10 Side Hustles You Can Start While Working Full Time (From Someone Who’s Tried Most of Them)
Key takeaway: the best side hustle isn't necessarily the one that earns the most money. It's the one you'll still be building a year from now, because it fits your life, your goals and your personality.
If someone asked when I started my first side hustle, they might expect me to say my twenties. The truth is, I was about ten years old.
I'd go to car boot sales with my mum and dad, wandering around looking for bargains while they sold. If I spotted something I thought I could sell for more, I'd negotiate the price down, buy it, then put it straight onto our own stall.
At the time, I didn't realise I was learning some of the most important lessons in business: buy well, create value, help someone find something they wanted, and make a small profit. Looking back, that little car boot sale table was probably where my interest in earning extra income first began.
Since then I've tried gardening, piano teaching, T-shirt printing, eBay, Betterware, investing, Utility Warehouse and blogging. Some worked brilliantly, some didn't, and all of them taught me something valuable.
So rather than giving you another generic list of fifty side hustles copied from around the internet, I wanted to share the opportunities I've genuinely experienced, together with a few I'd seriously consider if I were starting again today.
My Side Hustle Journey
- Age 10: buying and selling at car boot sales
- Age 12: gardening
- Age 18: piano teaching, and beginning to invest
- Age 25: T-shirt printing
- Age 28: selling on eBay
- Early 30s: Betterware
- 30s: first became a Utility Warehouse Partner
- Late 40s: returned to Utility Warehouse with a completely different mindset
- Late 40s: started blogging and building Freedom Blogger
- Today: continuing to invest for the long term while building additional income streams
Looking back, I don't regret trying any of them. Even the ones that didn't work taught me lessons I still use today.
There Are Hundreds of Side Hustles
Before my top ten, it's worth saying there are many other excellent side hustles out there, from photography and dog walking to tutoring, virtual assistance, graphic design, Etsy, freelancing and content creation.
This isn't a list of every opportunity, it's the ones I know well enough to give an honest opinion on. I'd rather recommend ten I genuinely understand than a hundred I've never tried.
If you've tried a side hustle before and it didn't work out, you're not alone. I've written before about why most side hustles never make any money, and it's rarely down to the idea itself.
The Ten Side Hustles I Know Well
1. Utility Warehouse
This sits comfortably at number one for me, not because I'm a partner, but because I've lived it. I've made mistakes, quit too early, come back, and wished I'd simply stayed consistent from the start.
What I love most is that you're genuinely helping households review everyday services they already use, with no stock, no garage full of products and no trips to the Post Office. The start-up cost today is much lower than when I first joined (£10 at the time of writing), the training and back-office systems are excellent, and the recurring income means you're building something that can keep growing rather than starting again every month.
Best for: professionals, families, homeowners, retired people, and anyone who enjoys helping others.
Biggest mistake people make: giving up before the business reaches its tipping point.
Paul's verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
If I were starting again tomorrow, this would still be my number one recommendation. Not because it's easy, but because it's simple, affordable to start, genuinely helps people and creates the opportunity to build recurring income over time. If you'd like to know more about becoming a partner, you can Contact Paul.
2. Blogging
Blogging is one of my newest adventures, and Freedom Blogger is the perfect example. I don't expect it to make me rich overnight; that's not why I started. I enjoy writing, helping people and sharing lessons I've learned throughout my career and life.
Over time, blogging also creates opportunities through advertising, affiliate partnerships and recommending products or services you genuinely use. Unlike many side hustles, a blog can continue working long after you've published an article. One article today might still be helping readers several years from now.
Best for: people who enjoy writing, teachers, professionals, subject experts, and anyone willing to be patient.
Biggest mistake people make: being inconsistent, publishing three articles one week and then disappearing for three months.
Paul's verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Blogging isn't a sprint, it's a long-term project. If you enjoy creating helpful content and are prepared to stay consistent, it can become one of the most rewarding side hustles you'll ever build.
3. YouTube
Unlike most of the side hustles here, I haven't personally built a YouTube channel, but I know people who have, steadily growing audiences, earning advertising income and recommending products they genuinely believe in.
Like blogging, YouTube isn't a quick win. The people who succeed tend to publish consistently over a long period of time. If you enjoy being on camera, teaching, reviewing products or sharing your experiences, it could be a fantastic option.
Best for: confident communicators, teachers, hobby enthusiasts, reviewers, and creators.
Biggest mistake people make: expecting viral success instead of focusing on consistency.
Paul's verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
If I had more time available today, this would probably be the next platform I'd seriously explore, because video content continues to grow and complements blogging incredibly well.
4. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing means recommending products or services you genuinely use and earning a commission if someone buys through your link. It works particularly well alongside a blog, YouTube channel or website.
The biggest challenge isn't joining affiliate programmes, it's building trust first. People buy recommendations from people they trust, not strangers. That's why I believe helping people should always come before trying to earn from them.
Paul's verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Done honestly, affiliate marketing can become a valuable additional income stream. Focus on products you genuinely use and would happily recommend even if there were no commission involved.
5. Investing
I first started investing at around eighteen. Some investments performed well, others lost money, and if I'm honest, some of my successes were probably luck rather than judgement. That's taught me to stay humble.
I don't really see investing as a traditional side hustle, but I do see it as an important way of gradually building long-term wealth. Start small, stay consistent, think in years rather than weeks, and never invest money you can't afford to leave invested. These days, the platform I personally use to keep things simple is Trading 212 (affiliate link).
Paul's verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Investing won't suit everyone, and values can go down as well as up. But over the long term, small regular investments can become a powerful part of building financial freedom.
6. Selling on eBay
There was a time when I genuinely thought eBay was going to become one of my biggest side hustles, and to be fair, I did make money. But I also learned some expensive lessons.
