Side hustle ideas from people who actually run them

77 ideas, page 1 of 2

• Ad-supported specials boards for restaurants

  Free chalkboards and whiteboards placed in restaurants and busy venues, which use them for daily specials. Income comes from selling small ad spots along the bottom to local businesses.

  Side Hustle Nation, 2026
• Front porch home bakery

  A 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.

  Physical products$100 to $1k

  The Koerner Office, 2026
• Amazon product review videos for commissions

  Short product review videos uploaded through the Amazon Influencer Program, which appear on product listings and earn commissions. The approach relies on filming high volumes of products found close to home.

  Content and media

  Side Hustle Nation, 2026
• Whole-home water filtration sales

  Selling whole-home water filtration systems to homeowners through Facebook ads that show the price upfront, with licensed plumbers doing the installs. The channel notes that this model can require a plumbing license, for example in North Carolina.

  Services and freelancing$100 to $1k

  The Koerner Office, 2026
• Automated utility trailer rentals

  Renting out utility trailers with an almost fully automated booking process, alongside a full-time job. Customers come from Google and Facebook Marketplace.

  Rentals and assetsOver $10k

  The Koerner Office, 2026
• Goat-raising education media business

  A media business teaching people to raise goats, with a podcast, YouTube channel, online courses and a paid membership. It also runs paid goat farm tours.

  Side Hustle Nation, 2026
• Flipping used couches

  Buying 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.

  Physical products

  The Koerner Office, 2026
• Kids party equipment rentals

  Renting kid-sized tables and chairs, ball pits, bounce houses and party stations for children's events. It started from a basement and an Instagram page and runs alongside a full-time job.

  Rentals and assetsPart-time

  Side Hustle Nation, 2026
• ATM placement business

  Buying ATMs and placing them in local businesses, earning income from transaction fees with about an hour of work a week. The hardest step is finding and pitching good locations.

  Rentals and assetsHands-off

  Side Hustle Nation, 2026
• Online estate auctions for families

  Running online estate auctions that clear out homes for families without buying any inventory. The operator photographs, catalogs and lists the items and keeps a cut of the sale.

  Services and freelancing

  Side Hustle Nation, 2026
• Fractional chief AI officer for mid-size companies

  An experienced operator sits in leadership meetings for companies without a technology chief, finds where AI helps, and builds or teaches the team to build it. It is billed as a monthly retainer, and a paid training day often leads into it.

  Services and freelancingPart-time

  Ryan Doser, 2026
• Building permit expediting service

  Handling building permits for property owners and developers as a niche service, using skills learned while flipping houses. Clients come by referral, with no ads or cold calling.

  Services and freelancing

  Side Hustle Nation, 2026
• Shared direct mail postcards for local businesses

  Selling ad space on oversized postcards mailed to every home on a route through USPS Every Door Direct Mail. Several local advertisers share each card, and the operators keep the difference.

  Services and freelancing

  Side Hustle Nation, 2026
• Flipping used lawnmowers

  Buying underpriced lawnmowers, fixing common problems and reselling them. The operator ran it while in college.

  Physical products

  Side Hustle Nation, 2025
• Run the back office for an artist partner

  Handles IT, administration, purchasing and research for a partner's art business, which sells commissions and freelance work and direct to customers.

  Services and freelancing

  Hacker News, 2021
• Flip collectibles and collector cars

  Buys and resells collectibles, cars and sometimes collectible cars.

  Physical products

  Hacker News, 2021
• Home-printed zines and fandom art

  Makes zines and artwork about fandom and adult themes, printing them at home and selling them.

  Physical products$100 to $1k

  Hacker News, 2021
• Tutor students in math and computer science

  Tutors middle and high school students in math and CS for an hourly rate.

  Teaching and coachingUnder $100

  Hacker News, 2021
• Niche gadget made and shipped at home

  Makes and ships a gadget for a small niche market from home, with no software in the product, and also plays music part-time.

  Physical products

  Hacker News, 2021
• Rental units plus property management app

  Rents out a couple of cheap units and built an app to manage rental administration, contracts and invoices, with the aim to offer it to others.

  Rentals and assetsOver $10k

  Hacker News, 2019
• Data science webinars and tutorials with Python

  Teaches online webinars and in-person tutorials on the basics of data science and machine learning with Python.

  Teaching and coachingPart-time

  Hacker News, 2019
• Resell imported computer chips locally

  Sold used but valuable computer chips in a local market, delivering in person to bakeries or by post, until import tax changes ended the margins.

