Side hustle ideas from people who actually run them
Real side businesses, described by their owners. Filter by cost, time and how they earn.
- Ideas
- 651 ideas
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- 14 publications and shows
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- 8 categories
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- Files sold online: templates, printables, ebooks, stock photos, fonts, presets, plugins, recorded courses
- A web app, SaaS, mobile app, browser extension, bot or API that people pay for or that earns from ads
- A blog, niche website, newsletter, YouTube channel, podcast or social account that earns from ads, affiliate links or sponsors
- Making, printing or reselling physical goods, online or in person
- Doing work for clients for a fee: freelance, consulting, done-for-you services, repairs, local services
- Earning from something you own: renting property, rooms, equipment, vehicles, parking, vending machines, domains
- A job board, listings site, directory or marketplace that connects buyers and sellers
- Live tutoring, lessons, workshops, coaching or cohort classes
Matching ideas
About the data199 ideas, page 4 of 5
- Content and mediaA site publishing original long-form non-fiction in article and podcast form, funded by donations, a published book and content licensing instead of advertising.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsMakes pull-up bars for home fitness in a small craft business that also gives side-job work to a few people. Most customers buy only once.Online and in personHacker News, 2019
- Teaching and coachingTaught guitar, theory and recording part-time, and now teaches small groups online and consults with bands on production and composition.Hacker News, 2019
- Physical productsSelf-taught circuit board design, then sold a few products to a niche market with no marketing. Sales faded as cheap copies appeared.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsRuns an online store focused on keto and nutrition products in Canada.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsWrites nonfiction books on science and curiosity topics, landing book deals with publishers based on the success of an earlier title.Under $100OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Services and freelancingHelps organize small music shows and festivals and records local indie bands, mostly for friends and acquaintances.In personHacker News, 2019
- Services and freelancingFixed up a used CNC mill and does quick prototypes and small production runs for local customers, found by referral.Part-timeIn personHacker News, 2019
- Teaching and coachingMakes screencasts that teach the Elixir language and sells access to them.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Teaching and coachingWorked as a scuba instructor on the side, which kept the owner supplied with dive gear, though the stress of the service work eventually led to burnout.Part-timeIn personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsMakes yogurt from organic milk bought from a local dairy farmer and sells it.Hacker News, 2019
- Services and freelancingDoes software consulting for a previous workplace after leaving it, adjusting the rate each year for inflation.Under $100Part-timeOnlineHacker News, 2019
- Services and freelancingCleans messy Excel data for companies and sometimes builds simple web apps to replace the spreadsheets. Bills per row, flat fee or hourly depending on the project.Under $100Part-timeOnlineHacker News, 2019
- Services and freelancingWrites and performs stand-up comedy, earning a modest income from paid gigs each month after several years of building up.Under $100In personHacker News, 2019
- Services and freelancingOffers business strategy consulting to startups using topographical business maps. Aims to help avoid costly mistakes and support fundraising.Part-timeOnlineHacker News, 2019
- Teaching and coachingTaught fitness classes on the side alongside a day job.Part-timeIn personHacker News, 2019
- Teaching and coachingTeaches people to build projects without code, earning from memberships and from companies that pay to be listed and to have educational content made.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Teaching and coachingTaught Linux courses on weekends to students eager to learn. Paid per course.Under $100In personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsSells women's clothing through a direct-sales company, with help from a spouse on back office, shipping and sales, part-time assistants, and local networking for marketing.Online and in personHacker News, 2019
- Services and freelancingPurchased a website that sells custom YouTube intro videos at a low price per order, and aims to grow it and hand off tasks.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Software and appsPublishes in-depth long-term stock analyses for German-speaking investors. Revenue comes from monthly subscriptions.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Digital productsWrites and publishes erotic stories as Kindle ebooks and earns from sales.Under $100OnlineHacker News, 2018
- Physical productsPays writers to produce books, then lists and markets them on Amazon, releasing roughly one title a month.OnlineHacker News, 2017
- Teaching and coachingTurned expertise in CSS layout into an online course and in-person workshops. Development teams buy licenses for the course, and the income funds standards work.Online and in personHacker News, 2016
- Digital productsSells paleo diet guides and a meal plan service online.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Physical productsRuns a site that resells SSL certificates. Margins are thin because support requests eat into profit, so the owner would rather sell an own product.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Services and freelancingStarted a shared hosting company so existing clients could move away from big, confusing hosts. Customers pay hosting fees.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsA tool that started as a way to create your own Hacker News style site and grew into software for creating, managing and growing online communities.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Physical productsDesigns and sells a card game aimed at women, people of color and LGBTQ players. Ships stock to an Amazon warehouse every couple of weeks and runs some Facebook advertising.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Content and mediaRuns a website that interviews developers and entrepreneurs about how they earn from their projects. Revenue comes mainly from sponsors.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsMaintains a free open source gem for running test suites in parallel and sells a paid pro version of it. Revenue comes from pro subscriptions.OnlineHacker News, 2016
- Software and appsA jQuery plugin and backend service that adds a shared whiteboard to websites, sold by subscription.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Digital productsSells online courses, with income varying by how much promotion is done each month.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Services and freelancingEarns on the side from DJ gigs and personal training, both of which are also personal hobbies.Hacker News, 2014
- Content and mediaRuns a couple of sites for language learners that cover living expenses.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsA platform for event organizers to host and live stream events.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsLaunched a membership offering premium WordPress plugins with support.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsRuns a web service for sending press releases to media, used by customers promoting books and events, with a free tier for anonymous whistleblowers.$1k to $10kOnlineHacker News, 2014
- Software and appsBuilding a web service that helps designers create client proposals.OnlineHacker News, 2014
- Services and freelancingDid site-to-WordPress theme conversions for clients, finding them through targeted AdWords ads.$100 to $1kPart-timeOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Services and freelancingA photography business started with a spouse that grew enough for the spouse to quit a day job.Hacker News, 2011
- Directories and marketplacesA penny auction site for a local market, relying on manual bank transfers for payment since cards are rare, with plans to white-label it.Part-timeOnlineHacker News, 2011
- Services and freelancingOffers a service that helps startups write short, clear descriptions of their product for sites and their own pages.OnlineHacker News, 2011
- Software and appsBuilt a Twitter app that helps users share more links without flooding followers. Offers a free plan and paid monthly plans.OnlineHacker News, 2011
- Services and freelancingThe operator started by repairing brick mailboxes and grew into masonry work for homeowner associations, using crews for the labor. Income is per-job fees.Part-timeIn personThe Koerner Office
- Services and freelancingA seasonal service installs holiday lights for homeowners and businesses, with multi-year contracts to repeat the work. It was started by a teacher on the side.In personThe Koerner Office
- Services and freelancingThe operator began by selling tote shelves and expanded into general handyman work for local customers. Income is per-job fees.In personThe Koerner Office
- Rentals and assetsThe operator leases large trailers and sub-rents them to customers who need storage or transport space, earning the difference. It was run mostly from a phone.$1k to $10kOnlineThe Koerner Office