40 Lucrative Ways to Make Money on the Side
So - maybe you've found yourself with extra time on your hands and the itch to make money on the side.
But there's one missing piece.
You need a profitable side hustle idea that will be successful, sustainable, and enjoyable!
The good news is that there are hundreds of lucrative side hustles to start making money on the side.
We've put together 41 lucrative side hustle ideas to help get the wheels turning for you:
1. Start a mom blog
Parenting may be an overwhelming journey. Mothers result to the internet to read stories from other moms. Reading mom’s blogs makes parenting feel less alone a long way. Whether you are a stay-at-home mom or passionate about parenting, you can consider starting a mommy blog.
You can make money through affiliate links or by selling your merchandise on the blog. To increase traffic to your blog, include resourceful and encouraging content.
I’m Carly, a full time stay at home mom, full-time blogger. I run two semi-related businesses - Mommy on Purpose, a mom lifestyle blog focusing on new motherhood and home life (monetized only through traffic), and Blogging Like You Mean It, which supports new bloggers in their journey to monetize their blogs (monetized only through product sales and email marketing).
But more important to me than any of that, I will never have to leave my kids in daycare to go out and work - my mom blog alone makes 8-10,000 Canadian dollars per month, both when I work hard on it AND when I take a month off.
2. Start a freelance writing business
Freelance writing can be a good career choice for professional writers for offering writing services to different clients via online platforms. Working as a freelancer gives you the flexibility to define your work schedule. You can work from home at any time. Freelance writers work across various niches, writing about various topics assigned by the client,
To earn good money as a freelance writer, you need the following personal qualities:
- Strong writing skills
- Ability to meet deadlines
- Stay on the cutting edge
- Be a self-starter
- Be up-to-date with the current writing tools & writing trends
- Proper communication skills
My name is David Tile. I own and operate a Content Writing Service, under the banner Article-Writing.co.
We don’t consider ourselves a content marketing firm. But a firm dedicated to the business of writing. Project management offers most often attached to marketing agencies. We work against marketing briefs delivering content on time and under budget.
3. Start a finance blog
A finance blog is a feature appearing as part of an online publication relating to finance and consisting of articles or personal commentary. A finance blog earns income through sponsored content or simple marketing programs. To succeed in business, a finance blogger should:
- Have a good writing background
- Understand the industry from a concept or fundamental standpoint
- Be passionate about the topics
- Be well organized and maximize the work schedule.
Starting a finance blog involves a low financial investment, while there is a considerable possibility for success. There are minimal overhead costs, saving you time and money. Therefore, starting a finance blog is an incredible business opportunity.
My name is Matt Paulson and I’m the founder of MarketBeat, a financial media company that empowers individual stock investors to make better trading decisions by providing objective financial information and real-time market data.
MarketBeat is expected to generate approximately $8 million in revenue in 2019 and end the year at about 1.3 million unique email subscribers.
4. Start a food delivery business
In today’s busy lifestyles and schedules, cooking is no longer a priority to many. People like to order-in food from their nearest restaurants or food joints and enjoy a meal in the comfort of their homes.
The food delivery business is like a courier service through which restaurants deliver food to their customers.
You can offer retail food delivery services to restaurants within your locality if you have a truck. Customers order through a restaurant or grocer’s website, and the owners contact you to deliver.
I started my career at the world-famous Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles Apprenticing under Certified Master Chef Raimund Hofmeister.
Food Fleet’s growth Year after year has been at an at over 30 %. From 2017-2018 we had an unprecedented 160% growth spurt. With a team of 6, including my partner and I, we managed over 20 million in sales for our clients. As an example. We took over a convention center 3 years ago managing their food truck business. For their largest event of the year, we were up 53% over the previous year. I honestly would have to equate some of that success to the under-reporting of sales by the previous operator. But the following year we were up 19% from that figure and again close to that this year. That is due in large part to our understanding of transaction times, menu mix, the equipment in each truck or pop up and other factors.
5. Start a healthy meal delivery service
A meal prep delivery business offers nutritional and healthy meals to customers daily or weekly. These services provide either DIY meal kits or Ready-to-eat meals via e-commerce sites. All of them are meant to save time and eliminate food waste.
People who have busy work schedules find meal delivery services very beneficial. The trend is also noticed in Millenials who are health conscious and prefer nutritional food in the comfort of their home rather than visiting a restaurant.
The primary reason consumers order food online is that it is time-saving, convenient, and literally at their fingertips.
There are different types of meal services:
Online meal kits: These services may cost between $8.55 and $9.99 per serving. They will send everything you need to make excellent, restaurant-quality meals at home and save all your prep work time. Some of the popular services are Sun Basket, Blue Apron, HomeChef, etc.
