The Best Paying Side Hustles In the UK

In today's economy, who wouldn’t benefit from a little extra money? Just about everything seems to have gone up in price, leaving most of us with empty pockets long before payday! If you’re finding that your full-time job just isn’t cutting it, maybe it’s time to consider taking up a side hustle.

What is a side hustle?

So, what is a side hustle? Put simply, a side hustle can be a part-time job, business or service that earns you some extra money alongside your day job or duties as a stay-at-home parent. The beauty of a side hustle is that it’s completely controlled by you, working the hours that you choose. Just be careful not to burn yourself out by overworking - rest is still important.

A side hustle is the go-to option for all you go-getters out there, whether you’re looking to earn a little extra money to put into your savings or just want to blow it all on a holiday. But where do you start? Luckily, there are lots of options available to you, and many of them don’t require any particular skills to be successful. Take a look at the best side hustles below.

Top 5 Best Paying Side Hustles

1. Freelance

Freelance is a great option for a side hustle; it incurs very little start-up cost and can be done from the comfort of your own home. Freelancing can include all sorts of work to suit your particular skills and interests. Start your side hustle as an artist making digital works or logos for businesses, building up your client base over social media. Or put your organisational skills to good use as a virtual assistant, replying to emails and booking in meetings for your client. Or you could even become a professional voice-over artist and earn cash through the microphone. Web design, translation, copywriting, proofreading, social media marketing… the list goes on and on; it’s up to you to find the perfect fit! The more skillful, the more money.

Once you’ve decided what you want to do, there are plenty of ways to get your freelance business up and running. You could start by working for friends, family and acquaintances who you know could benefit from your services. You could also set up your own social media page and website and start marketing your services yourself. Linkedin could be a great place to reach out to people if you’re a virtual assistant, for example. Just make sure you build up a bank of good reviews first, so people know they can trust you. Alternatively, you could join a freelance website and let the work come to you. Sites like Peopleperhour help you to find your ideal freelance side hustle.

2. Start a Blog

The best side hustles are the ones you’re passionate about. If you love to write, then this is perfect for you! It’s your calling to turn your passion into a source of additional income. Showcase your work on a blog and get paid for the pleasure. There is a bit of behind the scenes work to set up a self-run blog, but once it is up and running, it has the potential to become a gold mine.

So, what do you need to get started? First of all, you need to decide what you want to write about and find your niche. This should be something you’re passionate and knowledgeable about. It should be niche, but not too niche so you don’t run out of things to say. For example, there are already hundreds of thousands of fashion blogs out there, but a corporate fashion blog could be a good niche. It’s less competitive and gives your content clear a focus. You could write about everything from ‘The Best WFH Attire’ to ‘Power Suits in the 80s and Its Lasting Impact’’, so you don’t have to worry about running out of ideas. After all, content is king. Without being able to turn out enough articles, your blog won’t be profitable.

Once you have the foundations of your content down, you will need to choose and secure a domain name and build a website to house your writing. This may sound daunting but there are lots of sites like WordPress, GoDaddy, Wix and Squarespace., which make setting up your own website quick and easy.

Once you’ve set up your blog and established a name for yourself, there are lots of ways to start earning. You could collaborate with a brand on a sponsored post, announce a new launch or attend their influencer event. You could also let businesses display their ads on your website by signing up for Google AdSense. But the easiest way to start earning through your blog is through affiliate links. Just link the products you mention and get a small slice of the profits from the sale. Done at scale, this can be a great way to earn more money.

3. Sell Your Books, CD’s, DVD’s and Games

The easiest side hustle! Start your side hustle in a matter of minutes in your own front room. Sell your old clutter for cash and tackle two birds with one stone. Download the WeBuyBooks app to start selling unwanted books, CDs, DVDs and games at the touch of a button. Just scan the ISBN code, get an instant valuation, and post your items to us for free. And now you can get 10% extra on your first sale to WeBuyBooks by following this link.

If you run out of clutter at home and have nothing left to sell, don’t worry! You can just find a new supply and build your side hustle up to new heights. You could offer to tidy friends and family’s homes on the condition that you get to sell anything they don’t want to keep. You can also find cheap books, CDs and DVDs to resell at charity shops, car boot sales and online marketplaces. Download the WeBuyBooks app and start your side hustle today. The potential to earn money is limitless!

4. House sitting/Dog walking

We’ve probably all done our fair share of house-sitting in our time for friends and family, but how can you turn that into a money-making side hustle? Well, it’s a lot easier than you might think. There are a couple of options to get started. Firstly, you can use your own contacts, reach out to friends and family to see if they can recommend your service to anyone they know. Secondly, you can join an online community of like-minded house sitters to get your name out there. Homeowners will simply log into the site to find a housesitter they trust. Here are some examples of great sites to use: House Sitters UK, Trusted Housesitters and Mindahome.

