How to Start Your Own Part-Time Business On The Side

Whether you’re looking to establish yourself as an expert in your industry or simply hoping to get back into the workforce and earn some extra money, starting a part-time business can be a challenging yet rewarding task to undertake.

What may begin as a part-time passion project may soon blossom into a full-time business. It can also mean that you turn a hobby into a steady earner. The beauty of starting up your own side business is that you are in control and of course, in turn become your own part-time boss!

The appeal of having an extra source of income, or taking the next step toward financial freedom can often be the driving force behind starting a part-time business, but most people shy away from starting their own side business for various reasons. For instance, they might not feel like they have the proper tools or strategy, or they might be worried about the financial risks that come with starting their part-time business without support.

For most people dreaming of setting up a side business, the lack of money to start the business is the main barrier to entry, but thanks to the internet and the new “gig” economy, it’s now a whole lot easier to start a “side hustle” that can launch your entrepreneurial career.

The rise of the “gig” economy and people’s growing reliance on the internet also means that your potential customer market is no longer limited to the people who are located near you. Finding customers who are in need of your products or services has never been easier and in fact, they will actively seek out your services if you choose the correct marketplace or platform on which to advertise your side business.

To put the potential of starting a side business into context, let’s take a look at some names you may be familiar with and who, like you, starting their side business in the hopes of achieving greatness:

Take the career of PewDiePie (a.k.a. Felix Kjellberg) for example. Felix started his Youtube Channel as a part-time business to showcase his love and knowledge of the gaming world and in 2017 he made $12 million despite a huge controversy that threatened his career.

Another great part-time business hero to take inspiration from is Mark Williams. While working as a full-time recruitment consultant he came up with the idea for LinkedIn as a part-time business after hours. After carefully creating the foundations of the platform, he started training people on how to use the professional social media platform and now has a full-time business teaching social selling to companies around the world.

No one is going to tell you that setting up your own side business will be a walk in the park but what they will tell you is that is was all worth it. The key is to establish a structure that suits you, and allow your part-time business to evolve as your needs and aspirations change. Before you know it, that passion project you started as a way to sell your art could be the very business that allowed you quit your day job and pursue a career in which you are your own boss!

Starting a part-time business could be a lot more accessible and rewarding than you think, and in this post, we are going to cover everything you need to know to get started on that path.

We’ll cover different businesses that can be straightforward to set up – both in terms of cost and in terms of the time required – and provide you with resources to help you acquire the skills to sell your product or service.

Depending on the type of part-time business you set up, you can offer both a product and a service. For instance, you could start a company that creates customised gift certificates. The certificates themselves would be the product and you could upsell custom design at an extra cost as an additional service.

As well as types of easy businesses to start on the side, we’ll show you the tips and tricks you’ll need to maximise your part-time hustle and market your product or service to the world. With the help of our in-depth break down of marketplaces where people can seek out and acquire your services, you can land your first customer within minutes of setting up your new part-time business.

If you’ve started a successful side business or think we’ve missed anything that would have made this post even better, be sure to tell us about it in the comments below.

The first and most important question you need to ask yourself when starting a side business is what kind of business you want to start? While some may come into the world of part-time business with a clear idea of what they are going to cash in on, others may not be as lucky and are hoping to find a role in which they can secure some much needed funds outside of normal working hours which are frequently counted by a work time clock calculator.

You’d be surprised to find out how many opportunities there are in today’s world to hone in on a talent or hobby, with little to no finance in order to get it up and running. That’s not to say that a bit of extra cash won’t help to get things such as marketing and set up off on the right foot.

The strength of your part-time business will obviously depend to some degree on the skills and talent you have, but in this chapter, we’ve narrowed the list down to industries where you can learn the basics in a short period of time, then build upon your experience and skills as time goes on.

We’ve also included some part-time business ideas where you require very little skills or training to get going, or your existing skill set can easily be transferred across. The amount of opportunities is endless, so we came up with a few lists that are full of ideas that you can use as a starting point. All of these should have a relatively low barrier to entry into the marketplace and with the right work ethic, should become steady earner as your clientbase grows.