Fast food delivery services: This service connects you with a broad range of local restaurants and food so that you can order from the full menus of your local favorites from the comfort of your home. Some popular services are Uber Eats, Foodsby, DoorDash, etc.
5 Benefits of Food Delivery Service
- Exposure to new customers
- Convenient
- Variety of options
- More business opportunities
- Cost-effective promotions
A Meal Prep Delivery Business can be very profitable when compared to restaurants. If you love to cook good nutritional food, you can also start a meal prep business from your home.
Preparing food from home save costs on a storefront, and you can promote the business by creating e-commerce websites. To make a good profit, you should invest less in groceries and ensure you have many customers. One can make a comfortable living even with lower monthly sales by charging around $20 to $40 an hour.
When we first started, we sold around 200 bowls each week. We currently sell around 10,000 bowls each month. Most companies like this start the same way, cooking from their primary residence for family and friends. We were no exception. But as we continued to grow, we spent time and money to work out of rentable commercial kitchens until we were able to afford our own.
6. Start a party supply store
If you love fun activities and helping other people enjoy their parties, starting a party store in your neighborhood can be a rewarding and profitable business.
Party stores sell balloons, decorations, costumes, novelties, confectionaries, theme party wear, and other party supplies.
If you are starting a party store, you may choose to join it as an affiliate or enter a franchise. A party store is a low-to-entry business venture and can be rewarding in the long run.
I'm Dean Salakas Chief Party Dude at The Party People. Our goal is to help people have the parties of their dreams. We are Australia’s largest party store selling balloons, decorations, costumes, novelties, confectionary, theme partyware, and anything else you could possibly want for a party.
7. Start a custom prints business
Custom print businesses often focus on printing everything, including business cards, photos, and even custom T-shirts.
To start an online custom prints business, choose a niche to help your business stand out and attract the right target audience. Then, focus on producing quality prints of different sizes, materials, and designs. You may hire designers online or search for designs in online design communities. Then, validate the designs before you begin mass production. Finally, set up an online store, and launch the business.
Remember that with the growth in popularity of selling custom prints, expect to face stiff competition. Therefore, you should market your custom prints on social media to maximize your reach.
Hi! I’m Zach Katz, and I started Framed Tweets to give people a simple way to beautifully frame their favorite tweets as art, to remember and enjoy forever.
8. Start a newsletter
Did you know that in the past five years, there has been more than a 50% increase in the number of people who read newsletters?
Newsletters are one of the few things you can use to market yourself as a trusted expert. A well-written newsletter can educate your subscribers and build connections with them.
Email newsletters are a great way to connect with customers and potential customers. It’s a newsletter’s job to inform, persuade, and sell to your audience.
My name is Matt Paulson and I’m the founder of MarketBeat, a financial media company that empowers individual stock investors to make better trading decisions by providing objective financial information and real-time market data.
MarketBeat is expected to generate approximately $8 million in revenue in 2019 and end the year at about 1.3 million unique email subscribers.
9. Become a delivery driver
The delivery driver side hustle can be a fantastic idea if you own a delivery car and a valid driver’s license. Receiving deliveries at home or at the office has become an almost undeniable convenience for most people. There are more and more platforms that deliver all kinds of products and, therefore, the demand for couriers is also increasing.
As an independent delivery driver, you choose your most convenient working hours, and the more deliveries you complete, the more your earnings. Besides, you interact with a wide range of people from different backgrounds.
Your core roles will include loading and unloading cargo, delivering goods to the customer, accepting any payments for shipments, and handling paperwork.
My name is Andrei Povaliaev. I’m the CPO and co-founder of Muver, a U.S.-based mobile app for gig workers. We help drivers earn more money and drive safer by allowing them to multi-app seamlessly between Uber, Uber Eats, Doordash, Grubhub, Lyft, Instacart, and more within a single app!
10. Create an online course
Online course businesses are one of the fastest-growing online business models. Creating an online course is an awesome way to generate extra income because it allows you to monetize the knowledge you already have. More people are taking online courses every day, and the COVID pandemic has accelerated that, with some online learning platforms having seen 15-fold growth in the number of users.
Another advantage is that these new platforms are so easy to use for instructors that you don't have to worry at all about the tech side of the business. You just need to focus on creating exciting content that is informational & engaging at the same time.
Starting an online course allows you to eliminate some of the huge costs associated with setting up a physical training facility, and it's a great way to reach as many people as possible.
Hey! We are Kelan and Brittany Kline the founders and co-owners of the popular personal finance blog The Savvy Couple.