The dog walking business is a fast-growing industry and a great side hustle option. As many people are returning to work after Covid, the puppies they bought in lockdown are now fully grown dogs who need walking 3 times a day - whether their owner’s are home or not! Use your free time to walk someone else’s dog and get paid for it. Much like housesitting, there are two ways to get started with dog walking, reach out to friends and family or register on one of the trusted dog walker sites like Rover.

5. Professional organiser

One of our favourite side hustle ideas, which appeals to our love of tidying. If you take pride in keeping things organised, then this is your sign to start making money out of your talent. People everywhere will pay you to help get their lives more organised: from clearing our overcrowded cupboards to organising and displaying collector’s items. Build a lucrative side hustle and put your organisational skills to good use. You can learn how to start up your own professional organiser business with the Association of Professional Declutterers & Organisers training course. .

Other Side Hustles

Those are our best side hustle ideas, which we think should be able to fit in around your everyday lives whilst also making you the most money! Couldn’t find the perfect side hustle for you? Here are a couple more side hustle ideas for you to try your hand at and start your money-making venture:

Make and sell your own goods

If you’re a little crafty, you could always start selling your handmade goods on sites like Etsy and Not On The Highstreet. It could be bracelets, mugs, keyrings; anything really! Just beware, this has the potential to become very time-consuming and more hassle than it’s worth. You want it to be profitable without taking up too much time.

Tutoring

Turn those A*s (or Grade 9’s if you’re younger than us) into cash. Tutoring can be a rewarding way to earn some extra cash, as you help kids, teens and even adults pass their exams. Teaching is always rewarding, but it can be time-consuming so make sure you plan sessions around your full-time job.

Domestic services (cleaning)

Release your inner Mrs Hinch and start a cleaning side hustle. You could start cleaning for friends, family and neighbours before branching out. Businesses are often good to clean, as they want cleaning outside work hours.

Delivery driver

Delivery services like EVRI, Uber Eats and even Amazon are always looking for new drivers to join their teams. They typically offer flexible hours, which you can fit around your everyday life. This could be a great side hustle if you enjoy driving.

Design and sell T-Shirts online

This is an easy side hustle, which you can do with very little effort. Just create a T-Shirt design on Canva. Then upload this to Printify and connect it to your Etsy store. Printify will print your T-Shirt, package it and post it to anyone who orders from Etsy. You don’t have to lift a finger - it’s all done automatically! Just sit back and watch as the orders start coming in.

Completing surveys

Everyone’s go-to to make more cash. You can get paid for filling in surveys online, and sharing your opinions with brands and researchers. Most surveys will only pay you pennies or pounds, but some of the more time-consuming, complex research surveys may pay more.

Virtual assistant

Have a knack for organisation? Plenty of small business owners will pay you to help them get organised. Reply to emails, answer calls, arrange meetings and do other admin jobs. You could reach out to people you know or advertise your services online to find clients.

YouTuber

If you’re a natural in front of the camera, then YouTube may be the best side hustle for you! YouTubers can make money from ads and sponsored videos with brands. You can really make videos about anything, from vlogging your everyday life to video game tutorials, and tech reviews to try-on hauls. As we all know, some of the biggest YouTubers make a career out of it. Who knows, you could be next.

Ironing or laundry

This one’s a bit of a blast from the past! There are lots of people out there who hate ironing so much they’d pay you to do it. Either that or they just don’t have the time to do it themselves. Either way, it gives you the opportunity to make some extra cash. Just set up the ironing board in front of the TV and make some easy money. Reach out to contacts and set up a social media page.

Take in a lodger

If you’re a homeowner in need of some extra cash, you could always rent out that spare room which is currently gathering dust. You don’t have to do anything and it’s a great source of passive income, as long as you don’t mind sharing your space with someone else.

How to start a side hustle - top tips

1. Find the right side hustle for you

When choosing a side hustle, it’s important to choose one that suits your personality, lifestyle and skill set. Try to embrace skills that you’ve acquired in previous jobs or find away to capitalise on one of your hobbies. Finding a side hustle that you’re good at and enjoy doing will help ensure that you have the drive and motivation to make extra cash.

2. Start small

More often than not, trying to do too much too soon is a one way ticket to burning out and quitting. It’s best to start small and scale your side hustle if and when you have time, working around your main responsibilities.

3. Know your motivations

What’re your reasons for wanting to start a side hustle. Perhaps you want to earn some extra money to afford little luxuries, save to pay of debt or buy a house, or maybe your end goal is to get our of your 9-5? Remember that your side hustle doesn’t have to be the next million pound idea to make a difference to your life. Start by figuring out what your ultimate lifestyle would look like and ask yourself what type of side hustles would allow you to have that lifestyle.

4. Plan your time

The rise and grind culture that’s taking TikTok by storm isn’t realistic for everyone. Whilst it’s a great idea to start a side hustle and make some extra money, remember that you’re not superman. Whatever side hustle you choose, make sure that it fits in with your existing schedule so you can manage your time and resources effectively.

We hope one this article helps you score your next big break in the world of lucrative side hustles! For more content on making money, be sure to check out the Make Money section on the WeBuyBooks blog.