The biggest challenge wasn't selling products, it was everything afterwards: buying stock, storing it, watching competitors undercut prices, packing, posting, and dealing with returns and messages. I ended up spending as much time managing the business as growing it. That doesn't mean eBay is a bad side hustle; many people build fantastic businesses through it. It simply wasn't the right fit for me.
Best for: people who enjoy buying and selling, those with storage space, people prepared to manage stock, and anyone happy dealing with customers and returns.
Biggest mistake people make: buying too much stock before proving there's demand. Start small, test products first, then grow.
Paul's verdict: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
I learned a huge amount through eBay and I'm glad I tried it. Would I do it again? Probably not. Personally, I prefer side hustles that don't require stock or constant administration.
7. Print on Demand
Print on Demand appealed to me because I liked the idea of creating products without holding stock. I gave it a go, but never really made it work. I underestimated how competitive the market had become; creating products is only half the challenge, marketing them is where the real work begins.
Best for: creative people, designers, people interested in online stores, and those prepared to learn marketing.
Biggest mistake people make: thinking good designs automatically lead to sales. Without an audience or marketing strategy, even great products can go unnoticed.
Paul's verdict: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
I'd still consider Print on Demand over holding physical stock, but I'd go into it knowing that success usually comes from consistent marketing rather than simply uploading designs.
8. Betterware
Betterware taught me that a business can look simpler than it really is. Delivering catalogues, collecting orders, sorting products, delivering again and handling returns and customers all added up. There was nothing wrong with the business itself, it just involved far more logistics than I personally enjoyed.
Best for: people who enjoy face-to-face customer service, and those who like working within their local community.
Biggest mistake people make: underestimating how much time is spent delivering, organising and dealing with administration.
Paul's verdict: ⭐⭐☆☆☆
It wasn't the right fit for me, but it helped me realise I much prefer businesses that are simpler to run and easier to scale.
9. Gardening
Gardening was one of the earliest ways I earned money, and I enjoyed it: arriving at someone's garden, working hard, and seeing a real transformation by the end of the day. It also taught me that a good job leads to repeat customers and recommendations, a lesson that's stayed with me throughout my career.
Best for: people who enjoy working outdoors, those who don't mind physical work, and anyone wanting to start with relatively simple equipment.
Biggest mistake people make: trying to take on too much too quickly. Build a reputation first, and the recommendations will often follow.
Paul's verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Simple, honest and rewarding. It won't suit everyone, but if you enjoy physical work and being outdoors, it's a great way to earn extra money.
10. Piano Teaching
Teaching piano showed me that your skills are often more valuable than you realise. If you've spent years learning something, someone else would likely pay to learn it from you, whether that's music, languages, photography, cooking, sport or computers.
Best for: qualified musicians, teachers, coaches, and anyone with specialist knowledge.
Biggest mistake people make: undervaluing their own experience. You don't have to know everything, you simply need to know more than the person you're teaching.
Paul's verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Teaching is incredibly rewarding because you're not just earning money, you're helping someone else grow.
The Biggest Lessons I've Learned
After forty years of trying side hustles, these lessons stand out most:
- Start before you feel ready. You'll never know everything before you begin.
- Don't expect overnight success. Most worthwhile side hustles take time to grow.
- Be consistent. Small, regular effort beats occasional bursts of enthusiasm every time.
- Choose something you enjoy. If you dread working on it, you're unlikely to stick with it.
- Don't compare your beginning to someone else's middle. Everyone starts somewhere.
- Give it time. One of the biggest mistakes I see is people giving up far too soon.
I often think of the message from The Slight Edge: the biggest results are invisible in the early days. Keep showing up, keep improving, and momentum has a habit of arriving quietly.
One thing that helps most people is simply finding a realistic window in the week to work on it. If that's your biggest sticking point, I've written a practical guide on how to find time for a side hustle when you're already busy.
The One-Year Rule
One idea that's shaped my thinking is what I call the One-Year Rule: before giving up on a genuine side hustle, ask yourself, "Have I really given this a fair chance for twelve months?"
Not every idea deserves a year, some clearly aren't right, but many people quit just before things begin to gain momentum. Don't judge your progress after a few difficult weeks.
If I Had to Pick Just Three
Knowing everything I know today, these are the three side hustles I'd choose.
- 🥇 Utility Warehouse: my number one. Low start-up costs, fantastic support, recurring income, no stock, and helping people every day.
- 🥈 Blogging: rewarding and enjoyable, and it gives me the opportunity to help people while building something that can continue to grow for years.
- 🥉 YouTube: although I haven't built a channel myself, I've seen what can be achieved through consistency, useful content and patience. Combined with a blog, I think it's a powerful long-term opportunity.
Final Thoughts
There are hundreds of side hustles available today. I've only shared the ones I know well enough to talk about honestly, and your perfect side hustle might not even be on this list. That's absolutely fine.
The important thing isn't choosing the "perfect" opportunity. It's choosing one that fits your life, your personality and your goals, then giving yourself enough time to see what you're capable of.
Before You Go
If you're thinking about starting a side hustle, don't spend another six months researching. Choose one idea, commit to it, block out two hours a week, stay consistent, and review your progress after a year, not a month.
Freedom Check: if you started one side hustle this month and stayed consistent for the next twelve months, where could it take you?
If you've built a successful side hustle that isn't on this list, or you've tried one and it didn't go the way you hoped, I'd genuinely love to hear about it. It might even inspire a future Freedom Blogger article.
"The best side hustle isn't always the one that earns the most money. It's the one you'll still be building a year from now."
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Got a question about this post, or want to share your own story? Get in touch any time at paul@freedomblogger.co.uk.