We are currently on pace to make over $250,000 this year alone with our personal finance blog!
11. Start a career coaching business
A career coach is an experienced professional who helps people adjust and improve their career paths through one-on-one guidance and advice. The career coach guides people on:
- Goal-setting
- Resume building
- Interview practices
- Overcoming career anxiety
- Starting a business.
To become a career coach, decide the industry you want to serve, and earn relevant qualifications. It would help if you gain professional experience in that career line and develop the skills you need to run the business. Earning a professional certification will help you in attracting clients.
Hi, I’m Patrick Curtis and I’m the CEO and Founder of Wall Street Oasis, the largest online community focused on careers in finance.
The community has now reached over 100 million visitors over its 14-year history and is currently getting over 2 million visits per month.
12. Become a shopify app developer
Have you thought about a career building Shopify apps?
Shopify is a Canadian e-commerce company that provides an online platform for entrepreneurs to set up their own online stores and sell products. Shopify is now valued at over $45B (as of 2022) with over 1.75M merchants using the platform worldwide.
To be able to build a plugin for Shopify, you need to know how to code. If not, then at least have some knowledge of HTML and CSS. You also need experience in the Shopify API and some basic knowledge about the Liquid template language for Shopify.
Hi, my name is Todd and I’m a serial entrepreneur. After a long history of building various businesses, I created ByteStand, a friendly software development company run by ecommerce nerds who get excited about weird things like “cross-platform integrations” and “fulfillment networks” and “coffee”.
We also created FreshCredit, Shopify's first true store credit app. Between all three apps, we generate about $17,000/month in revenue.
13. Start a subscription box business
A subscription box business is a type of business where customers subscribe to receive a niche set of products on a monthly basis. Subscription boxes are in high demand today as customers enjoy receiving a variety of products from various brands.
Some of the benefits of starting a subscription box business are:
- The revenue is predictable as it is a recurring business
- Adds more value to customer service as this creates a unique shopping experience
- Customers can access exclusive products and also customize them based on their interest
- Profit margin can range from 40%-60%
You can start a subscription box business by understanding the real market needs. Because of its highly competitive nature, finding your niche and providing quality products based on your customer's interests is important. Additionally, it is important to decide what items should go in your box. The box's quantity, size, and design are crucial to grabbing the customer's attention. Apart from the basics, you should also make sure that the items are bright and colorful.
Lastly, building a good relationship with the fulfillment companies will be profitable as this business is a routine task. For example, if you have 100 subscribers, you will need a service to pick up and deliver your products. In addition to this, marketing your service can be an advantage. To promote the service, you can build your website and create special offers to attract and retain customers.
I’m Lindsay Scholz, and I’m the founder of Vowed Box Co. – a line of curated, quirky gift boxes with non-traditional brides in mind.
Since the brand is still in its infancy and we’re still working through wholesale costs, my monthly income is roughly $600. For being a side business, I look at any profit as a win, but of course, the goal is to see this grow in 2019!
14. Start an online t-shirt business
Running a t-shirt business is an opportunity many entrepreneurs are looking into as a side hustle or even a full-time business opportunity. While having your own physical store is possible, online businesses are becoming extremely popular in this field.
Launching your own successful online t-shirt business may feel daunting, but with the guidance & insights from people who are already pioneering this industry, it’s simpler than you may think. You can start with selling customized quotes t-shirts, tie-dye prints/screen printing t-shirts, or solid color t-shirts. The opportunities for this industry are endless.
What’s up Y’all! My name is Brian Wysong and I am the Co-Founder and Co-Owner of a Texas-inspired apparel brand called Tumbleweed TexStyles.
We also hire teachers to help us out with art, events and sales. We love to support students and teachers in any way we can.
15. Start a property flipping business
Are you thinking about getting into the property flipping business?
Flipping houses (or homes) involves buyers purchasing distressed properties, fixing them up, and then reselling them for a good profit. The trick is to find a house that you can buy below market value and then turn around, sell it, and make money on it.
My Tennessee Home Solution (MTHS), a renowned off-market Real Estate Investment Company in Tennessee, was created by co-founders Jordan Isham, Briar Bearss, and Charles Chandler.
MTHS specializes in buying residential properties, repositioning the asset as an investment, and then selling the investment to institutional and active investors or selling the property as a house to retail customers.
Their network of investor clients covers all 50 states in the US as well as other countries. Since their founding in 2021, they have acquired and transacted more than $40M in residential real estate.
Jordan, a co-founder of My Tennessee Home Solution, is in charge of the organization’s general strategy, brand building, and revenue expansion.
