Somewhere between one-third and one-half of American workers are finding ways to make extra money on the side. For many, these are side hustles you can do at home, setting your own hours and being your own boss.
But before exploring new ways to make money, give some thought to your motives, says executive career coach Laura Olert.
Are you a…
Fulfillment-seeker? Side hustles can fill creative urges unmet by our day jobs, and hobbies can blossom into lucrative revenue streams. Just make sure there’s a market for what you’re offering before you fully commit.
Novelty-seeker? Some workers turn to side hustles that are the opposite of their main careers—perhaps a deskbound accountant installs bike racks on weekends…or a forklift operator designs websites after work. If that’s you, train up on the skills needed to compete in a field that’s not your bread and butter.
Money-seeker? There’s nothing wrong with pursuing a side hustle purely for financial gain. But even money-seekers are miserable when work is completely unappealing to them, so look for hustles that hit the sweet spot between palatability and profitability.
Best Online Side Hustles Now
- Social-media manager: Many small businesses are eager to outsource the creation and maintenance of their social-media accounts. But: There is a lot of competition for these jobs. Find your niche—the industry, product or service—to show your expertise, and have data showing analytics of your work so you can stand out from the competition.
- Dropshipping: You use an online platform to sell a company’s goods, and the company handles all order fulfillment. FlexJobs.com, Indeed.com and ZipRecruiter.com all have postings for dropship roles.
- Data annotation: Artificial intelligence (AI) companies need people to label data to help in machine learning.
- Tutoring: What are you an expert in? Chances are there’s someone out there who will pay to learn that skill.
- Guinea pig: Companies are hungry for feedback about their products and services, and they will pay for your participation in surveys, software testing, focus groups and more. Search the websites Dscout, UserTesting, Enroll, Swagbucks and UserZoom.
- Virtual assistant: Perform clerical, administrative and execute tasks such as scheduling, event planning and e-mail inbox support, all from home and setting your own hours.
Options Beyond Online
- Pet care: Find local opportunities in pet-sitting, dog-walking, and boarding on Petsitter.com, Wag!, PetBacker and Rover.
- Flipping goods: A popular side hustle is buying antiques, clothing, furniture and/or other goods, sprucing them up and selling them at a profit either online or at an antiques mall, flea market or similar venue.
- Odd jobs: If you’re handy, you can build a portfolio of work in such things as lawn care, home improvement, TV mounting, snow removal, appliance repair and gardening.
Side Hustle Resources
For opportunities both online and off-, try these helpful websites…
- Care.com: A marketplace for caregiving gigs for children, pets and the elderly.
- Fiverr.com: Freelance gigs in programming, design, marketing, writing, consulting and more.
- Upwork.com: Work-from-home opportunities in everything from sales and AI to finance and engineering.
- TaskRabbit.com: A job board for physical, around-the home tasks such as assembling furniture, painting, moving, cleaning and repairs.
