How to Pick and Start a Side Hustle

There are hundreds of different side hustles you can do, ranging from mowing lawns to freelancing online. To get a sense of what’s out there, take a look at our list of the 30+ best side hustle ideas and see if anything appeals.

Common side hustles include:

• Babysitting
• Delivering food, packages, or groceries
• Freelancing (writing, programming, doing graphic design, etc.)
• Manual labor
• Mowing lawns
• Pet sitting
• Picking up shift work (food service, bartending, etc.)
• Renting out spare property
• Ridesharing (driving for Uber or Lyft)
• Selling products online
• Tutoring

That list is by no means complete; again, there are hundreds of possibilities.

When you consider which line of work to pick, consider your:

• Skills and interests: Ideally, you’ll choose a side hustle that you’re genuinely interested in and that aligns with your skills. This isn’t necessarily the most important consideration, but it’s worth bearing in mind. After all, if your side hustle feels like drudgery, you’ll probably have a hard time sticking with it.
• Schedule: A good side hustle will fit around your pre-existing commitments. Let’s say you work fixed hours—you might want to try a gig app like Uber, which lets you start and stop working whenever you want. On the other hand, if your schedule is flexible, you’re in a better position to try something like part-time retail work.
• Financial needs: Everyone hopes to make money with their side hustle, but it matters how much you want to make and how soon you need it. If you’re relatively financially stable, you’re free to pick a hustle with a longer startup time, like establishing a store on Etsy, whereas if you need money now, it makes more sense to try your hand at delivery driving or something else that could plausibly pay out in just a few days.

Bear in mind that you don’t have to pick just one side hustle. If you’re interested in more than one in the list we linked above, feel free to try both and stick with however many you end up liking in the end.

Once you’ve picked the type of work you want to do, figure out how you’ll go about establishing your hustle.

Depending on what you chose, this might entail creating an actual business plan (which will take some time; these are usually at least 15–20 pages long). As you’d expect, you’ll need to do this if you picked something that amounts to founding your own business, like starting a clothing brand.

On the other hand, if you picked something that’s low-commitment and has a low barrier to entry, like becoming an Uber driver, this is probably as simple as searching for an article that walks you through how to begin. Your “plan” can consist of a couple bullet points that you keep in your head (although if you find it helpful to write them down, by all means, do so).

Either way, you should makes sure you’re crystal clear on your:

• Objectives: Set goals. These might include making a certain amount of money, attracting a certain number of customers, earning enough that you can quit your primary job, or something else. The goal is to make these concrete so that you can evaluate your progress in an objective way.
• Timeline: Along with establishing your goals, come up with a timeline for when you want to achieve them. Again, this helps you establish a way of measuring your success so that you know whether what you’re doing is “working” or if you need a new plan (or a new side hustle entirely).
• Strategy: Figure out how your customers or clients are, how you’re going to market to them, and how what you offer will differ from what they can get elsewhere. This is worth doing even with a simple and straightforward side hustle like driving for Uber (you can brainstorm ways to give customers a better experience than your competitors, which will translate to better tips).
• Expenses: You often have to spend money to make money. Estimate your startup costs and ongoing expenses, and consider whether you can field them yourself or whether you’ll need outside help.

To expand on the last point, if you’re starting a fairly resource-intensive side hustle (i.e., a small business) and you need funding, your plan should also include where you’re going to get it. Many people launch companies with loans from friends or family members, but you can also look into bank loans, crowdfunding, and angel investing.

If your side hustle is a relatively small-time gig and you have no interest in turning it into a fully fledged company, you can skip this step.

However, if you have big plans for it, you should consider formally registering it as a business entity.

You have several options:

• Sole proprietorship: This is the simplest form of business entity; it’s a company that consists of you and you alone. You don’t actually need to register a business at all to form a sole proprietorship, as one-person businesses are classified this way by default. However, the simplicity of this structure also comes with severe downsides. You’ll be responsible for all aspects of your business, including its debts and liabilities.
• General partnership: The main difference between a sole proprietorship and a partnership is that the latter has multiple business owners who share in its profits and losses. With this option, you don’t need to register your business with the state, either.
• Limited partnership: By contrast, a limited partnership requires registration. Limited partnerships are made up of general partners and limited partners. General partners are owners and are responsible for the business’s liabilities, whereas the latter are solely investors.
• Limited liability company (LLC): “Limited liability” means that as an owner, you aren’t responsible for your business’s debts or legal liabilities (i.e., if someone sues your company, your own money won’t be on the line).
• Corporation: Like LLCs, corporations are legally separate from their owners. The difference is that they have shareholders. Registering your company as a corporation is probably overkill unless you dream of really scaling it up.

