5 Local Side Hustles You Can Start Now
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J. Arky
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Looking for some side hustle ideas to earn extra money? You can find some untraditional ways to generate some additional passive income in your neighborhood, city or local community, as well as start them right away. Here are five local part-time side hustles you never considered and can start today, according to experts.
Mobile Notary Services
According to Patrice Williams-Lindo, the CEO of Career Nomad, one of the best under-the-radar gigs for professionals with flexible time is mobile notary services. This doesn’t have to be a full-time job, but it does require person-to-person interaction and the ability to travel. It’s also a hustle that isn’t going away any time soon.
“After a quick certification, you can earn $15-$75 per notarization — higher if you specialize in real estate closings,” explained Williams-Londo, adding that a bonus perk is that the mobile notary business scales with your network.
Small Business Content Creation
Business coach and founder of Unpause Your Dreams, Charlene Ridley, described how many owner-operated or single operator businesses without the skills or the time to create meaningful content, can hire someone to generate it for them.
“Side hustlers can offer content creation services and provide short-form video to increase market visibility, create interest and help develop/manage the business’s online brand,” noted Ridley.
Ridley pointed out that there is huge potential to scale up and tailor this side hustle by starting around 2 to 3 hours per week and going up to 5 to 8 hours each month depending on the client, with the low end of earnings starting around $80 per hour and going up to a range of $400 to $640 depending on the clients’ hourly billing budget.
Organizing Photos
Everyone has pictures they’ve taken at events or in their spare time, yet most people do not know where they are or how to find them. This could be tangible photographs in a box or digital ones saved on a hard drive. Either way, Tim Richard highlighted on his YouTube Channel that this could lead to one of the best side gigs in your area.
One example Richard pointed to was a woman who started organizing her own photos, then friends and neighbors, until word of mouth had her charging between $200 to $1,500 per project. The time commitment is very low at 10 to 20 hours a week, with no high-pressure turnaround to complete a job.
House Manager
Between working full-time, taking care of kids and having a social life, people tend to forget they need to manage the place where they live: home. That’s where a house manager can come to their rescue and make some extra income on the side.
“House managers have an opportunity not to serve as task masters (that’s what task rabbit is for) but instead as trusted partners that keep the household running,” Ridley commented.
Ridley outlined that the range of services offered could include: home maintenance, calendar management, meal planning, grocery ordering and anything else the home requires to function. House managers can start charging around $35 an hour and book about two hours a week. Depending on the arrangement, those numbers could increase to 16 to 20 hours per month and bring in $560 to $700 per client.
Niche Meal Prep From Home
Do you enjoy cooking and serving up delicious food, yet have no desire to be in a professional kitchen or deal with the stress of running your own restaurant? Try preparing specific meals for others right from your own home.
“Whether it’s vegan soul food in Atlanta or paleo fusion in Portland, there’s high demand for home-cooked meals aligned to lifestyle,” explained Williams-Lindo. “Licensed cottage cooks can charge $12 to $20 per meal and serve 20 to 30 clients weekly with local pickup or delivery.”
Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.
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