30 of the best side hustle ideas to start in 2024
Starting a side hustle can be one of the most beneficial work decisions you can make, but it’s not always easy to know where to start.
In this article, we’ve listed 30 of the best side hustle ideas to start in 2024. Even if you don’t decide to go with anything on our list, we hope that they might give you some insight into what you might like to do.
What is a side hustle?
A side hustle refers to any kind of income that is outside of a full-time job. People often use the term side hustle to refer to sources of income that are outside of employment entirely, and are more entrepreneurial in nature.
30 side hustles to start in 2024
If you’re stuck for side hustle ideas, here are 30 ideas that might help you, and that are popular side hustle choices for many people.
1. Tutoring
Students and professionals are always on the lookout for tutoring services, whether they’re looking to pass an exam or study for a qualification.
Sites such as TutorCruncher and MyTutor will provide a good starting point if you don’t already have leads. From here, you can start to build up a portfolio, and good pass rates for your students, attracting more clients, and eventually even going private.
2. Selling digital products
If you have a particular skill set that people are looking to learn, then instead of directly tutoring them, you could consider selling a digital product, such as a course or a tool that helps people achieve something. If you have a large online following, then profits from digital products can be very high.
This is an ideal side hustle for anyone who is a bit more experienced in their field, and has knowledge that is in-demand.
3. Translation services & language learning
Being bilingual can be incredibly useful for a side hustle, as you can consider offering translation services. Translation is in high-demand, particularly translations done by native speakers who understand the nuances and colloquialisms of each language.
You can also tutor people who are learning a language via iTalki. This could be a great way to get started on teaching a second language. This side hustle will also allow you to move into translation or tutoring.
4. Teach English online
Even if you’re not bilingual, there is a huge global demand for English learning. Many students across the world are looking to sharpen their English skills, as well as professionals looking to boost their English abilities to look for employment opportunities in English-speaking countries.
Sites such as Preply are always looking for English tutors, which could be an ideal place to start.
5. Mystery shopping
Brands are always looking for ways to collect accurate, real-time data, and platforms such as Shepper will pay you to collect this information. By taking photos and filling out surveys, you can earn on average £7 from each job. This side hustle can be done at any time, so you can fit it around any work schedule.
6. Fitness coaching
Fitness coaches will never go out of fashion, and due to the variety of activities and increased awareness around health, you can carve out almost any niche within it. You could look into becoming a personal trainer, a yoga instructor, a pilates instructor, or a martial arts coach.
7. Refereeing
In the same vein of physical sports, refereeing can be a great side hustle. Many people are looking to play football for their own fitness and social lives, as well as part of collaborative work activities. Often kids’ clubs and schools are looking for referees for weekend activities.
8. Selling clothes & accessories
Vintage and second-hand clothes are becoming increasingly popular thanks to awareness of sustainability and increasing rejection of fast fashion. This means that there is a demand for old clothes, and greater appeal of clothes that are no longer in production.
Vinted and Depop are some of the most popular choices to start selling clothes.
9. Cleaning
Cleaning services are constantly sought after, and they can fit around almost any schedule. You could become a cleaner for houses, or even offices. Joining an agency is a good place to start, and after that, you could move into a more private service.
10. Event planning
Event planning can be a great side hustle, particularly if you’re well-connected. Starting a side hustle as an event planner can be challenging, but incredibly rewarding. We recommend starting with local band shows and charity fun days, before getting more experience and moving onto larger events once you’ve built up a good reputation.
11. Catering & baking
If you’re a keen cook or baker, then you can sell your food online via a delivery service. Many people who start food trucks or food stalls begin this way. Food trucks are popular in London, particularly outside offices in places such as Liverpool Street and Canary Wharf. Once you’ve established yourself in this way, then you could look to expanding and creating your own restaurant or shop.
12. Voiceover acting & modelling
There are plenty of projects looking for voiceovers and models. This can be anything from product promotions to business guides. Sometimes these product promotions will require your face to be in the video to present the product, which is the opportunity for more work.
Many gigs on Fiverr are offering voiceover work, so you could post a few gigs yourself and offer your services there.
13. Teaching an instrument
People of all ages are looking to learn an instrument, and due to the expertise and time required, they will often pay well for lessons.
You could start with friends and family, and then move on to more clients. Often people will begin this way, but you can also begin online with platforms such as MusicTeacher.com.