Many entrepreneurs choose to register their new companies as LLCs. This costs money, but the legal protections it offers generally make it worth it. That said, you should thoroughly research this subject before you commit, and don’t be afraid to consult with a professional (an attorney) if you have questions.

Unless you plan on using a gig app that will take care of all the work of finding clients or customers for you, your side hustle needs to have a clear and memorable brand. That isn’t just meaningless marketing-speak; in plain English, your “brand” is just how you present yourself and your services.

It starts with your business’s name and logo. Even if you’re just picking up a few freelance jobs or running a small-time eBay store, it’s a good idea to have both of these.

Ideally, your business’s name will be clear, memorable, and relevant. To avoid copyright infringement, check whether it’s already been picked by searching these databases:

• United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
• ICANN Registration Data Lookup Tool
• Your state’s website (see if your Secretary of State maintains a business search function)

As far as logos go, a good one will cleverly convey the personality and values you want people to associate with you and your products or services. Unless you’re a skilled designer, doing this yourself is a big ask, and it’s probably worth hiring a professional on a site like Upwork to help you. Logos are notoriously hard to get right, and displaying an amateurishly constructed one can be embarrassing.

Depending on your side hustle, you may need to obtain (and regularly renew) a license, permit, or certification to legally operate it. Often, getting one of these will come with associated fees, which you should include in your projected startup costs.

To determine if this step is necessary, do a quick search online or ask other professionals in your industry about the credentials your line of work requires.

In some cases, getting credentialed may be optional but helpful. For example, you technically don’t need a certification to become a career coach. However, getting one might make it easier to convince clients to give you a shot when you’re just starting out.

It’s up to you to decide if pursuing formal certification is worthwhile. Do your due diligence, and weigh the pros and cons before deciding.

Unless you exclusively offer your services through a third-party platform (like a freelancing job board or a gig app), you need to get your name out there to find clients and land jobs.

The best way to build an online presence is to create a website and set up accounts on popular social media platforms, such as Instagram. Doing so makes it possible to promote your products and services and engage with the public.

There are a lot of cheap platforms you can use to create and host a website, including:

• Wix
• Squarespace
• WordPress

At this stage, it’s also time to start executing the marketing strategy you developed in step two. Modify it if necessary as you grow your side hustle, and don’t underestimate the power of word-of-mouth. Simply letting the people around you know about what you’re doing may lead to a few job opportunities.

Now that you’ve laid the foundations for your business, it’s time to actually start hustling. Whether you’re selling baked goods from home, walking dogs around your neighborhood, or offering virtual assistant services, there comes a time when there’s nothing left to do but execute on your plan and see how everything shakes out.

Collect feedback from your customers or clients so that you can analyze your performance. A crucial part of building a successful side business is to never become complacent. No matter how well you do, there’s always room for growth and improvement.

With that said, take steps to make sure you’re managing your time appropriately. Prioritize tasks according to their urgency and importance, and remember to set at least some time aside for relaxation.

Balancing your primary job, side hustle, and personal life will probably be an ongoing struggle, especially when you’re just starting out. If you’re not careful, you could burn out and bring your side hustle to an early end.

Once you have your side hustle up and running, you can consider expanding it. It’s possible to do this with almost every type of gig. In many cases, it means hiring other people to do the work you started out doing yourself and moving into a more managerial role.

If you’re landing most of your work through an app or website, this will probably mean moving off-platform. If your side hustle consists of driving for Uber or walking dogs for Rover, for instance, you can’t really hire employees and remain on the app. This is obviously a big step, but if you want your side gig to become your new career—the ultimate goal for many hustlers—it’s necessary.

Now that you have all the information you need, it’s time to give your side hustle a shot. Good luck!