10 Of The Most Popular Side Hustle Ideas Right Now

Sammie Ellard-King

Sammie Ellard-King

I’m Sammie, a money expert and business owner passionate about helping you take control of your wallet. My mission with Up the Gains is to create a safe space to help improve your finances, cut your costs and make you feel good while doing it.

With inflation at a 30 year high, now is the time to diversify your income streams and start exploring side hustle ideas. Our pockets are smaller, so we need to fatten them back up.

Side hustles are the in thing and new report suggests that over a third of us of in the UK have at least one on the go. 

Having your own side hustle can be great generating extra cash or even to provide the starting grounds for your very own small business.

A lot of them could start outdoing your wages from a full-time job!

It’s perhaps unsurprising then that side hustles really kicked off during the pandemic when working from home became the norm.

We had time to think and for most our main source of income was taken away only to be propped up my furlough payments. Having a side job or a second income is super helpful and can give you a financial leg up!

If you are after a side hustle of your own and running your own schedule every day sounds dreamy, then read on.

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"I went from knowing nothing about digital products to making my first sale in under a week" - Jules Martin

Table of Contents

What is a side hustle?

A side hustle is a money-making activity that is carried out alongside your usual job and is a great way to give your earnings a boost. 

Despite the term sounding like something associated with the once-popular TV series, we can assure you that there are no cons here! Instead, a side hustle is all about making extra money.

While some people are quite happy to keep a side hustle as just that, others seek opportunities that can be developed into a successful business.

You may also here of the term passive income which is what the side hustle can create you. Passive income is the money brought in from your side hustling essentially doing all the work upfront and sitting back to rake in the dollar dollar bills.

In reality though – side hustles take effort and upkeep so the income is rarely passive but at least it’s on your terms.

We want your hustle a to grow and become your main source of income so you can hopefully walk away from the day job.

Essentially we all side hustle to make money to help further ourselves so let’s jump in and start to look at some of the amazing options out there.

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Our podcast episode with serial side hustler Jared Bauman shows you how you can side hustle your way to £2,500 a month in 90 days.

How? Well, the Amazon Influencer program!

Learn all about how Jared did it here or by pressing play just below.

1) Digital Products

Right now I think digital products is the best side hustle for 2024.

Firstly because you can make products in a niche you’re actually passionate about so you’re instantly monetising something you love. 

Secondly, you can make sales super quick through social media using the algorthims of these big platforms to reach your dream customers for FREE!

Thirdly, it’s not hard and they’re so cheap to make. You could have a low-ticket digital product live in a matter of hours if you wanted and use things like AI to help you speed up the process.

The beauty of digital products is you make it once and sell if an infinite amount of times. 

Learning how to sell digital products is something you will need to learn but all you need to do is solve a problem for your audience, target them with content and you will 100% make money.

'I Sold £4,000 Of Digital Products In The Past 30 Days'
Couch To 5 Grand - Passive Income Starter Kit
5.0

Join over 1,000 others learning how to go from £0-5k with just 60 minutes work a day.

Includes everything you need to create, build and sell profitable digital products in a niche you're already passionate about.

LEARN MORE
"I went from knowing nothing about digital products to making my first sale in under a week" - Jules Martin

2) Get into blogging

Blogging is hands down the biggest earner! You do it by combining copywriting and website building to make money online.

Bloggings appeal is that you can write about anything you want to and if people are searching on Google or YouTube you can make lots of money from it.

Personal blogger Adam Enfroy made over £1 million last year all from his blog and according to data from ZipRecruiter the average established travel blogger makes £73,000 per year.

The average blogger across all topics makes around £35,000 a year in the UK but it does take time to get going.

You can make money blogging in a few ways which include:

  • Affiliate Marketing
  • Display advertising
  • Physical / Digital Product Sales
  • Sponsorship
  • Coaching & Courses

You only need a laptop and an internet connection to make money online and that’s why blogging is attractive. All you need to do is pick a niche and start writing and learn the rest as you go.