If you have a flair for all things technology and have a keen eye on the latest trends in the web design industry, starting a

part-time business as a web designer or Web Design Consultant could be just the thing you need to launch your career and make some extra money in your spare time.

First and foremost, you need to build your brand and create a killer website. After all, what prospective clients are going to hire you if you’re website doesn’t showcase exactly how amazing your web design skills are? From there it’s all about getting your name out there and securing clients that are willing to pay top dollar for your design projects. You might choose to specialize. For example, targeting small eCommerce businesses.

Another option would be to hire a professional third party to build you a custom web application or website to really give the start of your part-time business a boost.

For those who are not in the ‘know’, the lines between web design and web development are very blurred and by starting a side business in web development , you can make it your job to show them exactly how important investment in web development can be to all aspects of their business.

A company’s website is their virtual and international front desk in which customers can come from all over the globe to find out more about their business. But what happens if this website isn’t responsive? Or even worse – doesn’t load on all forms of devices? That’s where you come in to sweep them off their feet and make a pretty penny while doing so!

Are you a business guru? Or perhaps even a college professor on sabbatical? Starting a part-time business in which you create and sell highly-educational online courses could see you bringing in hundreds of dollars per student if done correctly.

While arguably this can be done on a relatively low budget, if you want to build trust and more importantly, online class sizes it’s advised that you invest a bit of savings into securing the right tools for creation and distribution of your course material.

If you’d prefer to find an easy business to start that is a little less hands on that online courses, creating and selling eBooks could be a great to get yourself into the online learning game. The beauty of starting a side business in eBooks is that the scope of your operation can be a broad or narrow as you want it to be and also holds the possibility of being scaled as your part-time business expands.

Again, there are many options online in which you can create eBooks at an affordable (and sometimes free) price, but if you want to establish yourself as an expert in your field and have clients seeking your services, investing in high-quality tools is always a good place to start.

If you have administrative experience and are looking to branch out into your own part-time business, or even work full-time from home, becoming a virtual assistant might be an easy business to start.

A virtual assistant does everything that a ‘normal’ assistant who is present in the office does, just remotely. Some argue that virtual assistants are proven to be more efficient and motivated because of the independence that their-part-time business allows them. As is the nature of all freelance work, before you begin you will need to build up a portfolio but other than that time and expenses are relatively low when it comes to starting a side business such as this!

As we all know, the quality of a company’s customer service can make or break even the most successful business. So why not tap into your expert knowledge and help a business to keep their customers happy by becoming a virtual customer service assistant as a part-time business?

There are many different areas of virtual customer service that you can tap into if you’re looking to start a side business. Phone, live chat, emails. Once you have access to a phone or computer and the right client, you can set up a lucrative part-time business and showcase your knowledge in the fields in technology, insurance and law to name just a few!

Social media marketing has gained serious momentum over the last ten years and the logistics behind it can often become overwhelming for businesses to master. Starting a part-time business as a Social Media Manager for clients in your area could be a great way to launch your career and is easy to do with the help of a laptop or smartphone.

Take a look at the businesses you see in your area. What can they do to improve their social media efforts? And more importantly, how can you help them achieve results? With the help of automation tools and insider knowledge, become a social media manager in your spare time and build a client base from the comfort of your home!

To learn more about what it takes to start your own social media management business from home, check out

The Work At Home Wife’s blog!

Organic reach on social media is a hard thing to achieve, especially in this day and age. That’s where businesses seek out the help of a Facebook Ads Manager. Facebook Ads Management is one of the many home business ideas with low startup costs as the money invested in these ads are not funds of your own but those allocated by your clients!

With a logical approach and results driven mentality, becoming a part-time Facebook Ads Manager can allow you to work with clients in your own time to tailor ad campaigns to suit their desired results and create a lasting relationship with both clients and online users.

But don’t take our word for it! Read The 90-Day Hustle: How To Build a Successful 6-Figure Facebook Agency From Home to find out how to start your part-time business today!

If you’re a digital marketer with an inside knowledge of the art of Pay-Per-Click (PPC), setting up a side business as a Google Adwords Manager could see you develop a business with an international client base.

