Do you want to earn some extra income this year? You’re no longer relegated to waitressing or flipping burgers. While those can be great side hustles, you can teach online, organize garage sales, or even collect and resell golf balls for up to $100 an hour.
We’re breaking down how to find the best side hustles for teens, so you can start raking in that extra cash while still balancing homework and hangouts.
Why should you do side hustles as a teen?
Having a side hustle as a teen is important for so many reasons. It is an opportunity to gain work experience and develop skills. You’ll have the chance to earn extra money for personal expenses or savings. And, you can turn some side hustles into a business or profession that you can pursue while in college or instead of college. A side hustle can be a launchpad for your future self, whether in the same career or in helping to build your skills and experiences as you prepare to pursue another career.
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15 best side hustles for teens
If you’re ready to start earning more this year, make sure to consider the following:
1. Online surveys
Online surveys ask a few questions or require a more in-depth questionnaire. You can participate in online surveys and get paid for sharing your opinions and feedback. Some paid surveys pay very little, but this can be a way to make extra money even in your free time. Consider options like SwagBucks, Survey Junkie, and InboxDollars. Most paid surveys are worth $0.25 to $5.00, but doing more can help to build your income.
PRO TIP! Create additional income by doing surveys and playing games.
2. Data entry jobs
Data entry is a side hustle that you can easily do from home. You could provide data entry services to businesses or organizations remotely. While it can be repetitive, you can easily do data entry from a laptop, tablet or even from your phone. You can find jobs for data entry through sites like FlexJobs. Data entry pay varies by location, but the average salary in California is $18 per hour. You can also build up data entry jobs that you can continue while you’re in college.
3. Testing Games
Game developers need people to test their new games for glitches. According to a TikTok video from Mark Setlock, you could make up to $36 per hour playing video games. To get started, go to Playtestcloud.com and click the “Become a tester” button in the upper right-hand corner.
4. Content creation
From blogging and vlogging to building your social media following, making your own content online could become a lucrative side hustle as you build an audience. You can also consider creating a podcast, writing an ebook, or creating paid content for businesses.
If you build your own platform, you can generate revenue through ads, affiliate marketing, product promotion, and other sponsorship. While there are no guaranteed returns, starting to generate revenue in your late teens could help you pay for college or launch a full-time career.
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5. Sell online
Etsy, eBay, Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, and Unsplash are just a few sites where you can sell items online. You can sell through e-commerce or social media platforms and sell stock photography. Consider reselling items online, creating your own art, pottery, or photography, or building an online business that sells unique items in a niche you’re interested in.
Setting up an online shop is fast, and it could become a consistent revenue stream for you during your teenage years and beyond.
6. Tutoring services
Just because you’re still in school doesn’t mean you’re not ready to help others. Instead of tutoring in school, there are now opportunities to get paid to tutor younger students online. Online tutoring jobs average $19 an hour, but you can find jobs paying up to $20 an hour or more. This is another income stream you could build as a teen while at college or as a career.
7. Become a freelancer
There are so many ways to work online from home these days. These include becoming a writer, graphic designer, video editor, social media manager, web designer, web developer, coder, advertiser, or content creation specialist.
You’ll need to build a portfolio, polish your resume, practice interviewing for jobs, and start looking for jobs. You can talk to friends and family to see if your real-life connections can help you land a few jobs and positive reviews to build your freelance reputation.
8. Buying unclaimed mail
If you want an “out of the box” side hustle, consider buying other people’s lost or unclaimed mail. You’ll get to keep what’s inside and can resell it for a profit. You can see Mark Setlock’s TikTok, where he bought a box of unclaimed mail for $99.95 and was able to resell it for $218, making $118 in profit in about an hour’s work. While returns vary based on shipments, this could be a lucrative side hustle.
9. Organize garage sales
Many people have thousands of dollars worth of stuff in their homes or garages, but organizing it and selling it is too much of a hassle for them. That’s where you come in. You can offer a service that organizes garage sales. Of course, they’ll need to tell you what to sell, but then you can set up tables, price items, and manage the garage sale on the big day.
This side hustle can fit into your schedule when you have free time, such as over the summer. How much you make depends on how you negotiate with the item’s owner. You can charge by the hour or charge a percentage of sales.
10. Photography or videography services
If you’re interested in art or are good with your phone’s camera, that could be enough to launch a side hustle. And if you’ve studied photography and have access to a professional camera, then you’ve got the tools you need to launch a photography or videography business.