Once you’re up and running it’ll be important to to learn about SEO (search engine optimisation) and how to build basic websites so your blog has a home and you can start to generate some website traffic. 

Without traffic (people) coming to your blog there’s no money!

If you have a passion for travel, food, or anything else and enjoy writing, this is the side hustle idea for you!

Now, being honest, blogging will not make you money overnight, but stick with it and the rewards are certainly worthwhile. 

From personal experience it take up to a year before you start making any money but once it gets going earnings can take off quickly.

3) Make money from handmade goods

If you’re handy with crafts it may be worth exploring using some funds to invest in supplies for handmade goods. 

If you have a creative streak and are a little crafty (not the deceitful version of course!) then there is plenty of money to be made. 

It could be that you can design and make jewellery. Maybe you’re great at producing one-off paintings. No matter what your talent, you can monetise it.

One of the best side hustle websites to make money from handmade goods has to be Etsy. This is a marketplace that specialises in these types of products. 

side hustle ideas

Of course, it is always worth exploring using your own website, but while you’re growing your audience you may as well take advantage of the huge exposure that Etsy offers.

As one of the more creative side hustle ideas crafting does require some skill, practice and funds to purchase goods so don’t expect to make money of it if you’re just starting out.

4) Dropshipping

If you have a full-time job that drains your time, you’re going to want a side hustle that’s as hands-off as possible. Often selling online can be a pain!

The thought of holding stock and turning your house into a warehouse isn’t always appealing and no one wants to be running to post their products every day.  

With a dropshipping business you never have any contact with the product itself and everything is sold online. 

With dropshipping, you advertise products that another company holds. You sell via your website and take payment when someone buys a product. 

You then pay the dropship company to post the item to your customer. The difference between what you’re paid and what you pay is your profit.

It is also a very difficult business to run. Many dropshipping businesses fail, but the rewards can be huge if you can get it right!

5) Print on demand

Another great hustle for creative types. You can design things such as t-shirts, mugs, or even keyrings.

Once you’ve got a mock-up of your design you can start to advertise. As soon as you make a sale, you get the print on demand company to produce the product, with the artwork, for you and ship it to your customer.

This is another great side hustle where the risk is minimal as there is no stock to hold and no need to buy any expensive equipment.

That being said you will need to learn how to advertise via social media, maybe a website and have some design skills so your online store looks great.

6) Head over to Fiverr

If you’ve not heard about Fiverr, then say hello to your new money-making app!

Not only can you hire an incredible roster of quality freelancers to help you grow your business you can also set up your own profile on their too,

Just some of the services that people offer on Fiverr are web design, logo design, and writing.

There are even people getting paid just for singing happy birthday! The opportunities are literally endless here – if you can do anything at all, the chances are that Fiverr will allow you to get paid for it.

Equally, as you grow, you may look to outsource some of your own work, so hire a freelancer to help you out!

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7) Get investing

Investing just small amounts each month can have a massive impact in the long run if you keep it up. The power of compound interest which Einstein called the 8th Wonder of the World is truly mind blowing.

Sure, if you invest money it means your capital is at risk but if you invest with a long term mindset, this risk is almost entirely mitigated based on historical results.

The rise in the number of investing apps means that this is now accessible to everyone. There are now do it yourself investing apps which you can do from your smartphone and also expert managed / hands off approaches from others. 

If you want to get ahead then you should be thinking about investing in some capacity. A lot accounts now let you start with just £1. 

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8) Online surveys

side hustle ideas up the gains

Now, you’re unlikely to ever find yourself getting rich on the back of online surveys, but that doesn’t mean that they should be ignored.

One site worth taking a look at is Prolific. Here, you’ll find plenty of surveys and the best thing is that there’s no minimum payout. Another great site is Oh My Dosh which also has access to lots of deals and different ways to make money.

These allow you to contribute to ongoing research via questions and tasks. You’ll find that these pay far better than run-of-the-mill survey sites.