Being able to create, maintain and optimize adwords campaigns that generate leads and help businesses grow, is a hugely in-demand skill. When done right, Google Adwords can essentially be a license to print money!

The most important thing to do before you launch into securing your first client is to make sure you have those all important Adwords and Bing Ads qualifications. Not only will this get you up to speed on the latests trends but will also bolster your sales pitch to potential clients when asking them to trust you with their brand visibility!If you’re looking for more information on what it takes to set up your own part-time Google Adwords business,

Workshop Digital have done a great job in highlighting everything you need before starting your side business. Email Lead Generation SpecialistLead generation is an incredibly sought after skill within the business world. So must so that a recent study found that

53 percent of businesses allocated more than 50 percent of their budget to finding high-quality leads. So you if you can be the person who provides these businesses with the leads they are so desperately looking for, why not start a part-time business in email lead generation that is sure to bring in some extra money?As an Email Lead Generation Specialist, you have the freedom to set your rates and hours while building your part -time business and playing an integral role in the success of your client’s sales.For a more detailed breakdown of calculating costs and times, Biz Fluent has a  fantastic article that is a great starting point for anyone looking to start a part-time lead generation business. Start an Authority SiteYou may not be familiar with the term ‘authority site’ right off the bat, but we can guarantee you come in contact with them almost every day. Think of the likes of Huffington Post for your news articles.An authority site, while very labor intensive to create, is a great side business idea for anyone looking to monetise a site while creating a website that people will come flocking to in order to get up-to-date information on a broad or narrow series of topics – the choice is up to you!

Whether you have an established career as a full-time graphic designer or hoping to turn a hobby into a financial earner, starting your own part-time graphic design business is a relatively low cost side business to start.

If you’ve been working in the industry for years and have now decided to earn a little extra money on the side, you may already have access to the Adobe Suite on your laptop but if not – don’t worry! Online graphic design tools such as Design Wizard are a great and affordable way to launch your side business from the comfort of your home!

If you have a flair for design or perhaps create and present a lot of presentations as part of your full-time job, starting a side business in presentation design could be a low cost, no-brainer!

Establishing clear and concise channels of communication with your client is going to be perhaps the most challenging aspect of starting this part-time business. Presentations in their very nature can often be highly-technical and varied depending on the client so making sure you have a clear idea of the information needed within each slide along with the event in which this presentation will make its debut.

If you’re looking to start a part-time business that can be easily scaled if demand increases, becoming a remote telesales agent could be the perfect role to help you build a side business from home.

In most instances, if you are a freelance telesales agent working from home, companies will provide you with the necessary tools or software to get started in your part-time career. On top of that, if the client you are working for is a larger company, they will be your sole client and therefore ease the stress of starting out a side business from home.

Whether photography is a hobby or a career for you, starting a part-time business in stock photography can be an incredible earner for those with a portfolio and professional-quality camera equipment.

Stock photography doesn’t always have to involve staged photoshoots. You may be an avid traveller who enjoys snapping scenic landscape while you globetrot. Once you have high-quality, desirable images, you can sell those images to various stock photo agencies and websites and earn a steady income while also building your portfolio and establishing yourself as a stock photographer.

Starting a side business in which you buy and sell domain names is a move that has proven incredibly lucrative for some. A quick search of the web will show you stories of intuitive individuals who have bought domain names for as little as $5 and later sold them to a desperate business for a whopping $1 million dollars or more!

Now while this figure may not be realistic when starting a side hustle in domain names, by finding and investing in desirable domains, you could potentially make an easy profit by being quick off the mark and aware of big names looking to nail down a better domain.

One of the top metrics that every, if not all online businesses are eager to improve is that of website traffic, and while there are many ways in which this metric can be improved there is one sure-fire way to get it started – well-designed landing pages.

A great side business to start, especially if you have a keen eye for business and design is to start a part-time business as a Landing Page Design Specialist . This can work as a side hustle if you’re a Marketing Manager, Web Designer or just know what works and what doesn’t when it comes to creating landing pages that make visitors stop. By dedicating your spare hours to helping clients improve and add to their current batch of landing pages, you’ll not only gain a reputation as the one to call but also increase you rates in order to keep your part-time income on the up and up!