They established this business to change the world. They remain committed to making a difference, helping struggling homeowners who need to leave unpleasant situations, or giving money to nonprofit Veteran organizations.
The company is now consistently making $80,000 per month after investing many long weeks and a significant amount of personal resources to get started.
The business is handled by a team of veterans who make selling your home stress-free. They now advise and mentor those who want to establish their real estate businesses.
16. Start a pet store
Pet stores are retail businesses that sell animals and pet supplies. They are a leading industry category with sales of approximately $4.5B U.S dollars and positive sales growth of 2.7%.
You can set up a pet store in many places, like supermarkets, malls, or pet supply stores.
The first thing to do is to find a location for your store. A good place would be an area with many residential buildings, schools, and colleges as this will give you access to many customers. It would help if you also looked for a location near public transport as it will make it easier for people to come and visit your store.
I am Mike Leon, mechanical engineer, an avid bike rider, service dog trainer and inventor of the 1-Running-Dog Bike Tow LeashⓇ for safe bike, trike, scooter, and wheelchair dog-rides.
I am the owner of LEON Engineering, Inc. We design, build and sell the 1-Running-Dog Bike Tow Leash® to dog owners, walkers, trainers, military and law enforcement, search and rescue and those with special needs. Having sold less than 200 BTLs prior, My on-the-side hobby turned into a true business in 2009 with the launch of our first website. We went from shipping hundreds/year to thousands/year. Now, our business allows me to work comfortably from home, making 6 figures, while caring for my wife and enriching the lives of tens of thousands of dogs and their humans.
17. Start a Greeting Cards Business
People use greeting cards to mark births, deaths, graduations, anniversaries, and other parties or events. If you love helping people celebrate special occasions, starting a greeting card business can be a great business opportunity.
When starting a greeting card business, choose a potential niche and write a business plan. Then, find an ideal spot to sell the greeting cards. For instance, you can offer greeting card design and posting services, so customers can choose the best designs and post greeting cards online.
I am Travis Peterson and started Joker Greeting. We make original prank gifts and prank non-gifts for friends, family, and offices. It all started with a non-stop musical greeting card that looped for 3-6 hours.
For 2.5 years, I have been working on making musical greeting cards interesting again. To be clear, I never intended on making a greeting card or joke company, but we launched on Kickstarter and raised $92,073 in 30 days with no marketing, so I decided to give it a shot.
18. Start a jewelry making business
The global jewelry market size was valued at $278B in 2018 and is expected to reach $292B by 2025.
The industry comprises manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and jewelry designers. Unlike many other industries that have gone through leaps in technology, the jewelry industry has remained untouched for over 40 years.
If you know how to make jewelry, then this might be a great way to make some extra money.
Hello there! We are Lindsay Ann Gottschall and Courtney Joy Bleier, two sisters from Miami who started Ann + Joy. We make handmade real flower and resin jewelry and sell online and in stores around the world. We take pride in being one of the first companies to make real flower jewelry. During our first year of business, we blossomed almost immediately into a very successful Etsy shop. Etsy was constantly featuring our products on its website and in promotional emails. We are proud to say that since starting in early 2017 we have had over 5,000 sales online.
For all the readers, we are providing a 20% off coupon to our Etsy shop. Use code: STARTERSTORY at checkout!
19. Start a NFT marketplace
An NFT marketplace is an online site for crypto-collectibles and non-fungible tokens where traders can buy-sell and discover exclusive digital items.
Launching an NFT marketplace requires setting up a blockchain network, integrating a chosen digital wallet, and creating smart contracts. Finally, you need to build a customer-facing web application.
Experts estimate that NFT marketplaces will continue experiencing a YoY growth of 30.72%.
Therefore, NFTs are becoming some of the most profitable blockchain-based experiments.
I’m Bruno, and I used to be a web developer in a past life. In 2015 I join the blockchain movement as Ethereum entered the scene and have been building Web3 products and teaching people about Web3 ever since - from having worked on Ethereum 2.0 for a while to being engaged with Web3 Foundation presently, and developing an NFT standard on top of Polkadot and Kusama.
Last year I formed RMRK, a standard to build NFTs on Polkadot and Kusama and my team developed singular.rmrk.app as the minting and trading UI for the ecosystem. Throughout our development journey, we accidentally built the most advanced NFT system in the world. Right now, the volumes are around $1 million per month, which is a lot given that the Singular UI project itself is only a month old :) Our revenue is $30k per month right now, projected to be around $500k annually by the end of 2021.
20. Become a mobile personal trainer
Do you love helping people through their fitness journey? If you want a great side hustle to earn extra income, consider becoming a personal trainer.
