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
- Publications
- 14 publications and shows
- Categories
- 8 categories
Browse by category
- 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 data100 ideas, page 1 of 3
- Physical productsA diaper bag brand designed to look less bulky than traditional bags, manufactured through Alibaba. Preorders and organic TikTok content helped fund inventory.Over $10kOnlineSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Physical productsA home micro bakery selling sourdough, cinnamon rolls, cookies and bagels from a front porch on Saturday mornings. Customers preorder and items sell out to lines of local buyers.$100 to $1kThe Koerner Office, 2026
- Physical productsAn online store dropshipping high-ticket camper van and motorhome accessories in the UK, with the niche chosen from search and competitor data. Sales come through Google Shopping ads as an authorized reseller.OnlineSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Physical productsBuying poorly listed couches, negotiating the price down and reselling them with better photos, including AI-generated backgrounds. The operator is a teenager working in spare time.Online and in personThe Koerner Office, 2026
- Physical productsGrowing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms such as oyster, lion's mane and reishi, starting in a very small space. It grew into a farm operation alongside a growing club.$100 to $1kSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Physical productsSold unprocessed goat milk to a zoo's exotic animal nursery, used to feed young animals.In personHacker News, 2026
- Physical productsSold pesticide-free produce foraged from leased land and roadsides at farmers markets.In personHacker News, 2026
- Physical productsSelling golf equipment through live shows on the Whatnot app, built on top of a brick-and-mortar golf shop and its brand relationships.Over $10kSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Physical productsBuying goods from government and retail liquidation auctions and reselling them. The method relies on researching before bidding and having a solid selling system.Part-timeSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Physical productsA pet products company that reworked the hamster ball, an item unchanged for decades, started by a college student. It sells on Amazon and through a big-box retail deal.Over $10kOnlineSide Hustle Nation, 2026
- Physical productsBuying underpriced lawnmowers, fixing common problems and reselling them. The operator ran it while in college.Online and in personSide Hustle Nation, 2025
- Physical productsA dropshipping store selling high-ticket outdoor products for ponds and water features. Sales come from Google ads aimed at ready-to-buy shoppers, with supplier relationships in place of inventory.OnlineSide Hustle Nation, 2025
- Physical productsA handmade e-commerce brand selling Disney-inspired running skirts to a niche community of runners. It grew through ambassadors and social media and was later sold through Flippa.OnlineSide Hustle Nation, 2025
- Physical productsA shop buys a famous roadside chain's snacks and resells them to customers elsewhere. Revenue comes from retail sales of the resold goods.The Hustle, 2024
- Physical productsWorked with a factory to make grounded power adapters that stop case buzzing, sold on Amazon.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2024
- Physical productsOperates a small 3D print farm that sells custom clips and connectors for workshop equipment.$1k to $10kHacker News, 2022
- Physical productsBuilt an online resource for learning CAD with a supporting community, aimed at people who want to design and sell products.OnlineHacker News, 2022
- Physical productsPut cartoon T-shirt designs about software error messages on craft sites.Under $100Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2022
- Physical productsBuilds dinghies, canoes, catamarans and other small boats in spare time, selling some and taking commissions from friends.$1k to $10kPart-timeHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsBuys and resells collectibles, cars and sometimes collectible cars.Online and in personHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsMakes zines and artwork about fandom and adult themes, printing them at home and selling them.$100 to $1kHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsMakes and sells notebooks with music staff paper for musicians.OnlineHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsMakes and ships a gadget for a small niche market from home, with no software in the product, and also plays music part-time.Hacker News, 2021
- Physical productsStarted a niche menswear business alongside a full-time job. It now runs mostly on its own at small scale.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsLaunched hardware security keys with partners, working on it part time at first.Over $10kOnlineHacker News, 2021
- Physical productsSells products as a third-party seller on Amazon, treated as a semi-passive side business.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsEarns twice-yearly royalties from a published book and small licensing deals for translations in other countries.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsLaunched a men's skincare line as a first physical product business, handling ads, customer service and fulfillment.Over $10kOnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsSold used but valuable computer chips in a local market, delivering in person to bakeries or by post, until import tax changes ended the margins.Online and in personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsBuys and sells collectible trading cards such as Pokemon and Magic, managing an online store and in-person sales.Online and in personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsA bot that posts a space-weather graph and built a following, which led to selling related t-shirts.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsTravels to the US regularly, buys phones where there is no sales tax, and resells them locally in a country where import taxes make them much more expensive.Over $10kHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsRuns a cookie bakery with mostly local delivery and some nationwide shipping, run alongside a career.Part-timeOnline and in personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsSells baby milk powder from Germany to mothers in China.Hacker News, 2019
- Physical productsBought rejected disk drives in bulk at auction from PC makers, tested them, and sold the working ones to shops and individuals.Online and in personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsDesigned and built ceiling lights with high brightness and color quality, working with manufacturers and selling to real-world customers.Online and in personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsDry ages meat in specialized fridges and bags in a place where it is hard to find, then resells it online and over messaging apps at a large markup.Online and in personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsRuns a hobby business selling maps made in a historic style.OnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsMakes wooden items with a laser cutter based on video games and shows, and sells them on Etsy. Covers materials and machine time.$1k to $10kA few hours a weekHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsDesigned hardware and an iPhone app that remotely control arrays of cameras. Sold mainly to photo booth operators.Hacker News, 2019
- Physical productsBuys old and mid-century furniture from thrift shops and garage sales, fixes it up and resells it on Craigslist.Online and in personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsWith a friend, bought off-warranty corporate laptops, upgraded memory and storage or fixed keyboards, and resold them on eBay.Online and in personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsBuys broken old computers, restores them and sells them on eBay.Online and in personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsSells folk music CDs and handmade items at science fiction and fantasy conventions.$100 to $1kIn personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsRan a hot sauce business with real sales until it started eating all spare time, then dropped it.Online and in personHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsDesigned a 3D printed upgrade for a worn part in certain coffee grinders and sells it through a print-on-demand storefront. Traffic comes from repair guides.Hands-offOnlineHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsKeeps chickens and sells the eggs, which covers little more than feed costs.A few hours a weekHacker News, 2019
- Physical productsKeeps bees and sells the honey, which brings in a few thousand a year.Hacker News, 2019