I put together this monster list of side hustle ideas to help get your creative juices flowing.
No more excuses :)
Even better, most of these side hustles don’t require a huge initial investment or even any special skills. And while not all qualify as “business ideas,” each has the potential to earn you money in your spare time.
These are worth anywhere from $50 to $50,000 a month — it all depends on your execution.
1. Food or Grocery Delivery Service
With services like Instacart and DoorDash, you can earn money delivering groceries and take-out orders in your town.I sat down with one full-service Instacart shopper who made $10,000 in his first 6 months!
And you don’t have to worry about keeping your car spotless for passengers, like you would with Uber.
2. Rental Properties
Real estate investing is one of the oldest and most popular side hustles in the books … but houses are expensive!Thankfully, new platforms like Arrived make it easy to invest in income-generating properties—with as little as $100.
The company pools money to buy rental properties, manages them, and then distributes the cash flow every month.
I also liked Austin Miller’s creative approach to building his rental portfolio, which was up to 17 properties worth $1.2 million when we spoke.
The kicker? They were all acquired “free”—without any of his own money.
3. Customer Interviews
Many companies use customer interviews to get feedback on new products.User Interviews and Respondent.io are a pair of cool services that facilitate those interviews online and over the phone.
The best part? The average compensation is $50-150 an hour!
Here are some other companies that facilitate focus groups and paid research studies.
4. 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 (waiting in line, watching TV, etc.).If you love this stuff, check out:
Swagbucks – Earn up to $35 a survey with this mega-popular app, and get a $10 bonus just for signing up!
Survey Junkie – Earn up to $40 a month and cash out beginning at just $5.
InboxDollars – Get a $5 bonus just for signing up!
YouGov - Long-running survey panel, with data often cited in the media.
Branded Surveys – One of the best-rated survey sites with millions paid out.
Pinecone Research – Earn $3 for each 15-20 minute survey. They'll send you a $3 check after your first one.
American Consumer Opinion – Join millions of free members and earn up to $50 per survey.
5. Flipping Items for Profit
My favorite eBay seller is Rob, the “Flea Market Flipper,” who built a 6-figure business buying low and selling high. He and his wife Melissa consistently earn thousands of dollars a month, flipping items part-time!
They put together this free training on how to get started and make your first sales in as little as 2 weeks.
6. YouTube Channel Host
If you generate a lot of video views, you can earn money with YouTube’s revenue sharing program.I’ve been dabbling a bit more with YouTube lately, and recently passed $500 in monthly ad income.
YouTube is an exciting platform because it’s both a search engine and a viral engine — giving you two ways to get discovered. You may not even need to be on camera yourself.
7. Build a Helpful Website
Write content on a topic you care about and build an audience in your niche.For example:
Scott earns 6-figures a year from his bird-watching blog
Jodi earns $5k+ per month from her part-time blog for girl scout troop leaders
Katie earns $6k a month from her gray hair blog
Want to start a blog of your own? Check out my free 6-part video course on how to start your own site.
Jodi earns $5k+ per month from her part-time blog for girl scout troop leaders
Katie earns $6k a month from her gray hair blog
Want to start a blog of your own? Check out my free 6-part video course on how to start your own site.
8. 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!One effective affiliate marketing model is to create “comparison” content that helps readers make a buying decision. Following this strategy, a couple podcast guests reported earning $20,000 a month within the first year of launching their site.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to building your first affiliate website.
9. Reselling Furniture Returns
Reselling furniture returns is a unique low-risk side hustle.How it works is you join Sharetown as a local “reverse logistics” rep. Sharetown partners with direct-to-consumer mattress and furniture brands to handle their return requests. When customers decide they don’t want to keep the item, you’ll get dispatched to go pick it up.
After that, you’ll clean it up, photograph it, and list it for resale on sites like Facebook Marketplace.
The Sharetown reps I’ve connected with target $150-250 per flip — and the kicker is you don’t have to pay Sharetown for the inventory until the item sells.
Check out my full Sharetown review to learn more.
10. “Alternative” Investing
Alternative investments include peer-to-peer lending, real estate crowdfunding, business lending, and even cryptocurrency.This is one of my favorite side hustles because it’s automated and passive. Check out options like Fundrise, which allows you to invest in revenue-generating commercial real estate for as little as $10.
Another example of buying cash flow is to buy an online business. For example, Stacy Caprio bought a small portfolio of sites that—after a couple early mis-steps—was profitable enough to leave her job.