The fitness trainer side hustle can be an adamant industry to earn good money. However, once you develop a reputation as a good trainer, you can get more clients through referrals. You need to register for the certification course to start offering personal trainer services .
To attract your first clients, consider online advertising, and seek referrals from every customer.
Hey everyone! I am Chris and in March 2011 I started Live Fit. Live Fit is a personal training company that was created to change the standards in the personal training industry. Early on I focused on building a company that is not only based on results, as most fitness companies are, but that is also focused very heavily on relationships. Relationships create trust, trust creates buy-in, and buy-in leads to the accountability and dedication it takes to get results.
21. Start a landscaping business
A landscaping business is engaged in maintaining lawns and gardens, trimming trees and shrubs, and providing landscape maintenance and beautification services. Landscaping costs vary depending on the size and location.
For small jobs such as taking care of the lawn and trees, the cost can vary from $50 to $100 per hour. The average wage of a landscape designer is $70,000 to $90,000, and a landscape architect makes around $50,000 to $100,000 per year. For basic maintenance and mowing services, a single person who runs a landscaping business can get started with as little as $5,000 or less. However, a proper landscaping business will require a large investment. The average start-up cost is between $15,000 to $20,000.
Once the type of service is decided, the list of tools and equipment can be purchased. The best way to succeed in a landscaping business is to provide quality service. This will not only retain existing clients but also promote and attract new customers.
I'm Bryan Clayton CEO of GreenPal which is best described as Uber for Lawn Care.
Good thing early investors told us no because with their capital they would have owned and controlled 30% of our business.e are self-funded and my cofounders and I own it all.
22. Start a time tracking app
A time tracking app is a tool used allows its user to clock in/out via an internet-connected device or to use a stopwatch to record the start and end of tasks. The time tracker apps also have analytics and reporting features that consolidate the data so that users can gain insights into time spent on different tasks, projects, and clients.
The growing need among managers and enterprises to improve employee productivity and adopt a remote work culture contribute to the high demand for time-tracking apps.
Therefore, if you are looking for the best App-based business, you may consider developing a time tracker application. Here is a high-level overview of some steps to get you started working on your business idea of the time tracker App
- Define the project scope
- Choose a software development methodology
- Formulate the approach for your development project
- Create a project team
- Develop the project plan with timelines
- Test the prototypes
- Find suitable API solutions
- Publish the Apps
My name is Dean Logan, the co-founder, and CEO of Labor Sync. Labor Sync was founded in 2009 along with my father and CFO Al Logan and CTO Joe Burger.
The amazing thing about Labor Sync is our expansive global presence for such a small company, only 12 employees! Our product is available in over 17 languages and used in over 100 countries.
23. Start a social media management business
Similar to virtual assistants, social media managers offer various services, including but not limited to:
- Developing a marketing strategy based on clients’ goals
- Setting up social media accounts
- Posting on behalf of their clients
- Coming up with strategies for increasing client’s social media following
- Marketing analysis.
To become a social media manager, know the various platforms and understand how they work so you can develop strategies that help clients reach their goals.
The beauty of working as a social media manager is that you can define your work schedule and choose what niches to work on.
I’m Amanda Shepherd, the owner and lead mentor at the Social Media Manager Society. Aside from social media consulting to businesses in the food, beverage, and hospitality industries, I created a program to teach other women how to run successful social media businesses so they can have the time and financial freedom they’ve always wanted!
I quit my 9-5 and in one year made almost $100,000 working an average of four hours per day - and still growing!
24. Start a board game business
Creating your own board game can be fun, challenging, and rewarding. Games are an integral part of our culture and are played by people from all walks of life.
You can create a board game from scratch with basic programming knowledge or several hours of practice. Board games are easy to manufacture, can be made from home, and can become top-rated and profitable businesses.
Hi! I’m Jamey Stegmaier, and I run Stonemaier Games, a tabletop game company based in St. Louis. We publish strategy games like Wingspan, Scythe, and Viticulture.
Stonemaier Games started with a Kickstarter campaign in 2012 that raised $65,980, and in 2020 our annual revenue eclipsed $18 million. Our latest game, Red Rising, is shown here (photo credit: Tim Chuon).
25. Start an earring business
An earring business is one type of jewelry business specializing in manufacturing, wholesaling, and retailing a range of earrings. An earring business could involve designing earrings as jewelry for use in multiple pieces of jewelry or designing them for freelance fashion designers and clothing stores.
Earrings are a fantastic starter project for beginners. Earrings also have some quick success as people love to wear them and often have pierced ears ready to receive your creations.
