For a while now I've been looking for the perfect side hustle. Ideally, this would be a way to make some easy money on the side in addition to my full-time 40+ hour job.

After several months of research and dabbling in a handful of different options, I've finally come to a conclusion.

There isn't one.

Every side hustle has its pros and cons. They all require different skill sets and levels of effort and financial investment. Today I want to try and make it easy for my readers by discussing a few jobs I feel could be pretty lucrative for the right people.

What is a Side Hustle?

In my eyes a side hustle is a job that can be done on the side of a full-time job.

This may seem obvious but I recently read an article where someone suggested becoming a personal chef.

How is that a side gig? That definitely seems like something that would require a ton of flexibility for it to work.

A side hustle should be something light that you can do after work or on a weekend. It should be able to fit alongside almost any schedule you have. Finally, it should also have some decent earning potential.

Let's discuss a couple options I think fit this bill pretty well.

1. Selling Services on Fiverr

Pros

• High earning potential
• You can pick the jobs you work on along with the rate
• Compliments specific skills very nicely

Cons

• Requires you to do a job with a certain level of expected quality
• Requires you to already have a skill someone would want to you hire for
• Need to be able to market your skills

For the right people, this seems like one of the best opportunities to make some good money on the side.

If you already have a valuable skill like drawing, video editing, audio engineering, or copywriting and you feel like you can do it in your sleep you should check out a service like Fiverr.

On services like this, you can take on jobs such as editing a video or making a logo and people will pay you a commission based on the rate you charge.

While a lot of the tasks can be short things you could knock out in a couple of hours, you can always expand and charge more for your services. There are even a group of dedicated individuals making 6 figures each year offering services like this (Note: This would be a fulltime job at that point).

For professionals already skilled in a certain field, this could be an easy and effective way to make money in addition to a full-time job.

2. Tutoring

Pros

• A good side hustle that's almost always in demand
• Typically well paying
• Can help deepen your understanding of a topic through teaching

Cons

• Could be hard to get started
• Requires you to be very knowledgeable in a topic
• You would need to design a lesson plan before starting

Tutoring is a job as old as time itself, and as long as people exist there will always be a need for tutors.

Providing a well put together 1-on-1 teaching experience with someone can go a long way.

There a lot of parents and job hunters eager for great tutors.

While it may not be for everyone, if you believe you can successfully transfer your expertise on a certain subject to someone else, you should look into tutoring.

3. Starting a Youtube Channel

Pros

• Very low barrier to entry

Cons

• Could take years to be profitable
• Mainstream categories are oversaturated

Becoming a Youtuber is a side hustle that always has to be mentioned. With the rise of multi-millionaire Youtubers over the past couple decades, the potential power of Youtube as a source of revenue cannot be overlooked.

That being said Youtube is a huge platform featuring millions upon millions of creators, and a very small fraction of those creators actually make money.

While making videos on Youtube is easier than ever, it takes a lot of time and dedication to make quality content that consistently draws in enough viewers to become popular.

Not only that but you need to compete against other creators in your particular space for views and money.

While it definitely isn't some casual job you can do for a month and turn a profit, if you have the time and dedication Youtube can become a pretty well-paying side hustle.

4. Running a Blog

Pros

• Very low barrier to entry

Cons

• Could take years to gain traffic
• Could take even longer to earn money
• Mainstream categories are oversaturated

I had to add blogging since I am literally writing this for my blog.

Much like Youtube, blogging is something that requires a lot of upfront dedication with no guarantee that you'll make money.

I would argue blogging is even harder than Youtube as you are pretty much competing with every website on the internet to rank on the search results of Google.

Given the right niche, solid writing skills, and some really good search engine optimizations, after some time (think more than a year) your blog can start to bring in traffic and become profitable.

Much like the other items I have discussed, a very small percentage of people can bring home 4-5 figures a month just from their blog.

5. Dropshipping

Pros

• Solid Earning Potential

Cons

• Requires upfront monetary investments
• Basically requires you to run a small business

Dropshipping is something I discovered and research last year.

It's when you take a product that already exists (Like a unique dog water bottle or something), market it through ads and a custom website, and sell and fulfill orders through a 3rd party.

The allure here is that you can run a store without every having to order or store inventory.

The downside is that it takes a lot of effort to actually work, and you could lose a lot of money trying. There are a lot of Youtubers that promise 6 figures if you buy their course and follow a few easy steps, but in actuality it's actually extremely hard to make a consistent profit.

