Having children can take extra time and money. You may feel like your family needs additional income to meet your monthly bills, pay off debt, or do fun things, like take a vacation. Yet you may struggle to find the time to take on another job. Fortunately, there are many side hustles for busy parents that can help you earn extra money without eating up all of your free time.
#1: Blogging
A common way to try to earn extra money is by starting a blog. Your best option is to pick a topic where you have some knowledge and can earn a profit. Since you’re a parent, you already come with a built-in topic: parenting! There are many ways to monetize your blog, including advertising, affiliate links, and selling your own digital products.
#2: Online Store
There are many different ways to get involved in e-commerce. You can create a product, such as something to sell on Etsy or design t-shirts to sell on any number of websites. You may consider drop shipping, in which you list items for sale and purchase and ship them once a sale is made. You can also create an Amazon store and develop a product to sell with a wholesaler.
#3: Freelance Work
If you have a sought-after skill, such as writing, web design, or graphic design, you can turn that skill into money by starting your own freelance business. You can get started on one of the many freelance platforms or create your own website to advertise your services and start pitching clients. An example of a popular platform to start building your own website for free, is wordpress. You can find tutorials online that will teach you what to do step-by-step, including some of my favorite wordpress videos which provide useful insights for beginners. As your reputation grows, you can turn your freelance work into quite a profitable business.
#4: Teach Others
Chances are, you have a skill that others will pay to learn. If you can play an instrument or play a sport, you can give private lessons. If you are good at a particular subject, you can offer tutoring to local students and college kids. If you know a lot about a particular topic, such as web design or digital marketing, you can do quite well by creating and selling online courses.
#5: Rent Out a Room
If you need a passive form of income, renting out a room can be a great way to earn money while doing little work. You can fix up a room in your home and use a service like Airbnb to rent the room out. Alternatively, you may find a boarder who wants to rent the room out for a longer period.
How to Turn a Side Hustle Into Your Primary Income
Over time, if your side hustle is successful, you may be able to scale it so that it replaces your primary income. Many people can leave their nine-to-five jobs after a few years to focus on their side hustle full time.
There are many benefits to growing your side hustle to become your primary income. In many cases, you can earn much more with your side hustle than with another job. You are an entrepreneur and own your own business, so you control the direction your business takes.
You may have to work a lot initially while you are getting your side hustle off the ground. Startups require a lot of hard work. As your business grows, you may be able to slow down, work much less than before, and spend more time with your family. You may also have more time to do the things you enjoy.
As your revenue grows, you may outsource many of the tasks you don't enjoy doing yourself or take up a lot of your time. For example, if you run a blog, you can find writers and editors to create content for you.
If you run a business that requires shipping products, you can start using a shipping consulting business like Shipware to help negotiate parcel and freight shipping contracts with carriers such as FedEx and UPS. These negotiations could potentially save you a lot of money.
In summary, starting a side hustle takes a lot of work, but it is a great way to supplement your income and provide for your family. While you may have to put in a little time at first, many side hustles have minimal startup costs and can produce some great returns. As your business grows and succeeds, you may be able to turn it into your primary source of income, giving you more time to spend with your family.