Search Engine Optimization is arguably the most highly debated topic in the world of business today; both online and off. If you have an in-depth knowledge of the latest updates and a hunger to get your clients name on those coveted page one spots, you have the potential of starting a part-time business that could soon become more profitable than your 9 to 5 career!

The most important and perhaps the hardest part of starting a side business as a Search Engine Optimization Specialist is being able to provide and achieve results. One wrong move and the whole project could be futile so be sure you’re an expert in the field with the results to prove it and clients will be queuing up to get you on their books.

As the saying goes “there’s an app for that”, so starting a part-time app development business could be a great way to start your side hustle off with a bang!

Whether you choose to develop a groundbreaking app to launch yourself or take on part-time work as an app developer or consultant, with enough knowledge and a bit of creativity you can create a powerful side business at home or on the move.

While this may be a pretty niche part-time business to start, if you have been blessed with a voice that could lull even the most unsettled baby to sleep then becoming a voice actor could be the side business for you.

The most important piece to invest in when starting out is a proper microphone on which to record your voice. If the audio equipment you are using is subpar, clients won’t want to use your work and therefore you’ll risk losing business.

Mobile beauticionary is becoming more and more popular in the part-time business world. Whether you work full-time in a salon or are a parent looking to tailor your work hours to cater to family life, setting up a side business as a mobile beautician can quickly turn into a steady earner for yourself and your family.

While gathering all the tools may be an investment at first, once you have a car, qualification and flair for your trade, you’re sure to find your phone ringing off the hook as clients book in for the convenience and quality of your service.

A very popular and easy part-time business to start is to become a tutor after hours. This can work for both students and teachers looking to make a little extra cash after the school day is done.

For example, you may be a Math teacher who is looking to save up for a much-needed sun holiday during summer break. You can post flyers around your area advertising your rates and services and tailor your part-time hours to fit in with your class schedule! Here you will find 11 more tips on how to advertise yourself as a tutor to get more students.

If you have a knack for website design while also creating a marketable product, creating an eCommerce store is a great business to start. Even Amazon’s Jeff Bezos had to start somewhere!

The strength and authority of your eCommerce store will come with time but if you are starting a side business in the industry it is all about laying the right foundation and message on which people can place their trust, products, and ultimately, their money.

For this, user-friendly experience is essential for conveying your message or concept in a meaningful, trustworthy, and concise manner.

Sell On EbayBuilding your own eCommerce store from scratch might not be on every part-time business owner’s agenda so take advantage of those well established ones,

such as Ebay, to help you sell your product.Auction off unwanted items from around your house to create some extra  cash flow or sell handmade products in order to turn a profit. Setting up an account is easy and once it’s ready, you a safe and secure way to sell and receive payments from customers. Simply set up a PayPal account and you’re ready to go. Sell On AmazonIf Ebay isn’t your cup of tea, then Amazon is another well established eCommerce store that will help you sell your products to the world.Starting a part-time business in which you  sell items on Amazon is easy to do, and with a little help from optimization of your listings, you can see customers from all over the world coming to your profile to buy your product.

Millions of people are heading to their podcast app of choice every day, whether on their commute to work or at the gym, to tune into their favorite presenters and escape the world around them for an hour or two.

If you’ve got a lot to say about a certain topic, or just want to take to the airwaves, starting a part-time business in podcasting is a great business idea that you can start from home. All you need is the right equipment. As is the nature of all online media, nothing happens instantly – unless you get very lucky. Keep with it and watch your audience grow while you build your part-time empire in podcasting.

In the hustle and bustle of daily life, people often find it hard to hit the highstreet to find the perfect clothes for them.

Becoming an online stylist with the help of Stitch Fix can be the perfect way to pursue your passion for fashion while also earning money as part of your side business.

Stitch Fix is an online clothing subscription service in which customers sign up to have clothes selected for them by a professional stylist and delivered to their house by post. Starting a side business as an online stylist couldn’t be easier with their platform and once you fit the customer brief you can help hundreds of other customers fix their fashion woes from the comfort of your house.

