No matter how rewarding your full-time job may be, finding the right
side business ideas and eventually becoming fully self-employed is even more meaningful than great pay and solid benefits.
Choosing the path of entrepreneurship, and working on your side business
idea, is without a doubt riskier than being content with holding a 9-5
job. It requires
way more sacrifice.
However, once you’re reaping the lifestyle benefits of being your own
boss and hustling your way into making significantly more money with
your business idea than you ever could at your day job, the hard work
will have all been worth it. So, let’s talk
business ideas.
This makes perfect sense. With how many business ideas already exist
out in the world, it can be difficult to come up with the right side
business idea you should be spending your time on. Especially if you're
looking for the kind of home business idea that'll afford you immense
lifestyle flexibility.
The majority of us don't have the luxury of
being able to quit our day jobs to pursue starting a business idea
today, without having to worry about how we're going to meet our
financial obligations moving forward with no immediate income.
1. Start a Blog.
Think blogging is no longer a viable source of income? Think again. Tens
of thousands of bloggers (including yours truly) are creating
profitable content on topics as diverse as scrapbooking, home cooking,
travel, film, lifestyle, business, personal finance and more. And we're
growing our blogs into six-figure businesses thanks to a combination of
email subscribers, affiliate marketing, blog sponsorships, and other
revenue streams. Your first step with starting a blog is quickly getting the technical side of things handled (my free master course on blogging will show you how), and then both understanding what your audience craves and learning how to attract those readers online.
If you want to speed up the process of launching your blog, I
recommend setting up quick, affordable and easy website hosting with a
company like
Bluehost,
choosing a simple WordPress theme and working on your first post, in
order to set the precedent of prioritizing your time on creating
content, connecting with (and building) your audience. Then once you've
been able to build a community around your blog, you'll want to invest
in really understanding your readers—so that you can give them more of
what they want.
I know first-hand that learning how to start a blog (let alone make money from it) can be a massive undertaking.
2. Graphic Design.
While having a formal background in graphic design is absolutely going to be helpful, it’s also relatively easy to learn the foundations of graphic design on your own. An increasingly easy-to-use Adobe Illustrator and even more easily accessible tools like Stencil and Visme
are making it so that just about anyone with two opposable
thumbs, a bit of creativity, and motivation can earn a side income doing
things like designing (and selling) images like these motivational quotes
that can be printed onto posters and sold on platforms like Etsy. Or
you can find a local startup, small business owner, or photographer who
could benefit from some extra help designing or altering images.
But before you can graduate from side business idea and start earning a
full-time living as a graphic designer, you'll need to build your
skills—I recommend starting with reading the foundational book Graphic Design School and Steal Like an Artist,
the incredible book by Austin Kleon about how to become more creative.
To accelerate your education in becoming a graphic designer even
quicker, check out the online courses Graphic Design Fundamentals and The Graphic Design Bootcamp.
Then once you're an expert at your craft, you can further your
education and move up to offering more hands-on experiences like design sprints for higher-value clients around the world.
3. Web Design.
Web designers are incredibly valuable for technology companies—which
is why becoming a freelance web designer is a top side business idea
today. Web design is all about mastering the art of creating a
beautiful, value-driven experience for the people using a website or
app. There are always new websites popping up in need of professional
web design, and foundational books like HTML & CSS: Design and Build Websites by acclaimed web designer Jon Duckett and Don't Make Me Think
by user experience legend Steve Krug will get you started down the
right path to quickly determining whether or not becoming a web designer
is a viable side business idea for you.
Then you can move into more actionable online courses like Modern Web Design on CreativeLive and Learn Web Design and Profitable Freelancing on
Udemy will teach you everything from foundational web design knowledge
to earning your first freelance income as a web designer. On top of
that, you can take even more immersive courses and learning experiences
with access to direct instructor feedback and personal mentorship with
platforms like Treehouse, LinkedIn Learning and
General Assembly to get up-to-speed even quicker with this career path and listen to my podcast interview with Ian Paget about how to become a freelance designer as a side business idea.
4. Start a YouTube Channel.
Yes, spending time on YouTube can be a legitimate business idea if you
take it seriously. If you can create value-driven, entertaining video
content and grow your subscriber base to a few thousand subscribers,
your videos can start generating pretty substantial income from all the
ads being displayed on your videos. Many YouTube users make
well into the millions
each year, so there's clear potential to take this from side business
idea to eventual millionaire with the right combination of content,
audience, skills, relationships and timing. If you’re considering
starting a YouTube channel it’s important use best practices when making
videos. Read the
YouTube playbook for tips which will result in faster growth of your channel. Additionally think about investing in a
quality camera and microphone since the production quality of videos can often affect your viewership.
