What is a side hustle?
Money! There is a possibility that everyone has another version of side hustle.
For me, a side hustle means anything that will add something extra to my primary source of income: paying a bill, lunch, changing my car oil, etc.
As I said, everyone has a different approach to side hustles based on their skill set. At school, the side hustle was working at Domino’s Pizza and Zara clothing stores, even packing flyers on weekends.
Being a student, I had no idea that there was the possibility of reducing my work hours while even getting paid more. But as you can see, I was exchanging more hours for more money — the scalability factor needed to be included.
I work in a corporate environment with a good annual package and great people to interact with, but I still have some side hustle.
Now, I have enough knowledge to choose a side hustle.
Here is my 4-step approach to selecting a side hustle that might help you quit your 9–5 job one day if you want it.
Last year, someone asked on Quora why having a side hustle is important. What is even a side hustle? I reply in detail. Here is my response.
Question: Why is it important to have a “side hustle”?
There are many reasons people would like to start a side hustle. For example, more income, financial security, skill development, following your passion, professional networking, getting a taste of entrepreneurship, the potential for growth into an entire business, etc
I started a side hustle because of the top 3 reasons. It’s a fact most people would agree with.
Additional income: I started to make another source of income. Many people start a side hustle to supplement their primary income, which can help them achieve financial goals faster, such as paying off debt, building savings, or funding vacations and other lifestyle desires.
Pursuing passions and interests: A side hustle provides an opportunity for individuals to engage in activities they are passionate about or interested in outside of their full-time job. This can lead to greater personal satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment, and a more fulfilling life.
Skill development and career growth: Starting a side hustle enables people to develop new skills, gain experience in different areas, and potentially explore alternative career paths. This can enhance their resume, make them more marketable, and open up new professional opportunities.
Today, I will share the seven legit side hustles that can guarantee making money. All you have to do is put in effort.
Reminder: If someone says you can make a lot of money by investing less or almost no time on an app, run in the opposite direction as fast as you can.
Why am I suggesting a side hustle on the phone?
According to research, more than 90% of people use mobile phones to get access to the internet. The following image can help a lot to understand it.
In a nutshell, all you need is a smartphone and a stable internet, and you are on the path to making money. Personally, I have been making money on the phone since 2016. Therefore, I have literally tested many legit money-making apps and hustles to find the best ones.
These are the perfect, tested, and ready to make you some side income. Let’s jump in.
Food delivery gigs
This one is my personal favorite because it’s easy to manage and highly flexible. I have done this in the past for some side income. Here are a couple of you can give a try.
Uber Eats
SkipTheDish
Instacart
DoorDash
Grubhub
I used to live in the downtown Vancouver area, and all you needed to do was have a bike and start earning. Most companies pay you every week, but the best part is tips are 100% yours.
When I was delivering food through these apps, I used to have a full-time 9–5 job, which was highly sedentary. This gig helped me a lot to walk and put in 10,000 steps almost daily.
Paid Surveys and apps
It’s legit — no doubt.
I have done many in the past, making around $100-$500 monthly. Surveys do not pay more than $5 to $10, but the apps, which seem like surveys, pay very well.
For example, the bank will reward you after opening an account and depositing $10 or $100.
As a student, it’s worth it to get that extra cash. I did it in the past, and in one month, I made $537 using surveys and apps.
Starting point — DailyRewards.com
Sell Unused Stuff
Gary Vee is the guy to learn more on this topic; for me, it is fun.
I have an Excel sheet where I plug in all my expenses at the end of every day. There, I also have an earning section with multiple streams of earnings, and one of them is “Old Stuff Sold,” which belongs to me, or sometimes I get it from my parents-in-law to get rid of the stuff and profit 100% goes to me.
Here are a couple of dedicated apps you can try. I simply go out on Facebook marketplace or Craigslist; there is no fancy app.
Depop — Sell clothes, beauty products, and jewelry
Poshmark — sell sneakers, clothes, etc
Facebook Marketplace
Craiglist
Online Tutor
If you are a student and want to make some extra cash on the side, tutoring school students is a great option. I used to teach math/stat for $20 per hour.
You must post some advertisements in the Mall, the school notice board, and the Facebook Marketplace.
If you do not have any of the mentioned options or don’t want to do it that way, here are a few websites you can try.
i) Student tutor
ii) Tutor.com
iii) Magic ears
iv) Chegg
v) Tuter me
vi) Elevate K-12
vii) Yup
viii) Tutapoint.com
ix) Study Gate
x) Cambly
xi) Studypool
Rent out your car
There are few car companies where you can register your car to rent out. It works on the Uber kind of model, but you can rent out to people instead of driving your vehicle.
You don’t need to find a customer or advertise; the platform provides internal traffic; you can also share your links on the social platform.
You can start at this company called Turo. There is potential to make around $700 per month on average.
People also say that Turo is for a personal rental car like AirBnB.
Rent your time as a friend
This one is a really peculiar side hustle to start.
Yes, you read it right; you can rent a friend to have a chat or share your life stories.
You can easily register here at rentafriend.com to start exploring based on your location. You need a cell phone.
People are up to do almost anything: hiking, phone chats, Zoom calls, outdoors, study buddy.
I never tried this one, but I searched, and it’s almost available everywhere.
Flip domain names
I tried this one in the past. I consider this one like an old Wine.
It can be super expensive if it’s really old and catchy. I don’t do this anymore.
If I need to buy an old or short domain, I usually go to this website, Flippa.com.
Flippa is also one of the oldest websites to buy and sell blogs if you want to buy a profitable running blog instead of creating it from scratch.
The bottom line
Always pick a side hustle you are interested in, and in the long run, if that side hustle is scaleable.
I tried so many side hustles in the past, but it takes work, for example, flipping domains.
You have to invest a lot of time, and sometimes you need to learn new skills. Here, I wrote a great article on choosing your side hustle; it might help you make up your mind.
Book recommendation: Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days by Chris Guillebeau