  Physical products

  Hacker News, 2019
• Trading card buying and selling store

  Buys and sells collectible trading cards such as Pokemon and Magic, managing an online store and in-person sales.

  Physical products

  Hacker News, 2019
• Teach and mentor at coding bootcamps

  Teaches and mentors beginners in web development for companies and bootcamps, in evening sessions.

  Teaching and coachingUnder $100Part-time

  Hacker News, 2019
• Buy and rent out property

  Owns rental property, which needs little ongoing effort once it is running.

  Rentals and assetsOver $10kHands-off

  Hacker News, 2019
• Buy iPhones in low-tax state, resell abroad

  Travels 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.

  Physical productsOver $10k

  Hacker News, 2019
• Cookie bakery with delivery and shipping

  Runs a cookie bakery with mostly local delivery and some nationwide shipping, run alongside a career.

  Physical productsPart-time

  Hacker News, 2019
• Resell tested bulk disk drives

  Bought rejected disk drives in bulk at auction from PC makers, tested them, and sold the working ones to shops and individuals.

  Physical products

  Hacker News, 2019
• Run tech conferences and consult on events

  Started a developer conference with sponsors, then was hired by a sponsor to run its events, which grew into full-time conference consulting.

  Services and freelancingNear full-time

  Hacker News, 2019
• Buyer-side real estate brokerage with rebates

  A brokerage that represents home buyers in residential purchases and rebates part of its commission back to them.

  Services and freelancing

  Hacker News, 2019
• Campus cookie delivery on rollerblades

  Delivered freshly baked cookies to dorms and homes near a university on rollerblades, paid per order, and built a delivery management site.

  Part-time

  Hacker News, 2019
• Design and build high-quality ceiling lights

  Designed and built ceiling lights with high brightness and color quality, working with manufacturers and selling to real-world customers.

  Physical products

  Hacker News, 2019
• Dry-aged meat sold online

  Dry 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.

  Physical products

  Hacker News, 2019
• Fine art and illustration side gigs

  Works as a professional fine artist and illustrator on the side, in a shared studio space.

  Services and freelancing

  Hacker News, 2019
• Refurbish and resell old furniture

  Buys old and mid-century furniture from thrift shops and garage sales, fixes it up and resells it on Craigslist.

  Physical products

  Hacker News, 2019
• Refurbish and resell used business laptops

  With a friend, bought off-warranty corporate laptops, upgraded memory and storage or fixed keyboards, and resold them on eBay.

  Physical products

  Hacker News, 2019
• Restore vintage computers and resell on eBay

  Buys broken old computers, restores them and sells them on eBay.

  Physical products

  Hacker News, 2019
• Small hot sauce brand

  Ran a hot sauce business with real sales until it started eating all spare time, then dropped it.

  Physical products

  Hacker News, 2019
• YouTube channel restoring an old car

  Documents fixing up an old sports car on YouTube. Income comes from ads and Patreon support.

  Content and media

  Hacker News, 2019
• 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
• Airbnb host in spare bedrooms

  Rents out spare bedrooms to short-term guests through Airbnb.

  Rentals and assets

  Hacker News, 2019
• Buy, repair and resell used cars

  Buys older luxury crossovers and hybrids, does the repairs and detailing in spare time, and sells them mainly to older buyers.

  Physical productsOver $10kPart-time

  Hacker News, 2019
• 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.

  Services and freelancing

  Hacker News, 2019
• Flip mid century modern furniture

  Buys and restores vintage furniture, then sells it online or to local stores as a picker.

  Physical products

  Hacker News, 2019
• Gigging musician and guitar lessons

  Plays regularly with a jazz band, gives occasional guitar lessons at home, and earns a little from fan support on Patreon for performance videos.

  Teaching and coaching

  Hacker News, 2019
• Hand-dyed yarn for tapestry weavers

  Dyes small batches of yarn with traditional methods for a small group of weavers who want specific colors.

  Physical products$100 to $1k

  Hacker News, 2019
• Hypnotist with client referrals

  Works as a hypnotist, getting most clients through word of mouth and a website.

  Services and freelancing

  Hacker News, 2019
• Laser-cut open air computer cases on eBay

  Designs outlines for cases cut on a maker space laser machine and sells them on eBay. Local materials make it possible to undercut imports on price.

  Physical products$100 to $1k

  Hacker News, 2019