Earring businesses have been growing in popularity and have the potential to bring in a good income. Running an earring business is creative, challenging, and exciting. Earrings have been on woman's ears for centuries. To put it simply, jewelry is one of the oldest trades around.
My name is Alex Moore. I’m originally from St. Louis, MO, USA but have lived overseas the last 11 years and am currently living near Queenstown, New Zealand, where I have been for the last 5 ½ years. I have a wife, Paula, and three children, Sophia & Grace (twins, age 5) and Beau (age 3). My main profession (no longer full time) is that I’m a primary school (elementary) PE teacher going on my 15th year.
Currently, between all of my sales at the markets, online, etc, my revenue is on average between $2500-3000 per month. One thing that people find unique about my product is that I personally make every piece of jewelry I sell.
26. Start a woodworking business
While many see woodworking as a hobby to pass the time, it is a profitable blue-collar business with growth potential. If you are skilled, passionate, and looking for a blue-collar side hustle, consider starting a woodworking business.
Starting a woodworking business allows you to work from home. Besides, you can scale the business easily and enjoy unlimited earning potential. Some opportunities you can go for include building custom wood pieces, teaching others about woodworking, starting a woodworking blog, and flip furniture.
My name is Sasha Weekes and I’m the 25 years old owner of Timber Grove Studios. Our home-based woodshop is nestled in the hills of PEI’s countryside, and we specialize in decorative shelving and home decor with a focus on minimalist design and simplicity. Each piece is made to order with 20+ color options, meaning it will be the perfect fit for each customer's space. We ship Canada and U.S. wide.
Moving twice in two years has definitely caused organizational, financial and opportunity hiccups, but the business has grown steadily regardless so we’re very excited about where 2020 will take us. We’ve learned what to focus on during which months, as revenue can range anywhere from $2000 during slow months to $10,000 during high months. Net profit has run anywhere between 20-50% throughout the life of the business and varies month to month. It’s closer to 20% right now as we’ve been spending all we can on new tools and materials for our new larger products and our Christmas stock.
27. Start a payment app
A payment app lets you accept payments from anywhere, using your mobile phone or tablet. It’s best for business owners and professionals to get payments for products or services occasionally or irregularly.
Starting a payment app is an excellent way of making passive income online. It doesn’t require much initially, and the revenue can be significant.
Payment apps are quite popular nowadays, allowing people to pay for goods and services with the tap of a button on their phones. Creating a new payment app can help you capture a share of this growing industry and virtually endless niche for your business.
I’m Ryan Scherf, the founder of payment.co (@payment), an app built on top of the Stripe payment gateway for creating card-present charges. Payment is available on iOS and Android, and allows customers who have created online stores to easily collect payments in person, in the same account, with no barriers or card readers required.
The app launched in January 2015, and since has grown to process over $70M in volume annually. The app collects a 1% service fee on every single charge.
28. Start a hot sauce business
Hot sauce is one of the most popular condiments in the world, and it's easy to see why: it's versatile, delicious, and can add some serious flavor to almost anything you put it on—and not just for people who like spicy foods! Hot sauce can be used to create complex flavors that are perfect for anyone looking for a little extra pep in their step.
So, if you love hot sauce and you also love money, it turns out, you can start and run a hot sauce business! You can make it yourself or you can buy it in stores and resell it to earn some good profit.
If you are planning to make the hot sauce yourself you’ll need some initial capital to purchase ingredients and equipment for making the hot sauce, as well as packaging materials such as bottles and labels.
The average hot sauce lover will try and consume about 2-3 unique hot sauces in a week, which means there's a lot of money to be made in this industry!
Hello! My name is Mustafa Mannan, co-founder and co-owner of Trini Pepper Sauce by Findlay Food Group llc. Undergrad friends and I started producing two varieties of sauce, mild [also known as “Original”] and hot, five years ago.
Today, the sauce is sold in specialty stores in Raleigh and Washington DC, with the majority of sales coming from our online store front. All in all we are averaging $3000/month in revenue.
29. Start a Backyard Plant Nursery
Do you have a gardening hobby and want to turn your passion into a profitable business with a minimum entry barrier?
Starting a backyard plant nursery is relatively easy, and the financial benefits can be rewarding. The secret to maximizing your profitability is specializing in plants that are in high demand, like vegetables and flowers.
To start, you can visit the nearby retail nurseries for seedlings and see what they stock and retail. To keep the startup cost low, consider using locally available materials.
My name is Debbie Odom and I am a horticulturist and the co-founder of Camelliashop.com.