14. Makeup artistry
Makeup artistry is constantly in demand, particularly for events such as weddings and birthdays. If you’re a skilled makeup artist, then this could be a fantastic side hustle to get into.
You could also expand into social media content, to not only build an online presence, but also attract new clients.
15. Data entry
Data entry jobs as a side hustle are incredibly easy to start and can make good money. FlexJobs is one of the most popular sites for data entry jobs. Data entry can be low-paid, but the upside is that there is always work to be done. If you have a lot of free time and you are efficient, this can be a very profitable side hustle.
16. Personal shopping
Becoming a personal shopper as a side hustle is ideal if you have a keen eye for retail. Sites such as Locally Best can be a great place to start if you’re unsure of how to find clients or what to offer as a service.
Personal shopping isn’t just a high-end luxury service. You can shop for almost anything on behalf of other people. Charity shop and thrift shop personal shopping is on the rise too, which could fit in well with the clothes selling side hustle listed earlier.
17. Tour guiding
Do you live in a historical city or a tourist destination? If so, there might be opportunities to give tours, either as part of a company, or even hosting your own private tours to visitors.
TripAdvisor is a great place to advertise an attraction tour, which visitors will see when they’re looking for things to do in your area. You can also use this to join a group of tour guides to facilitate larger groups, or tours in different languages.
18. Babysitting
Babysitting is a service that is constantly in demand, and building a good reputation within a neighbourhood or town will mean a constant influx of work. Due to the nature of babysitting, it’s often a service that’s needed outside of working hours, so you can do this easily alongside your main job.
19. Medical testing
Paid clinical trials are one way to earn extra income, with some trials paying over £100 per day. There are also flu camps, which can pay thousands for a few weeks. While these schemes will have sufficient protection, this should only be tried by those who are confident of their own health and aware of the risks.
20. Freelancing
Freelancing can be one of the simplest ways to boost your income. The best part about freelancing is that often it can be done in the same field as your main job.
For example, if you are a graphic designer, you could then also work with freelance clients within your own time. Plus, there are barely any start-up costs to freelancing.
Read our 17 business ideas blog for more detail on freelancing as a side hustle.
Top Tip: Freelancing is a great way to test the waters with a passion to see if you enjoy earning money from it. To learn more about how to jumpstart your success as a freelancer, read our guide to 32 proven ways to increase your clients as a freelancer 💥
21. Virtual assistant
Virtual assistants help entrepreneurs and business owners with multiple tasks. As a virtual assistant, you may help with invoicing, social media management, proofreading, responding to customer inquiries, and much more.
One of the best places to find a virtual assistant job in the UK is Virtalent. You can also build your own website to grow your online presence and market yourself via platforms like LinkedIn or Facebook groups.
Top Tip: Virtual assistants are just one of many online business options that you can delve into as part of your side business. To learn more, read our in-depth guide to starting an online business 💻
22. Starting a blog
Blogging is one of the most popular side businesses to do from home, and is a great choice for writers.
When you start a blog, you are building your own personal brand. If successful, it gives you a chance to market your passion or expertise to an engaged audience.
Some of the most popular topics are:
- Travel
- Fitness
- Yoga
- Marketing
- Cooking
- Health
- Business
- Beauty
- Productivity hacks
There are many online platforms with which you can start a blog, such as Medium. You can even build your own site using tools like WordPress, Wix, Squarespace and Web.com. If you’re building your own site, make sure your website considers SEO best-practices to give you a better chance at ranking on search engines.
23. Dog walking
A great side hustle is walking dogs. You get to be outside, enjoy some exercise and if you’re a dog-lover, then you’ll be around dogs constantly.
You’re also providing a much-needed service. In the UK, approximately 29% of adults have dogs, and many of these dog carers have to go to work during the day. This means that they need somebody to take their dog out while they’re away.
You can either go it alone by creating a website or flyers to market yourself via networking and word-of-mouth, or you can join a dog walking agency. Some good examples that you could start with are Rover and Pawshake.
24. Social media content creation
Creating content on social media is what a lot of people do anyway in their day-to-day life. But if you enjoy producing social media content, you can start producing content for businesses.
Running social media accounts for businesses is very low-cost, and if you’re good at it, then you’ll be able to manage lots of clients on the side of your main job. Often people will turn their social media marketing into an agency, known as an SMMA.