Instagram is fast becoming many companies platform of choice when it comes to marketing and selling their products through the power of influencer marketing.

While you will need to put a lot of work into building a loyal and engaged following, starting a side business in Instagram Marketing is one of the most sought after careers in the online world today. The most important thing to do, once you’ve gained a loyal following, is to build lasting relationships with brands who are looking to reach potential customers on Instagram. Once that is achieved, you can start charging businesses a fee to promote their product or service on the platform in the hopes that your followers will buy in.

For more tips on how to stand out on social media, read our ‘Creative Ideas to Increase Sales’ e-book.

If you have an eye for grammar and spelling, or even pursue a full-time career in publishing, becoming a proofreader and editor on the side is a great way to help businesses nail their content while starting your own part-time business!

Start up costs are virtually non-existent when starting this side business as all you need is an email address in which to receive information or documents and a word processing tool on your computer and away you go.

For those who may not be familiar with the idea of affiliate marketing but are eager to find good businesses to start with little money, this may be the one for you! By becoming an affiliate marketer for a company or website, you are rewarded by this site for every new customer that you bring their way in the form of a percentage payment.

The vetting process for becoming an affiliate marketer varies depending on the business whose affiliate program you sign up for. But with that being said, once you are accepted as an affiliate, the only cost incurred is on the side of the client whose business you are promoting as part of your side business. All you need is a computer or phone and a gameplan to direct people to the site you are trying to promote!

If you have a strong way with words and looking to build a professional portfolio that will stand to you in the future, starting a part-time business as a Content Writer could see you fulfilling a lifelong aspiration while also earning some extra cash in the evenings.

There are many avenues you can pursue if you are hoping to start a side business in content writing but once you have a laptop and word processor, you’re ready to go. For example, you may want to explore ghostwriting or perhaps in tie it into your affiliate marketing efforts. It is important to decide, however, how you are going to charge, promote and maintain various deadlines before starting out as a part-time content writer.

Not all part-time businesses have to be based from home office. One of the easiest part-time businesses to start to work on a service that almost everyone needs!

If you live in a suburb with lots of residential housing, grab a bucket and cloth and take to the streets as a window cleaner. Not only is it a cash in hand business model, it will also allow you to work both indoors and outdoors to help people keep their houses looking spik and span!

We’ve discussed starting a part-time business in window cleaning but what about the rest of the building?

Home and office owners are often too busy to give their properties the TLC that they need, so offering your services as a cleaner could be a great way of creating a part-time work schedule that works for both you and your client.

One part-time business that has withstood the test of time is good, old fashioned babysitting. If you have a way with kids and a trustworthy personality, starting a side business in which you helping out working parents or those looking for a night on the town is a great idea.

Create flyers, post them online and around your neighbourhood and watch as the calls come flooding in for those highly sought after evening and weekend slots while maintaining a full-time job or college studies.

If you are a dab hand at knitting or maybe even create clothing from recycled materials, starting a part-time business by selling your products on Etsy is easy to do!

Someday, when your side business turns into a full time career, you may be able to rent your own shop front but for now, utilising Etsy’s digital marketplace and global reach is the perfect way to get your handmade or vintage items and craft supplies out to the world and bring in a bit of extra money while you’re at it.

A great way to break into the world of part-time business is to set up your own YouTube channel. While the money might not roll in straight away, for the likes of make-up artists and technology experts, part-time careers on YouTube have evolved into multi-million dollar companies over the last 10 or so years.

Having a good editing suite on your laptop or computer is crucial when it comes to starting a part-time business on YouTube. Apple’s iMovie or Adobe Premiere Pro are great tools to get you started and while they come with a price tag, it’s an investment worth making in order to produce video content your viewers will love!

We’ve talked a lot about graphic design but what about artists who prefer to stick to the traditional paintbrush and easel? One of the easiest businesses to set up, if you are a talented artist, is to create custom portraits for clients.

You don’t have to limit yourself to portraits either! Landscapes, recreations…if you can paint it, you can sell it and with the right advertisement you can create a lucrative side business in which you can pursue your passion!