5. Online Courses.
Using your skills for profit is a common trend with all of the best
side business ideas. If you're an expert at something, there's likely an
audience of people online who would be willing to pay to become an
expert in your field—just like you. If you want to take your skills and
turn them into an online course that teaches others how to get the same
results you've achieved in your life, career, or business, start with How to Create an Awesome Online Course
on Udemy, where instructor Miguel Hernandez covers how he makes over
$90,000/yr teaching online. You'll learn from more than 8 hours of video
instruction.
If you want to find a profitable online course idea in the next
3 days, join my free online course
Find a Profitable Business Idea today.
It'll walk you step-by-step through the process I've used to generate
more than $15,000 in online course sales in a single week. Then once
you're ready to start teaching your own online course, I recommend using
Teachable,
the easiest and most affordable platform to use for creating, hosting
and selling your online courses. They also have a ton of free
educational resources about how to get started with creating an online
course (yes, even as a side business idea).
6. Instagram Marketing.
Build up a following on your Instagram account and you could quickly be
approached by major brands, gear companies, and other relevant
businesses that sell products or services related to the type of content
you share on Instagram—creating multiple potential side business ideas
that'll come to you. If you have the right marketing skills
and hundreds of thousands of followers, you can easily charge anywhere
between $500 to $5,000 per post (or more)—which makes for a very
profitable side business idea. Check out
this fashion Instagrammer on
ThePennyHoarder, making a significant income from brand sponsorships.
Once you get some traction, to cut down on the amount of time you spend
uploading images, you can make your entire workflow more efficient by posting photos from your Mac or PC.
7. Online Coaching.
If you have something you're skilled at and very passionate about,
you can turn that winning combination into offering your services with
one-on-one online coaching as a solid side business idea. Just be sure
to implement your own opportunity management system
so you don't get caught up working with clients that you can't
measurably help. Elmira Strange will give you a step-by-step plan for
putting your skills and experience to work by developing an online
coaching business—even as a side business idea in the time around your
full-time job—so be sure to check out
her course on Udemy for a jump start on this side business idea.
On
top of just the skill and experience components to being a successful
online coach, this side business idea is all about building a community
around the help you're offering and fostering trust with members. Plus,
your community members will learn from each other along the way.
Creating the space for that community can be as simple as setting up a
private Facebook group or choosing a community-building platform like
Ning.com that has even more capabilities like using your own custom URL, having internal forums, customized designs, and more.
8. Amazon Reselling.
Anyone can sell goods on
Amazon,
provided you have products to sell (or buy low, then resell). If you’re
the type to hit all the local garage sales each weekend, there’s all
sorts of valuable things that can be resold online as a side business
idea. If you want to step your Amazon selling game up, check out this
detailed guide to
Amazon and eBay retail arbitrage on
Entrepreneur featuring an interview with Julie Becker and several
drop-shippers who've grown this home based business idea from side
business idea into a lucrative money-maker.
9. Local Business Consulting.
If you've developed valuable skill sets or certifications within your
industry over the years, consider putting your skills to use in your
free time by offering your consulting services to local business owners
as a potentially lucrative side business idea. Whether you're an expert
marketer, business strategist, or manufacturing aficionado, there's
likely a local business owner who's willing to pay you to help them
solve an issue with their company—if you can craft an effective cold email that convinces them to hire you. Start with this 18-step checklist
to becoming a local business consultant as a side business idea, from
Karyn Greenstreet. When you're ready to get serious about becoming a
consultant, check out all of my picks for the best online business courses
to keep building your skills and learning how to land your first
consulting clients. Personally, I think this is one of the best business
ideas you can get started with today.
10. Commission-Only Sales.
If you have a knack for connecting with people and the willingness to
take on some risk, a commission-based freelance sales role could be a
great side business idea for you. Many startups seek part-time and
commission-only salespeople, especially when they're just getting
started, which means you'll often be able to make this a home based
business idea. Develop your
sales strategies, become an
inside sales rep and perfect your
cold calling
skills on the side in your free time for nothing but commission,
negotiate a little equity and you could profit big time if you're
pitching a solid product and the startup succeeds. Start your sales
education with the acclaimed books,
Secrets of a Master Closer and
To Sell is Human by famed bestselling author Daniel Pink and you'll be well on your way to getting this side business idea off the ground.
