ING reported that 48% of Australians either have a side hustle or are planning to start one.
Whether it’s the cost of living creeping up, extra spare time over COVID or just a symptom of ‘hustle culture’, more and more people are grabbing side hustles. If you don’t already have one going yourself, or you’re looking to add another little side venture to your repertoire, we’ve got you covered with tips to get started and 10 of the best side hustles for Australians to pick up right now.
Go freelance
If you’re working at a job that can also be done in a freelance capacity, then you can get a big income boost by taking on some freelance clients. This also helps build your resume in your chosen field. Alternatively, if you’ve got the skills for something outside of your industry, such as freelance writing, you can pick up some money on the side and add some variety to your professional life.
Platforms like Fiverr, Airtasker and Upwork can get you started.
Property flipping
While it takes a bit more investment and risk than your average side hustle, property flipping you can land you with some real riches. You can read on our site the story of Adem Assad who flipped a house every year for 11 years straight out of high school and is now living mortgage free at 31.
If you’ve got the initial capital and especially if you aren’t afraid to grab a spanner and get your hands a little dirty, buying properties on the cheap, fixing them up and selling them for profit can make you big money and be incredibly rewarding at the same time.
Monetise your hobby
If you’ve been stitching beanies or building go-karts that are turning a few heads, there’s a chance that monetising your hobby could actually bring in some dollars. Whether you’re selling prints of your art, making clothes or accessories for people or really doing anything in your own quirky style, there’s probably someone on Etsy ready to buy it.
Don’t be afraid to put your work out to the world and you might be surprised to see you can make a few dollars, especially if you put a bit of time into some social media marketing.
Rent out your car (or even driveway)
Australian sites such as Car Next Door and Drive My Car allow you to rent out car and earn extra dollars on the side while the companies take care of the admin for you. Some people have even used these sites to essentially start up their own rental companies, earning up to $15,000 a month after racking up a small fleet of cars.
You can even rent out driveways and unused parking spaces on sites like Spacer. This also means you can be renting out your car and garage/driveway at the same time.
Start a blog
If you have a niche that you’re an armchair expert on, then this could actually become a new source of cash flow for you. Starting up a blog or even something like Youtube tutorials if you’re particular adept with a particular software or something similar, can become a steady side hustle over time.
If you can build up an audience, you’ll be able to advertise relevant products and earn money from placements or affiliate links. If it’s something you love, then you should also get a good dose of satisfaction from educating people and giving your opinion on a passion of yours.
Get investing
It’s an obvious one but if you’ve got a bit of extra time and cash to spare, your best shot at making some quick cash is closely acquainting yourself with the stock market and other investment opportunities such as crypto or ETFs.
Make sure you do all your research before diving in, but some savvy investing can start rolling in the thousands.
Deliver food
It’s the most obvious one on here, we see them zooming around the streets in their bright windbreakers all the time. It’s not as glamorous as running a famous blog or wolf of wall street-ing your way to a small fortune, but you can pick your own hours, there aren’t a lot of barriers to entry and some of the windbreakers are honestly a worthwhile wardrobe piece.
Walk dogs or pet sit
This one is a bit of a triple threat. Offering to walk neighbourhood dogs or starting up a small dog walking business is a great way to make some extra money, if you have some friends and family to start out your network you can make some quick traction, particularly if you live in a wealthier area.
Alternatively, if you’ve got a dog you already walk, you can always check sites like Seek and Gumtree and see if there’s any work going distributing flyers and make some money while you walk your dog.
If you’re not still satisfied by your paw-related side hustles, you could also get into pet sitting on a platform such as Mad Paws.
Some tips to start out
See if you can get some flexible working arrangements
Having a bit of flexibility and any extra spare time is going to be critical to the sustained success of your side hustle. Check with your business if you can work some days from home or maybe take days off if your hustle is growing successfully.
This will take commuting time out of your day and mean you’re not totally springing it on your boss if you ever have to take a meeting during work hours.
Be aware of when you become a real business
Some side hustles may be a business from the start or some may slowly become one, however, you’ve got to remember that even if it feels like a hobby, if its a business you’ll have to apply for your ABN, register as a business and pay taxes on your profits.
Don’t spend too long chasing the perfect hustle
It’s easy to spend forever trying to idealise the perfect entrepreneurial pursuit but the best thing to do is just get started. The beauty of a side hustle is that it’s just that, on the side, even making yourself $5 is an extra $5. Not to mention that once you make your first sale of something, you’ll be extra motivated to keep going as opposed to wearing yourself out before you’ve even started making money.
Keep it to yourself for a bit
While it might be tempting to throw ‘capital investor’ or ‘money emporium’ into your Instagram bio, it’s best to hang back for a bit and let your idea take shape before announcing it to the world. Telling everyone about your new money-making scheme and then having to explain three weeks later why it’s gone bust is enough to discourage anyone from trying to start up a new hustle.