustles to boost your savings account. From becoming a freelance writer to making passive income from digital products, having a side hustle has become a popular way to earn extra income.
The catch? Many profitable side hustle ideas might fit your interests, but you need to figure out which one will fit you.
Here are the steps how to find the best side hustles for you:
🤔 Assess Your Skills and Interests
Are you into web design? Maybe you've been dreaming of starting a YouTube channel, or becoming a social media manager. Monetize these interests and turn them into extra income. Take inventory of your current skills to narrow down the best side hustles you'll be passionate about.
🔍 Research Different Side Hustle Opportunities
When finding lucrative side hustles, consider demand and income potential. Notice an increase in people looking for a virtual assistant? Is freelance writing and transcription services not as profitable as before thanks to AI?
Make sure you do your research on various side hustles aligned with your skills and interests, the average rate people are paying for it and possible upfront costs, and if that gig work is something people are looking for.
📅 Consider Your Schedule
Evaluate your schedule and choose the side hustle opportunities that you'll be able to realistically commit to.
Do you have a demanding day job? Maybe going for passive income streams such as selling digital products or affiliate marketing is your best option rather than freelancing. Or maybe you do have a lot of time on your hands to even take on virtual assistance work. Consider your availability because even if you've found the easiest side hustles, they're bound to still take some of your hours.
🚀 Start Small
Begin with a manageable workload and increase as you gain experience. Go for the easiest side hustles before taking on more gig work or pushing for that business idea you've been toying around with. We've provided a list of the best side hustles based on difficulty and time commitment in the last part of this article.
🎯 Set Realistic Goals
You may have the best side hustle ideas in mind, but remember to set realistic goals to help you stay motivated and focused. This means taking everything into account, especially when it comes to a side hustle opportunity's income potential and time commitment.
🌐 Be Open to New Opportunities
Profitable and good side hustle ideas can be found anywhere. You just need to be open to trying new things and taking on different opportunities that can lead to exciting experiences. Who knows, maybe that little extra money can be found in the most unexpected places.
📢 Market Yourself
Explore online platforms and job search sites like Upwork and Fiverr to find side hustle opportunities and clients looking for virtual assistants. You can also build a portfolio if you're taking on freelance work.
Alternatively, reach out to friends, family, and colleagues to see if they have any recommendations for side hustles or they may be able to connect you with someone who does.
📑 Stay Organized
Boosting your earning potential means also managing multiple gig work efficiently. If you're balancing a day job along with your freelance work, make sure you're staying organized with deadlines, paperwork, and payments to ensure your side gigs are successful, smooth-flowing, and stress-free.
Best Side Hustles for Extra Income
LEVEL: EASY
1. Taking Online Surveys
You’ll need: Internet connection, spare time, opinions
Examples: Answering branded surveys on topics like e-commerce, travel, finance, and electronics
Pros: Simple, low barrier entry, minimal effort
Cons: Low and inconsistent pay
Platforms:
Payment Speed: Varies by site (upon survey completion)
Time Required: Flexible
2. Pet Sitting/Dog Walking
You’ll need: Love for animals, reliability
Examples: Offering pet-sitting and dog-walking services
Pros: Enjoyable, flexible schedule, built connection with clients and their pets
Cons: Limited income potential
Platforms:
Time Required: Depends on agreement with the owner
3. Buying and Selling Online
You’ll need: Investment, marketing skills, eye for hot commodities
Examples: Curating and selling gently used clothes, vintage items, and thrift treasures
Pros: Profit potential, thrill of thrift hunting
Cons: Upfront costs, inventory management, competition, risk of unsold items
Platforms:
- Local markets & flea markets
- Sites like Etsy, eBay, Depop, Facebook Marketplace
Payment Speed: Immediate (upon sale)
Time Required: Flexible, but time-consuming for preparation
4. Renting Out Your Space
You’ll need: Extra space in your home
Examples: Renting out storage space, a spare room, a swimming pool, or parking spots
Pros: Additional passive income, utilize unused spaces
Cons: Privacy concerns, Possibly hiring handyman services to regularly maintain your property
Platforms:
- Local bulletin boards
- Word of mouth
- Platforms like AirBnb, VRBO, Swimply, Neighbor, Peerspace, SpareFoot
Payment Speed: After bookings, rental period, or storage agreement
Time Required: Flexible
LEVEL: MEDIUM
5. Tutoring
You’ll need: Subject expertise, communication skills, patience
Examples: Teaching various subjects and new skills or offering coaching sessions in:
- Life, finance, career, health, relationships, parenting
- Music (guitar, violin, etc.) and sports
- Foreign languages (ESL, German, etc.),
- Test preparation, math, science, and more
Pros: Rewarding job if you’re passionate about teaching
Cons: Inconsistent income until you build your client base, time-consuming
Platforms:
Payment Speed: Regular; hourly, session-based
Time Required: Flexible
6. Freelance Work
You’ll need: Specialized skills, experience, marketing ability
Examples: Offering services such as freelance writing, Facebook ads management, web development, graphic design, digital marketing, event planning, etc.