Video marketing has taken the world by storm in the last 5 years, and businesses are more eager than ever to produce high-quality videos to help showcase their company and go viral.

Starting a side business in video editing is relatively easy to do once you have the right editing tools. Simply find a client who is looking to blend all their hard work into a show stopping video and you will soon see yourself building a portfolio that will result in more and more customers grappling for your expert skills.

Similar to starting a part-time business in video editing, building a side business in photo editing is all about having the right tools to get you started.

Edit in large batches for clients or focus on more specialised projects and you can set your rate and working hours to suit accordingly.

Whether you’re a student studying languages in university or studying abroad as part of your degree, starting a part-time business as a translator will allow you to not only develop your skills but also give you invaluable experience before entering the workforce after college!

Marketplaces such as Fiverr, which we will discuss in a bit more detail later are an easy, security and lucrative place to start a side business in translation. All you need is to be fluent in at least two languages, own a computer on which you can translate the document, and wait for the clients to come in droves.

Depending on your field of study, starting a side business as a transcriptionist could be a great way of earning money while also learning more about the industry you hope to one day establish a career in.

As your client list grows and you establish yourself, you may be able to invest in tools such as a foot pedal which will help your productivity, but when you’re starting out a computer, headphones and a knowledge of the grammar and theory will make the foundations of your part-time business.

There are many different directions you can take this side business when starting it and while you might not be able to monetize it right away, if done right it could launch a full time career that branches off into Influencer Marketing and maybe even book deals!

With the likes of WordPress, setting up a part-time business as a blogger is easy and free. The hardest part about this process will be selecting a focus or theme for your writing. If you’re studying fashion and merchandising in college then a fashion blog may be the best way to go. Or perhaps you are studying nutrition and want to showcase your knowledge while also providing a place for people to come who are looking to lead healthier lives. With persistence and well thought out content, starting a side business in the blogging world could potentially launch a career from the comfort of your college dorm!

This part-time business doesn’t have to be confined to students! Starting a side business in remote language teaching can be applicable to anyone with the relevant qualifications and a thirst to help eager online students master a second, third or even fourth language!

With many online tutors charging anywhere between $10 and $75 dollars, tutoring even for 2 hours a day, 3 days a week holds the potential of making you $450 dollars a week while you complete your studies.

Now that you’ve figured out what type of part-time business you want to start, we strongly advise that you do some research to make sure there is a gap in the market that you can fill and therefore make an earning doing so!

In simple terms, if there is no gap in the market or if the market is oversaturated, there will be little to no money for you to make, and in the end this should be a goal of any business, even a part-time one.

If you’re not familiar with market research or how to conduct it, we’ve put together a handy list of posts to help get you started:

1. What is market research and why do you need it?

Market research for small business

How To Save Your New Business Idea with Market Research

2. How to do market research

The Best Ways to Do Market Research for Your Business Plan

How to Do Market Research

5 Market Research Tips for Small Business Owner

Small business tips: How to do market research

3. How to determine if it’s a viable business idea

How to Determine If There’s a Market for Your Business Idea

3 Ways to Figure Out If There’s a Market for Your Business Idea

Now that you know which part-time business you want to start and you’ve determined there is a market for your product or service, what is the next step? It is crucial that you make a clear overview of your startup costs and what the projected expenses for your business will be, even though they might be quite low.

In the end, this determines if you can afford to start a side business and how much money you need to have, to not only get it off the ground, but also to ensure its survival in the early days.

Not only will you need to ensure that you’ve budgeted enough for running costs, you’ll also need to ensure that you are charging enough when sending invoices to keep your business going.

The following articles show you how to create an effective budget, and also show you how to determine what you should charge for your product or service.

1. Financing your part-time business

Not every budding part-time business owner will have the option of financial backing but that is not to say there is a business that can survive purely on passion alone.

When starting a side business there is a baseline that will need to be invested in promotion, marketing etc. in order to make the business successful and generate leads/ customers.

In order to determine those costs and initial investment, have a look at BPlans article on startup costs to get you started:

If You’re Planning a New Business, Budget Your Startup Costs

2. Creating a budget for your side business

So now that you’ve determined how much you can invest, and how you are going to invest it at the very beginning of your startup career, it’s time to start crunching those all important numbers.

