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5 Side Gigs That Require a Lot of Work (But Pay Off Big Time)

May 10, 2025

4 min Read

Written by Jennifer Taylor

Edited by Amen Oyiboke

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Easy money can be hard to come by. If you’re looking for a side gig and willing to put in the work, there are plenty of options that can pay off.

Read More: 15 Things You Can Donate for Money

This may require a significant time investment to learn new skills and/or create products, but it can seriously boost your income.

Here’s a look at five side gigs worth your time and energy.

Create Online Courses

Consider using your expert-level skill(s) — i.e., web design, accounting, or niche knowledge — i.e., knitting or parenting to educate others. Creating an online course generally takes anywhere from three days to two months of full-time effort, according to OnlineCourseHost.

It might be tempting to create a shorter course, but taking the longer route can pay off. For example, you’ll likely be able to charge more for a 10-hour course than one that lasts just one hour.

Earnings will vary greatly, depending on many factors, such as the level of traffic viewing your courses, conversion rate and price, according to OnlineCourseHost. However, you have the potential to earn $1,000-$100,000 per year or more.

Start an Etsy Shop

Cash in on your creative side by selling products on Etsy. This can be anything you’re good at that you also enjoy – i.e., creating digital downloads, designing t-shirts, making jewelry, woodworking, painting, etc.

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The average successful Etsy seller earns $43,000-$46,000 per year, according to Sale Samurai. However, some sellers earn less than $100 per month, while others can earn $9,000 or more per year, so there’s a lot of variance.

Some of this depends on your amount of available inventory, marketing efforts, shipping costs, listing photos, customer service and of course product quality. Getting your store set up and figuring out which products are the most popular will likely require a significant time investment, but can become much more efficient after working out the kinks.

Monetize Your Teaching Skills

If you’ve already put in the work to become a teacher, a side gig at TPT (Teachers Pay Teachers) is waiting for you. You’ll create and sell lesson plans for ages pre-K through 12th that other teachers can use in their classrooms.

Some of the original educational materials you can sell include printables, task cards, interactive notebooks, digital games and teacher planners. Earnings vary from a few dollars a day to the ability to pay your monthly car payment or mortgage payment, according to TPT.

If you’re off during the summer months, this can be a great time to create new materials. Simply list them, then sit back and watch your earnings come in during the school year.

Restore Old Furniture

Turn someone else’s discarded furniture into a goldmine. Scour thrift stores, garage sales, Facebook Marketplace and even the curb on trash night for pieces with potential.

Depending on your skill level, this could include furniture that simply needs to be cleaned or painted, to items that require repairs or even reupholstery. Fix them up, then sell them on sites like the Nextdoor app, Facebook marketplace or local consignment shops.

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Prices will vary by piece, but it’s realistic to expect a return of at least 200% of your total costs, according to JungleScout.

Become a Bookkeeper

If you’re organized and good at math, turn these skills into a bookkeeping side gig. If you don’t have experience in this field, take an online bookkeeping class and learn how to use popular accounting software — i.e., QuickBooks.

Bookkeepers earn an average of $23.66 per hour, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As a freelancer, you’ll be able to set your rate, the number of hours you’ll work and the size of your client roster.

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