You effectively need to learn how to run a small business.

It requires you to be really hands on and dedicate a significant amount of time and effort to run an operation like this.

It's not something that works for me, but there are many people out there that have made it into a very profitable profession.

6. Reselling

Pros

• Relatively low barrier to entry
• Usually provides decent profits

Cons

• Requires upfront monetary investments
• Very hard to be consistent
• Morally gray

In my appreciating assets post I talked about how I made increased my investment significantly by buying and selling sneakers, so I couldn't leave this one off the list.

If you understand the market you're buying into, you can make some profit buy buying things at retail (or a discount) and turning around to sell them at a premium.

This is something I've done from time to time with sneakers to fund my personal sneaker purchases.

In 2021 this is getting harder and harder for a couple reasons.

I buy everything manually, but every month there seems to be a new bot that comes out. People who do this as a full-time job pay exorbitant fees to be able to successfully run these bot operations that basically eat up all online stock for any type of item that has resell value.

Not only can you not really depend on reselling anymore, but you can't even buy the items period.

That brings me to another problem. Nobody really likes resellers. If you resell every now and again to inevitably buy back into the hobby because you're an enthusiast sometimes you will get a pass.

If you're reselling using a bot or to only make money people will definitely look down on you and you may feel kind of scummy doing it.

7. Rideshare Driving

Pros

• Relatively low barrier to entry

Cons

• Requires a car
• Requires recurring personal interactions
• May not be worth the effort

So a quick Google search shows that Uber drivers make about $10-$11 an hour.

I don't know how accurate that number is, but if it's something you're interested in its better than nothing.

I've had plenty of Uber drivers tell me they do it because they think its fun and they just want to earn a bit of extra money.

If this is you, and you have the time to do it, then why not?

Depending on the area you would be working in and the type of person you are, Uber driving seems like it could be a fun and interesting gig.

For me personally, I don't think it would be worth my time. Especially considering I'm pretty introverted, but your story might be different.

8. Food Delivery

Pros

• Relatively low barrier to entry
• Requires recurring personal interactions than Ride Sharing

Cons

• Requires a car
• May not be worth the effort

So food delivery using rideshare apps is pretty similar to being a rideshare driver. You'll be driving around a lot and you should be making around the same amount of money.

The bonus here (if you're someone like me) is that you have to deal with way less human interaction, which could make the job more relaxing or appealing.

9. OnlyFans

Pros

• Relatively low barrier to entry
• Could result in modest profit

Cons

• Definitely not for everyone
• May not be worth the effort

I'm not going to dance around this one.

For some people OnlyFans could be a really legitimate sidebhustle.

With relatively low time and effort you could create a modest recurring source of income for yourself.

I don't know how many creators actually end up making genuine profit on the platform, but the statistics can't be worse than starting a Youtube or blogging.

The downside to this is of course everyone isn't as accepting of what other's do with their bodies, and once that content is out there there's no taking it back.

There's a chance that starting an OnlyFans could have a negative impact on your current or future full-time jobs, and possible your current or future relationships. So keep that into consideration.

10. Stock Trading

Pros

• Really high profit potential
• Relatively easy to start

Cons

• Requires a certain level of skills and education
• Require upfront investment
• Very very risky

As much as I talking about investing and stocks on this site, I actually recommend the stock trading the least out of all of the options on this list.

That's because it's the one option that (speaking financially and mentally) can easily leave you in a significantly worse place than you started.

The stock market provides an opportunity to increase your money by 50% in just a few days and you could trade your way to six figures over the course of a year.

You could also make that type of money in a casino.

Trading stocks, especially as a side-hustle, is very very risky. It takes a lot of experience, a sharp mind, a keen eye, and a lot of emotional intelligence to succeed.

Even though it requires a lot for success, it's easy to feel a false sense of confidence even though you're still petty unfamiliar with the field.

I look at investing as a long-term wealth-growing opportunity. I would not recommend that people use this as a way to consistently create income.

If you believe that it's really worth the risk and you're willing to put in the work to make it happen, the stock market could be a good avenue to generate some income.

Which Route Will You Choose?

I tried to cover a wide range of realistic opportunities and beak down both sides of each hustle.

I think for the right person, each item on this list could be a good side hustle.

Are you trying one of the side hustles on the list?

Do you have your own side hustle that you think I should have included?

Contact me and let me know!