Then you can move on to more immersive sales education through online courses like
Sales Training and Prospecting on Udemy,
The Guide to Pitching and Selling Clients on CreativeLive. Once you're ready to put your selling skills to the test, check out
Angel List and
see if any sales position opportunities align with your interests—the
last thing you want to do is get stuck selling products or services
you're not interested in. However, by starting out your sales career as a
side business idea, that gives you the flexibility to easily change
courses if you ever need to.
11. Affiliate Sales and Marketing.
If you already have a website that's driving in targeted traffic, a great way to make passive income from the content you're already creating as an easy side business idea, is through affiliate marketing. ShareASale, Rakuten, Clickbank, and Skimlinks are
a few of the best affiliate networks and tools that can help
you make money from the content you already produce, thus amplifying
your side business idea income. Check out this extensive list by Justine
Grey, covering the 59 Best Affiliate Programs for Business Bloggers to get some inspiration on how other bloggers are growing affiliate blogs from side business idea to full-time company.
12. Social Media Manager.
We're all guilty of spending too much time on Facebook, Twitter, or
Pinterest sometimes, so why not get paid to put your expertise to work
as a side business idea? Lots of companies, especially startups or those
in retail and travel—even influencers have heavy social media presences
and are constantly in need of people to help build their brands online.
You can find these types of opportunities on sites like
Flexjobs and
CareerBuilder and
most employers on these websites are conditioned to working with people
who operate these services as their side business idea. Over time as
you grow in your ability to leverage various social channels, you can
add more service offerings like running high-return
Facebook Ad campaigns or hosting lucrative sweepstakes competitions for the brands you want to work with.
Build your own social following and create a personal brand for yourself
like Matt Nelson, founder of WeRateDogs has done
(thus growing his following to more than 2.8 Million people), and
countless opportunities will come your way for turning this side
business idea into a full-time business.
13. Google Paid Ad Specialist.
If you know a thing or two about paid internet marketing and are
comfortable with Google, a great way to make some extra income as a side
business idea is to sign a
freelance contract to manage a company’s
Google Ad Campaigns, and gradually start bringing on more clients as your consulting business grows. Just be sure to brush up on all the right
business slang and industry jargon that's pervasive in the online marketing world before you launch unprepared into this side business idea.
14. Babysitter.
No, babysitting isn’t just for teenagers and college students. Quite on the contrary, if you call yourself an Au Pair
instead, you can make some pretty good side money working nights and
weekends with this business idea if you don't mind the often odd hours.
15. Sell on Etsy.
Have a talent for crafting or creating other handmade goods? From bracelets to phone cases, rings, furniture, and more, Etsy
is one of the world's largest independent marketplaces that’s perfect
for anyone who is creative and willing to sell their handmade creations.
As long as you have the space, this can make for one of the best home
business ideas that can be started as a side hustle with a very limited
investment. Consider these 5 steps to starting an Etsy store, from Handmadeology. Then, after you're able to build your brand and grow your own audience, you can start an eCommerce site
of your own and retain a larger portion of the revenue from your
product sales—making this a very lucrative potential business idea if
you're able to find an audience that loves your products.
16. Fiverr Gigs.
Fiverr is
a great place for first-time freelancers who might not have tons of
experience and want to build up a portfolio of their work. You'll be
able to complete simple tasks ranging from logo design, to creating
animations, or even
drawing a company logo on your forehead. While this side business idea likely won't be growing into
a million dollar startup for
you, it can still be a platform for funding your next big business
idea. Want to learn more about Fiverr's history and how to get the most
out of selling on the platform? Listen to
my interview with Fiverr CEO Micha Kaufman.
17. Portrait Photographer.
If you own a camera, starting a freelance portrait photography business
could be a very natural way to turn your skills and passions into a
profitable business idea. Start with doing free shoots for friends and
family to build up a strong online portfolio, get familiar with your
gear and the editing process, then you'll be able to get paid for
photographing professional head shots and celebratory family moments as
your side business idea. Get started by checking out this
men's portrait photography class that regularly broadcasts for free on CreativeLive. Plus, once you have all the gear for your
photography business, you can earn a little extra side income by renting it out when you're not using it through online marketplaces like
Fat Lama.
18. Wedding Photographer.
Wedding photographers command premium rates. After all, you are
capturing one of a couple's most important life moments, making it a
very lucrative side business idea. Many professional wedding photographers charge between $2,500 - $10,000 (
or more)
to shoot a wedding, so it's realistic that this side business idea
could quickly blossom into becoming a full-time endeavor with the right
happy clientele base that's willing to refer you to their friends and
family. Check out the
Complete Wedding Photography Experience over on CreativeLive to get up to speed on everything you need to launch a successful wedding photography business.
