Services and freelancing side hustle ideas

Doing work for clients for a fee: freelance, consulting, done-for-you services, repairs, local services.

103 ideas, page 2 of 3

Services and freelancing
DJ for private events and nights out
Works as a DJ in addition to software work, paid per night.
$1k to $10kIn person
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Fine art and illustration side gigs
Works as a professional fine artist and illustrator on the side, in a shared studio space.
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Mindfulness, breathwork and bodywork private practice
Runs a private practice teaching mindfulness and breathwork, guiding self-exploration and providing healing touch and bodywork.
Part-timeIn person
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Payment processing reseller and gateway
Sells payment processing services, runs a white-label payment gateway, and builds custom apps for payment terminals, alongside a do-it-yourself website builder.
Online
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Play paid music gigs
Played music for pay for decades, including after retiring from a programming career.
In person
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Private adult webcam sessions for regular clients
Does adult webcam work with an established base of private clients, using it as flexible fallback income between jobs.
A few hours a weekOnline
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Translate old magic books for a publisher
Translates books about magic, often old ones found along the way, for an editor. It began as a hobby and now pays.
Under $100Part-time
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
3D printed props and cosplay pieces on commission
Designs and 3D prints props and cosplay pieces for clients who come by referral, charging per commission.
$1k to $10kPart-time
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Advice for founders on hiring technical staff
A CTO with hiring experience helps founders figure out who they need to hire and how to approach them, including finding co-founders.
Under $100Part-timeOnline
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Audio mixing and mastering services
Runs an audio engineering business, mixing and mastering music across many genres for new and experienced artists.
Over $10kPart-timeOnline
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Buy, renovate and sell small houses
Buys older small houses, renovates them on weekends and holidays, and sells them for a profit. Hires out only specialist work like electrical.
Over $10kPart-timeIn person
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Car electronics repair for rare vehicles
Repairs engine and transmission controllers and other electronics for older and rare cars when replacement parts are no longer available, for owners who send them in.
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Consumer ethnography research for small businesses
Offers immersive consumer research, interviewing people and documenting their homes and daily routines, then analyzing it to give founders insight into customer behavior. Clients come by referral.
Part-time
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Custom woodworking from a makershop
Builds custom wood pieces for people who asked after seeing earlier work. Charges mainly to cover materials and some labor.
In person
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Freelance article writing for others
Writes articles for other people, often on topics outside the writer's own expertise, as one of several side gigs.
Under $100Online
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Guide sea kayaking trips for an outfitter
Leads sea kayak expeditions and teaches instruction for a local outfitter, earning enough to pay for gear.
Part-timeIn person
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Guided bike tours of your city
Gives bike tours of a home city, earning cash from guests plus a small payment from the bike shop the tours start from.
In person
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Hypnotist with client referrals
Works as a hypnotist, getting most clients through word of mouth and a website.
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Laser cutting jobs for friends and schools
Uses a CNC laser cutter to make items for friends and local schools, for a modest monthly income.
A few hours a week
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Local sports and race photography
Shoots high school sports and local races for pay, as a hobby that pairs well with technical interests.
$1k to $10kIn person
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Low-overhead solo legal side practice
A solo lawyer takes referral clients for small legal jobs like setting up LLCs, winding down or selling a business, and reviewing NDAs, charging less than larger firms.
Under $100
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Organize small concerts and record local bands
Helps organize small music shows and festivals and records local indie bands, mostly for friends and acquaintances.
In person
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Prototype and small-run CNC machining
Fixed up a used CNC mill and does quick prototypes and small production runs for local customers, found by referral.
Part-timeIn person
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Software consulting for a former employer
Does software consulting for a previous workplace after leaving it, adjusting the rate each year for inflation.
Under $100Part-timeOnline
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Spreadsheet data cleaning for businesses
Cleans 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-timeOnline
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Stand-up comedy gigs
Writes and performs stand-up comedy, earning a modest income from paid gigs each month after several years of building up.
Under $100In person
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Startup strategy consulting with business maps
Offers business strategy consulting to startups using topographical business maps. Aims to help avoid costly mistakes and support fundraising.
Part-timeOnline
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Tech troubleshooting consulting
Helps people fix broken technology, a paid skill since youth.
Under $100
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Websites for wineries paid in barter
Built web pages for local wineries and was paid in goods such as wine rather than cash.
Under $100
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Wildland fire contractor work
Works as a firefighter and medic, adding contract wildland fire deployments. Takes a few hours a week plus one deployment a year.
A few hours a weekIn person
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Bought a site selling YouTube intro videos
Purchased a website that sells custom YouTube intro videos at a low price per order, and aims to grow it and hand off tasks.
Online
Hacker News, 2019
Services and freelancing
Small shared web hosting company
Started a shared hosting company so existing clients could move away from big, confusing hosts. Customers pay hosting fees.
Online
Hacker News, 2016
Services and freelancing
Web design with ongoing hosting fees
Designs websites for clients and hosts them on cloud infrastructure, collecting monthly web and email hosting fees.
Hands-offOnline
Hacker News, 2016
Services and freelancing
Webshop deployment system with per-shop fee
Built an automated system for deploying webshops for a web agency owner, in exchange for a fee on each shop deployed. The income ended when the client retired.
Hands-offOnline
Hacker News, 2016
Services and freelancing
Local phone repair shop
A retail shop that fixes broken phones for walk-in customers, grown from one location to several. The owner later sold the business.
Over $10kIn person
Top Founders, 2016
Services and freelancing
Buy and run a cleaning business
Bought an existing cleaning company and is running it with a business manager, so it needs little weekly attention.
Over $10kHands-off
Hacker News, 2014
Services and freelancing
E-commerce site built for profit share
Built an online store for an acquaintance in exchange for a share of profits each pay period.
Hands-offOnline
Hacker News, 2014
Services and freelancing
Enterprise software consulting on the side
Does enterprise software consulting in the evenings.
Under $100Online
Hacker News, 2014
Services and freelancing
Rent out managed servers to tenants
Administers rented servers, handling updates and small fixes for tenants who pay monthly fees after covering hosting costs.
Over $10kHands-offOnline
Hacker News, 2014
Services and freelancing
Outsourced social media and blog posting for a firm
Does social media and blog content for a jewelry company from home and subcontracts the work to a lower-cost writer.
Under $100Online
Hacker News, 2014
Services and freelancing
Blog that brings in consulting work
Runs a blog that has brought a steady flow of consulting opportunities.
Under $100Online
Hacker News, 2014
Services and freelancing
DJing and personal training gigs
Earns on the side from DJ gigs and personal training, both of which are also personal hobbies.
Hacker News, 2014
Services and freelancing
Convert websites into WordPress themes
Did site-to-WordPress theme conversions for clients, finding them through targeted AdWords ads.
$100 to $1kPart-timeOnline
Hacker News, 2011
Services and freelancing
Husband and wife photography business
A photography business started with a spouse that grew enough for the spouse to quit a day job.
Hacker News, 2011
Services and freelancing
Lease out a developer to a client
Places a former lead developer with an overseas client and earns a margin on the arrangement, alongside personal consulting.
Under $100Hands-offOnline
Hacker News, 2011
Services and freelancing
Messaging service helping startups explain what they do
Offers a service that helps startups write short, clear descriptions of their product for sites and their own pages.
Online
Hacker News, 2011
Services and freelancing
Brick mailbox repair and masonry for HOAs
The 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 person
The Koerner Office
Services and freelancing
Christmas light installation service
A 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 person
The Koerner Office

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