30. Start a marketing agency
Marketing agencies can be a great option for businesses looking to advertise in different ways. For businesses, hiring a marketing company can help them achieve success as they don't have to spend money on employees or needed equipment. Marketing agencies are not inexpensive and there are many different variables that come into play when deciding which one is the best fit for your business.
You want to start a marketing agency, but don't know where to begin. You're not alone, there are thousands of entrepreneurs across the globe that have the same ambition. Luckily for you, compiled a list of how other agencies were able to grow their agency and scale effectively.
Hey there! I’m Jeremy Enns, the founder and Storyteller In Chief at Counterweight Creative, a podcast production and strategy agency.
I started the company 3 years ago, in 2016 with one client, making $15/hour and have grown into a team of 10 contractors producing more than 30 shows per week with revenue of over $10K/mo.
31. Build an API
API is the acronym for “application programming interface” and is a software intermediary connecting applications.
More and more companies are adopting a digital business strategy to streamline their operations and provide better customer service.
Many benefits come with using an API, and we’ve compiled a list of the best API businesses today.
Launched in 2016, it has grown to thousands of daily users, over a hundred millions in monthly API calls and revenues of over $15k per month. That’s over 1,000% up from a year ago, and still growing fast - the current month is always higher than the previous one.
32. Start a life coaching business
Life coaching has become an increasingly popular career choice. A life coach helps people in various areas of their lives using a combination of emotional intelligence, professional knowledge, and experience.
Life coaching is a global industry worth over $2.85 billion, and the number of life coaches has increased by 33% between 2015-2019.
This is a very profitable business and can be started at virtually no cost. You'll need a computer, a high-speed Internet connection, and a LinkedIn account to start. Then, you can begin coaching part-time in your spare time until you build up your clientele.
Hi everyone! My name’s Fotis Panagiotakopoulos and I’m the founder of GrowthMentor, a platform where you can connect with vetted growth mentors for one-on-one calls.
The mentors are primarily made up of growth marketers, product managers, founders, and startup veterans with years of experience. Over 2,500 mentorship calls have been booked on the platform to date.
33. Start a campervan conversion business
Campervan conversion is growing in popularity. The main reason behind its popularity is it is a cheaper alternative for buying a new campervan.
If you plan to start a campervan conversion business, you can offer the customers a readymade campervan or a camper van conversion service. A readymade campervan model is where you purchase a caravan, convert it into a campervan, then sell it to outdoor lovers, or even rent the camper van. As a service, a customer drives to your workshop and requests you to convert their van into a camper.
The readymade option offers a wider profit margin, but there is a risk of waiting longer to sell the campervan. Conversion as a service has less profit, but there is more certainty when getting your money back.
We are Bryan+Jen Danger, a couple who broke away from the 9-5 years ago to live a life focused on happiness and simple/nomadic living. We traveled extensively by van as we sought out wilderness/adventure and returned to urban environments to be around friends and family.
34. Start a personalized gift business
Personalized gifts are great for celebrating important dates, joyous occasions, and memorable moments. The personalized gifts include photo frames, key chains, to group gifts.
A personalized gifts business is a low-capital idea since you do not need a physical storefront or office space to start the business. Besides, you can put as much time into the business as possible, which means you can run the business as a side hustle.
Check out our guide on how to start a personalized gift business
Hello Stater Story readers! My name is Dmitriy Peregudov, I am a founder of GiftBasketsOverseas.com, a company offering global gift delivery in 200+ countries Worldwide.
Our company’s purpose is to help people build personal and business relationships Worldwide, one gift at a time and since the launch, we had a pleasure to connect more than 2 million people Internationally in more than 200 countries.
35. Start a SEO & lead generation service
Lead generation focuses on attracting prospects to a business and increasing their interest by nurturing them and converting them into customers. Lead generation experts help businesses collect information about potential customers and turn them into leads.
To become a lead generation expert, you must learn the fundamentals of lead generation and gain experience in various digital marketing areas.
Hello guys! My name is Justas Markus, and I’m the co-founder of GetFound XL, a link building company. I started the company almost 4 years ago with my buddy Tomas Laurinavicius who was interviewed by Starter Story a few months ago.
For our agency, it was a perfect decision to focus only on one thing. All the processes are optimized, it's enough to have 3-4 full-time employees and, most importantly, deliver the highest quality services.
36. Become a sports blogger
Are you passionate about sports? You can start a sporting blog and earn extra income by sharing stories of the games you enjoy. Unfortunately, sports blogging is not new, so you should expect a lot of competition. To be successful, find a niche loved by your target audience and market it via social media and sports-related websites.
My name is Seth Keysor, and I’m the creator of the Chief in the North Newsletter, a Substack publication dedicated to covering the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL at large.
