Part-time business. Side hustle. Weekend job. Second gig.

We’re all familiar with stories about entrepreneurs who found success outside of their 9-to-5 jobs.

There are endless possibilities for those who want to own a business or simply need extra money to live comfortably.

It’s not an easy task, but we won’t sugarcoat it. You’ll need to balance a part-time business with the few hours you have left after a hard day at work or on weekends. You might be able to go places you never imagined if you do your research and think strategically.

This article will discuss seven ideas for part-time businesses that can help you get where you want to go.

7 ideas for part-time businesses you can start in your spare hours

Print on demand

Print on demand can be a great way for you to express your creativity and make some money. This is when you partner with a printer to personalize products such as phone cases and mugs with your designs. You don’t need to keep inventory to sell your products. The company prints and delivers the items to your customers per-order.

Part-time printing on demand requires very little investment. It is easy to select a company that offers print-on demand, upload your design and then add the products to a Shopify shop. Your customized products will only be made after the customer orders them. You don’t need to pay until they are sold. Your designs will be the face of your brand, so you need to invest time, effort and thought in creating them.

Print-on-demand niches that you could target are:

• Pets
• Bodybuilding
• Travel
• Vegan lifestyle
• Skateboarding
• Nerdy jokes
• Pop culture
• Dropshipping

Dropshipping is the best business opportunity for part-time entrepreneurs. This is a business model that allows you to run an online shop but not keep any products. Instead, you order the products from a supplier and then they ship them to your customer.

Dropshipping is a business that doesn’t require a lot of money or time to set up. You will need an ecommerce website that you can easily create and manage through Shopify. Dropshipping is done with an app called DSers. It allows you to search for and add products from suppliers.

• Here are some dropshipping products that you could sell
• Wardrobe and accessories (mom jeans or tracksuits, leggings, etc.)
• Bedroom and home (ceiling fans. Doormats. Air purifiers).
• Office products (pencil cases, blue-light glasses, podcast microphones)
• Kitchen and grocery (electric kettles wine fridges, fasting tee)
• Tools and home improvements (smart plugs, soap dispensers automatic)
• Camera accessories and mobile phones (ring lights, iPhone tripods, skins, etc.)

Dropshipping doesn’t mean you have to quit your job immediately after opening a store. You can spend time building your store, finding the best suppliers and establishing a solid brand until you have a steady cash flow. This business idea, while it can seem difficult at first, can provide passive income and even full-time employment.

Offer pet care services

Are you looking for a part time business idea that is easy to run and pandemic-proof? You can try your hand at pet caring. You will be responsible for caring for other people’s pets, as well as buying their products such raw food, sweaters, or beds. The global pet care market is expected to grow as more pet owners hire pet-care professionals to look after their pets.

You can offer services such as dog walking or grooming if you want to get into the pet industry. To start, you will need a website. Your website link should be shared with pet parents and pet-related Facebook groups. You may find that your services are excellent and you can start to get clients through word of mouth referrals. This will allow you to grow your side-business into something more permanent.

Let the Dog Out provides a Guelph-based dog-walking service. Free meet-and-greets are offered by the company to allow dogs to meet their new parents (you) as well as get to know them.

Even if you don’t like taking your dog on walks, it is still possible to:

• Products for pets such as personalized mugs and t-shirts
• Pet supplies like food dispensers
• Digital renderings and pet photography
• Host tours are available on the side

You can host tours for tourists if you live in a tourist area. These tours can be very niche, like a walking tour through the old town, or more specific activities, such as food tastings, camping, and walking tours. Start to think about the best places to visit and plan your group’s itinerary. To help your guests understand the city’s highlights, you might have to write a script.

Next, think about ways you can attract customers to help your tour business grow. You can build your website yourself and optimize it to search for keywords that visitors are most likely to be searching.

• “[your city] 2-hour private guide tour”
• “[Your city] Night Tours”
• “Weekend trips to [your city]”

This part can be leveraged SEO strategies. Next, set a time and date for the meeting with those who have booked.

You can also join Showaround if that’s not your preferred route. Showaround allows you to offer a tour of your city to tourists and attract them. Perhaps you know the best cafes in your area. You might even be able to point out a park that is only known by locals. Consider what you could offer a tourist that they may not have seen or done before.

Start a furniture company

Is woodworking your favorite pastime. Are you a furniture maker? Do you like making furniture for your family, friends, and neighbors? A part-time furniture company could be the right fit for you if both of these questions are answered. Start by using the tools you have at your disposal to make as much money as possible. You can sell furniture or reinvest your initial profits to grow your product line.

• To start your own furniture business, there are many jobs that you can do.
• Designer: One who designs furniture and then has it built by a manufacturer.
• Maker: Someone who makes furniture by hand.
• Reseller: One who sells and curates items from various brands.
• Dropshipper: Someone who works with a supplier in order to organize and fulfill orders.

Affiliate marketer?

Affiliate marketing is where you promote a company’s product and get paid for it. While most affiliate programs pay commissions on sales, some offer payouts for downloads and leads. Affiliate marketing can be a full-time business or a part-time venture. It’s performance-based, so you can make residual income from it.

Affiliate programs are usually free to join and require a small initial investment. There are many programs available for different product categories.

• Money: Bitcoin, credit cards and retirement funds
• Hobby: Travel, photography, and casinos
• Lifestyle: jewelry, fashion, online dating
• Wellness: Yoga, weight loss, fitness and nutrition
• Tech: Gaming, VPN and WordPress.

Become a livestreamer

Since the days of professional gamers using livestreaming to broadcast content, livestreaming has advanced a lot. Livestreaming is no longer “just chatting”, but IRL streamers, who broadcast real-life events to their viewers, are active hosts of livestreams in order to reach an audience.

Streamers make their money online by selling subscriptions, sponsorships and donations. Twitch allows you to sell merchandise to increase your income. Twitch streamers can also make money through Patreon crowdfunding. This allows them to incentivize viewers who donate money each month to Patreon to get rewards for the content they create.

Livestreaming can be done in many ways, including by people streaming their workouts or musicians streaming live concerts.

• Talking is enough
• Outdoors and travel
• Making and crafting
• Sport and fitness
• Performing arts
• Podcasts and talk shows

Because it is low-risk, livestreaming can be a great side-line business. For $30, you can livestream with your phone and a tripod. It is encouraging to have so many options when it comes to what you can stream and how much money you can make. To stream, choose a niche and create an account on Twitch or Livestream.

Get out there and start a part-time business.

This is it. An arsenal of new ideas that will get you moving and help you to create your next part-time venture.

It will be hard work. If you are passionate, dedicated, and savvy you will be glad that you took the chance and pushed yourself beyond your comfort zone.