Over time, this could become a full-time career, but you can start by charging minimal fees to family and friends to build your reputation and professional experience.
11. Reselling golf balls
Here’s a creative idea you can try from Mark Setlock on TikTok: If you live near a golf course, you can offer to collect the balls from the ponds or woods for free. Supplies cost around $11. Then, you can wash and organize them by brand and resell them on Marketplace.
To do this side hustle, it’s a good idea to set up an LLC to protect yourself and make your business more professional. You could make up to $100 an hour or more.
12. Pet sitting
You can offer pet-sitting services in your community. You can set up a professional pet-sitting business with a website or just advertise on local social media groups and post flyers on community bulletin boards. Responsibilities and compensation vary by job, but you could have set fees based on the type of pet and the amount of time you’ll need to spend each day caring for them.
13. Babysitting
Creating a babysitting service is one of the oldest side hustles for teens. Parents always need good help. If you can show up on time or early and take good care of kids, ideally making it fun, your services can be in high demand. You can get CPR certification to increase parents’ confidence.
You can also get together with friends to create a professional babysitting service inspired by the Babysitters Club. Or, for a bigger experience, you can consider a summer nannying job where you live with a family for a month or more and take care of the children during set hours.
14. Seasonal work
In another practical TikTok, Mark Setlock suggests buying leaf blowers and going door to door in your neighborhood, charging $50 per yard to clean the leaves. You could make up to $100 per hour. There are also other seasonal opportunities you can consider, from shoveling snow in winter to lifeguarding in summer.
If you focus on yard work, you can offer a different service each season: leaf blowing and shoveling in fall and winter, weeding in summer, and garden bed prep or planting in spring.
15. Become a retail or food service crew
Working retail or food service is another classic teen side hustle. While you might only make minimum wage, it can give you valuable experience working in various environments and with colleagues. You can start building your resume, earning some money, and gaining valuable skills in customer service and responsibility.
Tips on how to start a side hustle for teens
With so many side hustles to choose from, you’ll want to narrow it down. Here are some tips on how to start a side hustle.
- Identify your skills and interests: What do you love to do and what are you great at? Can you turn that into a side hustle, a course, or teach others?
- Set up a budget: You’ll want to be realistic about startup costs. It can be a good idea to start with a lower-cost side hustle and save up before making a big business investment.
- Determine your target market: What need are you fulfilling? Whose life will you make easier? How can you make their life better? That’s your target audience or target market.
- Create a marketing plan: Your plan and your business are unique. Will you post local flyers? Spread the word through friends and family. You can also consider advertising online or joining online marketplaces.
- Establish an online presence: Building your professional or business social media presence can serve as a marketing tool for your business.
- Start small and gradually scale up: Businesses take time to build. Start with small goals, and as you achieve them, scale your side hustle. With time, you might even be able to hire an employee or bring a friend into the business.
- Seek guidance from parents or mentors: Your parents or others in your community can help you create and implement a realistic plan. They can also point out possible holes in your side hustle plan and give you ideas to maximize success.
- Stay committed and dedicated to your side hustle: It can take time to build certain businesses. While some may start to turn a profit right away, others (like content creation) can take time to gain traction. But persistence pays off. Keep learning, refining what you do, and consider finding new opportunities for growth in your side hustle.
Should you start a side hustle?
As a teen, you can build valuable skills, gain business experience, and create opportunities that will help carry you into the next phase of life. Making extra money that could jumpstart long-term savings or help pay for college is a bonus. Whether you start one side hustle or several, don’t be afraid to try new things and expand your skills. You may be surprised to find something you love that could become a business or long-term career.
Want more ideas? You can learn how to get money fast without a loan, find tips for making more money, or how to get $1,000 quickly.
FAQ
Are there any legit side hustles?
Yes, there are many legit side hustles. From content creation to online tutoring, there are many businesses you can do as a side hustle or a full-time career.Â
What side hustles pay weekly?
Many side hustles pay weekly. Becoming a tutor or babysitter, completing online surveys, or testing games could all pay weekly. If you want to work through an online platform, you can check how often they pay out.
How can I make $100 a day on a side income?
You could make $100 a day in side income from various side hustles. You may need to commit more time initially to build the skills, experience, and earning potential, but with enough time, you could make $100 a day.Â