In under 2 years since I started this site, over 5,500 subscribers have jumped on board and it’s reached a point that it’s gone from a hobby that pays to a legitimate side income of over $4,000 a month.
37. Start a tour company
Starting a tour company is a great way to bring your love of travel to life. You can share your passion with others and help make their dream vacations come true!
There are many types of tour businesses, so choosing something you are passionate about and knowledgeable about is best. Here are a few of the most popular tour companies to start:
- Food & Drink Tours
- Adventure & Sporting Tours
- Sightseeing & Historical Tours
- Shopping Tours
- and many more!
It’s also essential to determine what mode of transportation you want for your tour company, as this will determine the initial startup costs needed for your company.
To get started, find out if you need a license to operate in your state. Some states require tour companies to be licensed, while others do not. If you are required to be licensed, talk with the licensing agency to find out what steps must be taken before you can apply for that license.
Hi, I’m Jessica Baumgart, and in 2017 I founded Delicious Denver Food Tours to connect Denver locals and visitors to my city’s amazing food scene.
When I first launched the business, I was guiding every food tour myself. By month three, I had broken even and was turning a profit. This was also when I started hiring my first tour guide. Now 1.5 years into running the business, I manage a team of tour guides, and the business is producing $20,000/month in revenue.
38. Start a mobile photography
Want to start your own photography business? You're not alone. With the rise of social media and photo-sharing, blogging, and online retailing, it's never been easier to start making money behind your camera.
There are photographers shooting weddings, creating images for ad campaigns, freelancing for magazines, touring the world, taking photographs of destinations — the list is endless!
To start mobile photography , research the target audience and determine which specialization area is more lucrative. Invest in high-quality, professional cameras, lenses, and a computer with professional software photo-editing software.
Hi! My name is Tsour Lee Adato and I am the founder of Pro Photo Studio. I started my product photography business over 5 years ago while living in New York. Pro Photo Studio specializes in high-end commercial photography and also caters to the average eCommerce online seller who sells on platforms like Amazon and Etsy.
The company began realizing a profit very quickly, in the first quarter after opening and year over year profits have increased while the cost of customer acquisition has decreased. Currently, the company makes approximately $350k per year and is on its way to becoming a 7 figure business.
39. Start a travel agency
Are you a passionate traveler with entrepreneurial skills? Then starting a travel agency can be a great career choice for you.
As a travel agency, you'll be responsible for linking travelers to providers of all the travel and tourism-related services such as accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, tour guides, local adventure, etc.
Starting an online travel agency is a lot easier than you might think. You'll need to perform market research, get a few necessary certifications (such as your IATA number), study competition, build a website, and do proper marketing.
To maximize earnings, negotiate discounts from the industry service providers, and charge travelers within the market rate.
Hey! My name is Marissa Daniels, and I am a millennial travel agent! I began Spread Your Wings Travel in February of 2019. Prior to 2019, I wanted an extra source of income just to have an extra cushion. I did mystery shopping, took surveys online, drove for Postmates and DoorDash, worked at a grocery store, anything I could find for extra money. I also did, and still do Brand Ambassador events as well- but those things didn’t fulfill me. I was doing them to get extra money, but it didn’t have a purpose and it wasn’t paying me as much as I wanted, so I stopped it all and just gave it to God. I let Him handle it.
Spread Your Wings Travel offers all-inclusive vacations (most under $1000 per person), cruises, luxury villas, cabins, domestic travel and more! The main thing that people like about my business is that I have a payment plan option. I like to have that option for them because not everyone is able to pay for a vacation upfront.
40. Start a wireframing software business
Hello, my name is Brian Nyagol. Thank you for stopping by to read my story. I’m the founder and CEO of Brainverse Technologies, a software and branding company based in Kenya, Africa, and focusing on helping small and medium-sized enterprises digitize their business, digitalize their processes and build effective digital footprints. We believe a strong brand is one that exudes irresistible attraction that sticks in the minds of people, in whichever form they get in touch with it. That is our definition of a perfect brand.
On average, we turn in monthly revenue of $4,500, 64% of which come from new large project engagements, and the rest from upgrades, maintenance, and short term projects. We get 80% of our projects through referrals from previous customers and 20% from our offline and digital direct marketing efforts.
Conclusion
Finding a "good idea" is not only hard, but it's a decision that will change the course of your life.
Once you make the plunge, you will be “stuck” with it for a long time.
But here’s the thing: finding a good idea is not rocket science. It just requires some patience and critical thinking + some time to step back and make sure you’re checking all the right boxes.
We hope you were able to get the juices flowing from this post 😊.
Thanks for reading!
Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.
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