If you are a parent of children young or older you will likely at some point have considered starting a ‘side hustle’ – a money earner which you run during the evening or at weekends alongside your current responsibilities (be that a ‘day job’ or looking after the kids all day)
Here are my top 10 (actually more than 10) side hustle ideas for parents and non-parents alike
The theme running through all these side hustle ideas is that they can be:
- These side hustle ideas can be started up and run from home
- Side hustles can be executed alongside current responsibilities. Evenings or weekends if you need to
- These side hustles can be scaled into a full-time business if desired (with the necessary drive and determination of course)
- They can be run by one person (a solopreneur!)
- These side hustle ideas can be run from wherever you are in the world – from Canada to Australia you can start up a side hustle
- Have customers from anywhere in the world. From Kenya, to Ireland and the UK, you can reach people across the globe
- These side hustle ideas are low-cost startups (generally $100 or less to get started)
- They can be started slowly and ‘ramped up’ if you don’t have much time to spend
- All these side hustle ideas can be run using the ‘power of the internet’
One word of warning if you are thinking about starting a side hustle and you currently have a ‘day job’
Do not (repeat) do not let your side hustle compromise your job, and by that I mean
- Do not work on your side hustle when you are being paid to do your day job. Make sure you keep it evenings and weekends
- Do not let your side hustle idea compromise your day job. For instance, if you end up competing against your current employers, sharing company secrets. I would personally recommend that the subject of your side hustle is something completely different to your day job
Just keep them separate and you can’t go too far wrong
Have you ever thought about starting a blog of your own?
Is there something that you are good at or interests you that you would like to share with the world?
Starting a blog of your own is actually much easier than you might think – and once it is up and running you can monetize it in a number of ways (and potentially grow it into an authority site)
If your immediate reaction is ‘blogging is not for me’ then have a read of the article below and then decide for sure
Blogging is actually the ultimate side hustle idea as it can incorporate many of the other ideas and suggestions further down
Side Hustle Ideas #2) Freelancing
This is where things start to get interesting because there are many opportunities for freelancing in lots of different areas available on the internet today
Indeed of all the side hustle ideas I have listed, freelancing probably gives the most flexibility and opportunity
For instance, as a freelance writer, there are many different opportunities today based on your skill level – check out the article below
You could write as a ghostwriter for web publishers, or for individuals looking for writers,
Alternatively set yourself up as a copywriter writing specific sales copy, or you could write for yourself and publish your own books as PDFs or via Kindle Direct Publishing
The possibilities really are endless
Side Hustle Ideas #3) Information Product Creator
Information products are basically products which are sold online which contain – well, information
These may be in the form of eBooks, Videos, PodCasts – or even blogs such as this one
The good news is that anybody can actually create an information product and sell it online to make money.
And the even better news is that once you are up and running you could recruit affiliates (more on that later) and pay them a commission to sell your product
Read the article below (if I haven’t convinced you already) about why you should become an information product creator
Side Hustle Ideas #4) Affiliate Marketer
An affiliate marketer is someone who earns a commission selling or promoting the products and services of other companies.
You may be surprised how many companies and services run some sort of affiliate program
- Amazon, for instance, will give affiliates between 4% and 10% of any sales.
- eBay also run an affiliate program
- and if you are after a company who purely sell digital products (eBooks/software/videos) then look no further than Clickbank.com who generally offer commissions of 50%, sometimes 75%
If you are looking to set up a small business, or even create a money making business in your spare time, then you really should consider affiliate marketing
- You are selling other people’s products directly so there is no stock to be held
- Startup costs are really low – you really just need the cost of a domain name and somewhere to host it – you can realistically get started for under $20
- You can do this in your spare time. Start small, and aim to grow as big as you want to go
- You can also speed up the process by paying for traffic
Affiliate marketing is truly one of the most straightforward ways to start a home business and to start making money online.
Side Hustle Ideas #5) Start an ECommerce Store By Dropshipping
One way you can make money online is by starting your own ecommerce store selling physical products
This is fine if you have the stock and the space to store that stock, but most people don’t have that luxury
If you really want to start an ecommerce store consider dropshipping
This is a service whereby if somebody buys a product from your online store, then you source that product from a wholesaler (dropshipper) who will ship the product directly to your customer
This is an excellent business model and solves many of the problems of stocking an online store
Side Hustle Ideas #6) Create Mini-Sites to Flip
Site flipping is an extremely exciting business model that can be perfect for you even if you’re just starting out.
There are people out there – both individuals and businesses – that want great, money-producing website, but not everyone wants to take the time to create one themselves.
That may be because they simply don’t have the technical skills, or lack the time (or patience) to create one
That’s where you can come in. You can create incredible mini sites and sell them to business owners.
Each mini site you create will be an asset.
You might build it to the point where it’s making money and then someone will buy it so they can turn it into an even bigger moneymaker
Read more about site flipping in the article below
Side Hustle Ideas #7) Give Stuff Away
In essence, this method of making money involves promoting offers that are free to the consumer, but you get paid a commission (usually $1 to $10) if they sign up for whatever the offer is asking them to do
- It may be a free trial of something
- Or an incentive to join a newsletter or mailing list
This is called “Cost Per Lead” (or CPL) and the beauty of it is that you are not actually selling anything, you are effectively giving stuff away for free and you get paid for it, and the good news is that it is possible to build a business around CPL
Side Hustle Ideas #8) Help Local Businesses Get Online
Have a think about how many local businesses there are in the area in which you live.
And then have a think about how many of them have any sort of online presence
Why not start a business which offers simple online solutions at affordable prices
You could build quite a portfolio of local businesses by building websites, facebook pages, twitter accounts and then offer to maintain, host an operate them going forward
You then have a double whammy of an initial fee for the setup and an ongoing fee for continued updates and maintenance
Side Hustle Ideas #9) Sell Arts and Crafts
If you creating things, why not consider selling what you make online through a store like Etsy.com
Or (if you are brave) start your own online store
You could set up in the spare room, be creative in the evenings whilst you are still pursuing your regular “in the day” activities, in effect turning your hobby into a small home business
And there are lots of ‘arts and crafts’ activities which fall under the banner which are easily replicable, such as woodworking, jewelry making, soap making and calligraphy
Side Hustle Ideas #10) Build a Business Around Fiverr
Fiverr is a very interesting little site that took the Internet by storm a few years ago, and it is just as popular today for those both offering services, and those that require something done at a very low price
It would be an ideal place to start a freelancing business, but it is actually so much more than that so is perfect for a side hustle
Fiverr is a marketplace that connects sellers and buyers with ‘gigs’ that cost just $5.
If you want to make money from the site you can post a gig where people will pay you $5 for some type of task.
The possibilities are endless as there are more than 2 million gigs on Fiverr and it has grown into a huge marketplace with thousands upon thousands of members.
And the real beauty (and where the real money is made) is that you can offer upgrades – called ‘gig extras’ for additional services
Starting a side hustle working from home is often a parent’s dream.
They can be near their kids, not have to work by someone else’s clock, and still earn enough money to not only pay for needed items but the wanted items as well.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about all of our side hustle ideas, and all those listed have inspired you to learn more, work hard, and potentially start a new business venture from home
There are tons more side hustle hides, home business ideas, and general money making ideas on the website so sign up for my newsletter for free updates.
Good luck with your own side hustle idea – whatever route you decide to take
If you are a parent of children young or older you will likely at some point have considered starting a ‘side hustle’ –
A “side hustle” is a money earner which you run during the evening or at weekends alongside your current responsibilities (be that a ‘day job’ or looking after the kids all day)