Check out our podcast episode below with Emma from Bee Money Savvy, who earned £45,000 from side hustles in 2023.

9) Transcribing

If you’ve got a good ear, great attention to detail, and can type at a decent speed, then transcribing could be the perfect side hustle for you.

Sites such as Rev have plenty of work on offer and you can pick and choose just how much you do.

This side hustle can be tough at times as some of the audios aren’t the best quality. However, if you preserver, and as you get better, there is plenty of money to be made.

You may find yourself transcribing a speech that has been given, it could be part of a YouTube video or even something from the radio or TV. There really is a huge variety of jobs to pick from.

10) Create your own course

Do you know what it takes to be an expert? The answer is probably not as much as you think!

To be regarded as an expert you just need to know more than the general population. If you do, you’ll find that people are often willing to pay you to share your knowledge.

Sites, such as Udemy, allow you to upload online courses and sell them. The great thing here is that once you have put the work in and made your course, it stays there listed.

Creating an online course is time consuming but the margins are insane. Once you’ve created it once you can keep making more money from the sales for the rest of your days!

What are some other side hustles you can also do?

  • Rent your spare room
  • Dog walking business
  • Sell online courses
  • Car boot sales
  • Rent your parking space
  • Start a life coaching business
  • Attend focus groups
  • Become a graphic designer
  • Start a YouTube Channel
  • Learn affiliate marketing
  • Part-time delivery driver
  • Mystery shopping services
  • Become a virtual assistant
  • Sell products online
  • Open an Etsy shop
  • Deliver food
  • Offer local tech support
  • Sell digital products
  • Cashback apps
  • Pet sitting
  • Data entry for larger companies
As you can see you’re not short of ideas that can earn you money. 

There are 1000s more too so get out there and make something happen an earn extra cash in your spare time that can help transform your life. 

FAQs

What side hustles pay the most?

This really depends on how much time you put into a side hustle. The highest paying side hustle is definitely blogging, freelancing in high paid roles and online tutoring. People are also smashing it on social media channels like YouTube and Instagram. 

You can check out our guide to making money on YouTube here.

What's the best side hustle for 2023?

As technology evolves side hustling has gone online. With the right online business, and if execute it correctly then your potential is just endless. 

Just look at some of the top YouTubers and brand owners to see how much they’re pulling in.

Online businesses will take time before they make you some extra cash let alone the big bucks but the margins through digital channels are the highest available in any industry.

What's an easy side hustle?

Crafting – creating, making and then selling goods with skills you love to have makes this the easiest. You can sell these goods to friends, family and customers promoting your business at markets or online. 

What better than seeing other people enjoying what you’ve created and paying you for the privilege.

How do I start a side hustle?

Firstly, take a look at what you either have skills in or what you’re good at. Then highlight what it is that people might pay you for doing so you can earn extra income – this can be your base side hustle idea.

If you’re struggling to find something then start with hustles like online surveys, mystery shopping and focus groups.

The key is just to get started and figure it out along the way. If you sit thinking about it for too long then nothing will happen.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it. We hope this articles has inspired you to start making some extra cash. 

Your goals might just be saving money but they could also be world domination. The age of the side hustle is here!

A lot of side hustles are just a few hours of your spare time – find one that works for you so go hard and start to earn money!

It’s important to note that nothing comes easy and it will often require a good few months and in some cases a year or two to really get your hustle going. 

If you’ve been searching for side hustle ideas UK then these are some of the best ideas we can find for making some extra money right now.

That being said, once some of these start taking off you could be earning more than your day job and have a big decision to make! The DREAM!

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Disclaimer: Content on this page is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial advice. Always do your own research before making a financially related decision.

1 thought on “10 Of The Most Popular Side Hustle Ideas Right Now”

  1. This article is truly inspiring. Freelancing is indeed a trend nowadays and could be our future. Hope you continue writing noteworthy articles, Sammie! 🙂

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