19. Drive for Uber or Lyft.
Driving for one of the two globally expanding app-centric taxi alternative services, Uber
or Lyft can still be a fairly lucrative way to earn money as a side
business idea on nights and weekends—working only when you want. But
before you dive head first into this side business idea, do your
homework and calculate the costs of extra gas, mileage, tires, wear
& tear and usage on your vehicle—it's not a guaranteed business idea
that'll turn a huge profit every weekend.
20. Art Collector.
Not to be confused with hoarding, this business idea takes a lot of
time, patience, and passion. If you have an eye for good art, it’s easy
to get in on the ground level by visiting the studio department at your
local university—though don't expect to get rich overnight with this
side business idea. Many art students are more than happy to sell their
work for a bargain, and in as little as a few years, there's a chance
that piece you bought for a couple hundred bucks may be worth well into
the thousands. Beware though, this business idea will take a whole lot
of patience (and storage space for all that art).
21. Catering Business.
EatWith
is a great way to test the waters as a chef for your side business
idea, and if you have enough rave reviews you might be able to turn your
knife skills into a full-time endeavor where you're leveraging your
network to book catering events. This side business idea is built
heavily upon getting happy referrals, so be sure to over-deliver for
your first customers, and ask if they know anyone else who could be in
need of your catering services.
22. Develop an App.
Sometimes it seems like there’s an app for everything. Yet somehow, new
ones keep popping up and selling for lots of money, all the time. If you
spot a niche that hasn’t been filled to its potential just yet, and you
can
learn the coding skills
(or know someone who already has them), you could be on to something
with this side business idea. Today, it's even possible to
build an app without any coding skills whatsoever. Just make sure you
validate your app idea
before jumping too far in. Even if your app business idea doesn't pan
out to be a best-seller, you'll still pick up valuable skills.
23. Personal Fitness Trainer.
If you’re a fitness buff and have the right combination of charisma and
business sense, working as a part-time personal trainer as a side
business idea can be both physically and financially rewarding. Once you
build up a reputation and client base for yourself, it could easily
turn into a full-time endeavor for you. Check out
these tips to a successful personal training business by the American Fitness Professionals and
this interview with several fitness blog owners
who are making a living online, from MonetizePros. Finally, I'd
recommend checking out this resource if you want to take this business
idea seriously and get started with a
business plan for your personal fitness trainer business today.
24. Yoga or Meditation Instructor.
Yoga is getting ever more popular, which means yoga instructors are more
in demand than ever—making this another physically rewarding side
business idea. Link up with a local yoga studio to teach nightly classes
or offer personalized yoga in-home at a higher rate to pursue this kind
of emotional and physical balance with others, during your free time
while helping your bank balance, too.
25. Music Instructor.
Do you play a musical instrument well enough to teach it to others? How about taking your skills at producing music or
sound design
and teaching others as a service-based business idea based on your
experience? Private music instructors in all disciplines charge upwards
of $20-100/hr (or more depending upon skill and experience), and you
don’t necessarily have to do them in person, either. This makes for a
great side business idea that can channel your passion for music into
profits.
26. Stock Photographer.
If you have a fondness for taking pictures of smiling families or laughing children blowing bubbles, consider
becoming a stock photographer and selling your images to a stock photo company like
Unsplash,
ShutterStock and
iStockPhoto as
a side business idea. You’ll get royalties every time someone licenses
an image you’ve submitted. To really be successful, build your own
photography website to be able to showcase your portfolio and start getting higher-paid private corporate work.
27. DJ-ing.
Take the time to develop your skills at either making your own music, or
becoming a pro at mixing, and your side business idea of dj-ing local
events could turn into a
much bigger endeavor. Though you'll first need to command a solid knowledge of
sound design,
mixing and music production before expecting to land your first gig
with this business idea, as developing an entirely new skill set is not
for the faint of heart.
28. Clothing Alterations and Tailoring.
Fashion, style, and grooming continue to be a lucrative side business
idea that can be done in your hours outside of work. If you know how to
mend
clothes, then you have a growing market of budget-conscious and/or
personalization-obsessed customers. Entrepreneur says you need around
two thousand dollars to
start a decent side business idea in this niche but there’s no harm in
starting smaller and growing from there, as long as you can make magic
with needle and thread.