If you have a large following on your personal page, you could even become an influencer. Many brands are looking for micro influencers (influencers with a following between 10k and 100k) to promote their products, so you can make an income this way. Many apps such as TikTok will also pay you a set amount for views, so creating viral content can be another facet of this side hustle.
25. Selling handmade products
In this age of minimalism and sustainability, handmade products are hugely popular, and many people are looking for products with a human touch.
If you already enjoy painting, sewing, crocheting, pottery, or general crafting, then selling handmade gifts online is a fantastic side hustle. Etsy is a platform built entirely around selling handmade gifts, and will be a fantastic starting point for those new to business.
In the long run, this can be expanded into fairs and market stalls, and even upgraded to a brick-and-mortar store.
26. E-commerce
E-commerce is one of the evolutions of selling physical goods. Instead of selling products in person at a stall or store, you sell products online. These products can either be bought elsewhere, and then stored yourself, or handmade, the choice is yours.
Shopify is one of the leading e-commerce websites available, and allows you to set up a store in minutes to start selling products.
27. Dropshipping
Dropshipping was an incredibly hyped method of making money online a few years ago, but is still an incredibly profitable and simple way to make money.
Dropshipping follows the same principles as an e-commerce business, but instead you are buying the products online at a cheaper price, instead of stocking them yourself. This removes the risk of building up an inventory that might not sell – you only need to stock when you get a sale.
28. Renting space
If you have a second home, or a spare room, consider renting it out for a lodger for some extra income. This side hustle can require almost no work once it has been set up.
Airbnb is a logical choice for many, but you can use many other platforms, or even create your own listing and contract.
You can even rent out parking spaces, which can be in particularly high demand in high-density cities such as London.
29. Matched betting
If you’re familiar with online betting, then matched betting may be of interest to you. Matched betting is a method of making money online via betting sites, but without any gambling.
Matched betting is a process whereby you will make multiple bets that cancel each other out, but unlock free bets and promotional offers given out by bookmakers.
All outcomes are covered by the matched bet, so there is no risk of losing money.
OddsMonkey is a platform dedicated to matched betting, and teaching its members how to do it effectively. It also provides a tool which lists all the current promotional offers that are offered by bookmakers.
30. Selling stock photos & music
If you are a keen photographer, or perhaps enjoy making music, then selling your creations online could be a lucrative side hustle.
Shutterstock will pay creators for their photos, as well as companies such as iStock and GettyImages. Shopify has listed the current 17 best sites to start selling your photos, all with their own unique benefits.
If you enjoy making music, such as beats or backing tracks, then there are many platforms, such as Artlist, which will allow you to list your music and earn a profit. You can even upload your music to Spotify or Soundcloud and try and build a following if you’re interested in building more of an audience.
Are side hustles legal?
Side hustles are perfectly legal, however, this does depend on the employer. Some employment contracts, particularly those in senior roles, state that the employee must dedicate their whole working time, attention and abilities to their employer’s business. Make sure you double check your contract.
For most employers, a side hustle is acceptable when:
- It does not affect their ability to carry out their normal duties
- It is not damaging to the employer, either via competition or reputation
- There is no conflict of interest
We advise that before starting any kind of side hustle, make sure that it’s in accordance with your employment contract.
How can a side hustle turn into a full-time job?
Some people make their side hustles into full careers, even multi-million pound businesses. But some people keep their hustle as it is, and use the money to maintain the hobby and passion of the side hustle.
If you are considering turning your side hustle into a full-time job or a full-time business, then you need to assess a few things:
- Do you have the finances to cover potential business losses?
- Is your business model stable?
- Who are the competitors in your industry?
Check out our business plan guide which will take you through the exact process of creating a company roadmap. Once you’ve established that you’d like to be a business, then you’ll need to register your business, as well as set up a business bank account.
Tide is easy to join, and when you do, you’ll have instant access to our simple but powerful account. Our platform also gives you access to our Accounting software, Business Loans, Credit Builder, and a range of other business tools. We’ve designed our platform with SMEs in mind, giving business owners the freedom to run their business without hours of admin.
If you’re starting from scratch with Tide, you can register a limited company for £14.99 instead of £50, we’ll take care of the rest for you, and you’ll receive a complimentary six months of Tide’s accounting software.