Pros: Flexibility; set your own projects and rates
Cons: Competitive market, inconsistent income since most are one-time and short-term
Platforms: Sites that offer project-based and part-time jobs such as:
Payment Speed: Varies; Project-based
Time Required: Dependent on projects
7. Virtual Assistance
You’ll need: Administrative, technical, creative, and organizational skills, commitment to ongoing and long-term support
Examples: Providing services like email management, freelance writing, social media management, YouTube channel management, and more
Pros: Increasing demand
Cons: Potential high workload
Platforms: Job search websites such as:
Payment Speed: Regular; often monthly
Time Required: Flexible
8. Selling Digital Products
You’ll need: Creative skills that people would pay for
Examples: Selling educational products, online courses, licenses for photos and videos, templates (e.g., Excel, Notion), music, personal artworks, self-published e-books
Pros: Monetize your creativity, low upfront cost, wide market, scalable passive income potential
Cons: Market competition, initial effort, marketing efforts like Facebook ads required
Platforms:
- Personal website
- Online Courses: Udemy, Skillshare, Teachable
- Photography: Shutterstock, Adobe Stock
- Templates: Creative Market, TemplateMonster
- Music: AudioJungle, SoundCloud, Spotify
- Artworks & e-books: Etsy, Redbubble
Time Required: Flexible
9. Local Rentals and Delivery Services
You’ll need: Unused car you can monetize, an understanding of pricing
Examples: Renting out your car locally or offering package/food delivery services or grocery delivery/grocery shop
Pros: Monetize underused assets, additional income
Cons: Limited availability, potential wear and tear, possibly hiring a delivery driver or rideshare driver
Platforms:
Payment Speed: Post-rental period or upon completion of delivery
Time Required: Flexible
LEVEL: HARD
10. Babysitting and Child Care
You’ll need: Childcare knowledge
Examples: Providing childcare services for local families
Pros: Heartwarming and joyful experience
Cons: High responsibility, varying needs of the family
Platforms:
- Local communities
- Sites like Care.com, Sittercity, UrbanSitter
Payment Speed: After service
Time Required: Flexible
11. Senior Sitting and Companionship
Requirements: Compassion, caregiving skills
Examples: Providing companionship for seniors in their homes or care facilities
Pros: Meaningful work
Cons: Emotionally challenging
Platforms:
- Local communities
- Sites like Care.com, Senior Helpers, CareLinx, Home Instead Senior Care
Payment Speed: After service
Total Time Required: Flexible
12. Becoming a Content Creator
You’ll need: Creative and content creation skills, social media savviness
Examples: Social media management and content creation, YouTube channel creation, podcasting, blogging
Pros: Low barrier entry and high-income potential, affiliate marketing opportunities for extra income
Cons: Time-consuming, need to stay updated with trends, building a following and traffic takes time
Platforms: Starting an account on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram
Payment Speed: Varies (regular monthly, gradual - ads, affiliates, subscriptions, sponsorships, and platform-specific)
Time Required: Flexible, but initially time-consuming
To wrap it up, there are a lot of ways to improve your earning potential and boost your savings account. But don't skip out on how you manage your finances. You may have found the most profitable side hustle for you, but how you handle that extra money is what makes a difference.
Doing Well is here to guide and support you along the way so you can make the most out of the money you earn!
We understand the challenges of personal finance. Our mission is to help you gain control of your financial health so you can start doing well. We are here to answer your questions — book a free consultation call with us today!