29. Computer Repair.
Employed techies planning to earn some extra side income can leverage their software and hardware skills by offering
home-based computer repair services
as a business idea that engages their passion. If this rings a bell,
you can start with a modest one-man tech team before envisioning a
scaled-up operation as massive as
Geek Squad.
Remember, you can provide home service locally as a starting point to
this business idea, as well as offer remote support through online
messaging and video calling services before making your way into a
retail setting.
30. Modeling.
If you've got the attitude (and look), there should be a product or
service out there on the hunt for the right model to promote their brand
as a side business idea. You can sign up with a large agency, find a
freelance agent, or look for your own modeling gigs as an independent
talent. Since modeling is a complex field,
get all the advice you need before jumping right in and find a mentor
who can guide you through some of the early challenges it'll take to
establish your brand. Depending on your preference, you can specialize
in a single media format such as video or still images, to build a
compelling portfolio and grow this into a business idea that has the
potential to scale.
31. Computer Training and Lessons.
Everyone (even kids and retirees) need to have some level of technical
know-how to stay competitive and appreciate the marvels of the digital
age. Just observe how learning sites like
Codecademy,
Treehouse, and
Udacity continue
to grow and you’ll understand the urgency of getting computer training
for our generation (thus making it a great business idea to train others
if you already have the skills). If you’re a techie, you can cash in on
this need by offering lessons and tutorials within your neighborhood or
across cyberspace through portals like YouTube or
Udemy as a side business idea. You can even set up your own tutorial site with an interface for online payments.
32. Making Custom Furniture.
Turning your favorite craft or hobby into a revenue-generating
business idea easily counts among the most fulfilling experiences anyone
can have. With more and more people demanding a higher degree of
personalization in just about anything they own or use, count yourself
lucky if your craft happens to be the
creation of custom furniture. Not only is the real estate sector regaining its footing, the number of
style-conscious customers is also on the rise, creating plenty of room for growth into this business idea.
33. Becoming a Personal Chef.
Busy schedules can stress people out. It can also disrupt family life to
the point that busy parents and homework-laden kids barely have time to
prepare decent dinners and weekend meals. Hence, the surprising demand
for
part-time family chefs as
a business idea. If cooking healthy and delicious meals is your thing,
then this lucrative side business idea can supplement your regular
income by helping feed busy homes. Hear Gaby Dalkin's story of going
from side business idea to full-time blogger while she was a part-time
personal chef right here on
my podcast.
34. T-Shirt Printing Business.
As I’ve already covered with TeeSpring, the T-shirt retailing business
is worth millions of dollars. But what if you want to do the
manufacturing side of things?
T-shirt printing
turns out to be quite a rewarding business idea for many each year, but
can quickly consume much of your side business idea time—so know what
you're getting into before diving in. This multi-billion dollar industry
counts big corporate factories as well as home-based part-time
entrepreneurs.
35. Selling Handmade Clothing and Garments.
With the rise of online craft marketplaces like Etsy, people with decent
artisanal skills like sewing and woodworking have an always-open market
to sell their products as a side business idea. If you’ve always wanted
to
design and make clothes by hand, then you can start turning those fashion ideas into real, hand-sewn garments and
earn a little bit with this side business idea while you sleep and customers from around the world browse your Etsy & Amazon stores.
36. Antique Refurbishing.
The
antique market
is not as lively as it used to be. But there’s still money to be had
from the industry if you love rare old stuff and possess the skill of
restoring them to their former glory. To
start an antique refurbishing business
at home, you’ll likely need a few thousand dollars to build out a basic
workshop and stock it with all of the right treatments and materials in
order to truly excel with this side business idea. Start small by
borrowing around what you can, and learning the basics of the trade as a
side hustle before investing in a ton of equipment.
37. Dance Instructor.
Most people, even those many won’t admit it, love moving their
bodies. It's also a great workout. If at some point in your life, you
had to hang your dancing shoes for a more sensible office job, there's
nothing stopping you from earning money with this side business idea as a
passion project around your day job. Part-time dance instructors get a
fraction of the
pie that
their full-time peers enjoy, but it can add up to hundreds each week if
you're consistent—making for a great side business idea to those with
the skills and drive.
38. Home-Based Makeup Services.
If you have a talent for helping people look their best, and know how to
mesmerize with eyeliners and turn heads with lipsticks, consider
using your beauty skills to pursue this easily profitable side business
idea. For under $2000, you can start your own
make-up artist business which
can make for the foundation of a potentially lucrative side business
idea that turns a profit largely by referrals and word-of-mouth from
your happy customers.