Not every person who starts a part-time business will have the help of a financial expert to help them set a budget, so below are a list of some useful resources to help start your budgeting off on the right foot:

Create a Business Budget in 5 Simple Steps

How to Create a Budget for Your Startup

How to Create a Simple Budget

​3. Determining how much to charge your customers

Let’s bring it back to the very beginning of your thoughts into starting your own side business. Unless you’re working on purely goodwill, you will want to determine how much you are going to charge your customers or clients in order to see your profits grow.

Depending on the industry you work in, the prices you charge will vary. A web designer will charge a higher price to launch a complete website redesign when compared to a content writer who has been commissioned to write a 500 word blog post.

Below are some resources that will help you set a rate that is fair to both you and your clients:

How Much Should I Charge for My Freelance Services?

How Much Should You Charge for Your Services?

How Much Should I Charge for My Service?

How much should I charge?

Are You Charging Enough? 5 Tips For Pricing Your Service

How to Price Business Services

How Much Should You Charge for Design Services?

How To Work Out What To Charge Clients: The Honest Version

A master tradesman will have a box of trusty tools and the toolkit your part-time business uses, whether physical or mental, will be no different.

By setting up your part-time business with the right tools, you will have a better chance of succeeding. In this chapter, we will show you some tools that will support your part-time business in its crucial early stages and allow you to produce high-quality work for whatever size your client base will be.

Within this list we have included a mix of tools you can leverage and base your entire business on, as well as tools that can save you time and help you better manage your business. You will come to appreciate these tools and even rely on them to help you achieve success, especially the ones that solve a problem outside of your area of expertise.

So for example, just because you haven’t mastered web development yet, doesn’t mean you can’t sell web design as a service, because tools like Squarespace and Wix allow you to create professional standard websites without coding experience with their drag and drop tools.

If you have a more technical background you can try more advanced and complex website platforms like WordPress, Prestashop or Magento.

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In this chapter, we’ll introduce you to some of the tools that may help you expand the knowledge you gained in chapter 1, but it is important to note that there are a lot more options than these, so be sure to explore all possibilities. The perfect tool for your part-time business is out there.

1. Design Wizard. Whether you’re starting a social media management or graphic design side business, Design Wizard is the perfect tool to launch your career. Resources are often limited when working from home. With the help of Design Wizard, all you need is a laptop, internet connection and creativity. With its customisable image and video templates it will help you during all stages of your business. Create a logo to hehttps://designwizard.com/lp advertise your services and give your clients showstopping graphics for their next digital or print campaign!

2. Wordstream. When starting your own part-time business, it’s crucial that you make the most of the time you have – especially if you’re juggling entrepreneurship with a 9-5 job. This tool will be a gamechanger for business people looking to launch their business online or on behalf of a client!Wordstream will help you house all your online marketing efforts from the comfort of one easy-to-use interface.

3. Shopify. If you’re looking to create a successful eCommerce side business, Shopify should be on the top of your list when it comes to tools you need for success. It’s a retail point-of-sale system that will allow you to sell your product from the comfort of your home!Setting up a Shopify account is so easy and will allow you to create the perfect online store for your part-time business with minimal stress.

4. WordPress. In today’s day and age, every business needs a website where visitors both old and new can come to find out more about your product or service. That’s where WordPress comes in.The great thing about WordPress, especially if you’re running a side business, it’s that is gives you the freedom to start with the basics and build it out over time as your business grows.

5. Yocale. When running a side business you need to be on point when it comes to scheduling meetings and appointments with clients and customers. One missed conversation with a prospective customer could mean you spend months scrambling to make up for lost time.This is where a business management tool such as Yocale can save you from the stress of consulting your notebook every time someone asks for a meeting because Yocale does it for you! Your clients (and yourself) can see exactly when you’re free to talk and eliminate the back and forth that traditionally comes with scheduling meetings!

6. Atavist. The attention span of online users is dwindling by the day so it’s more important than ever to keep readers engaged with every inch of your content. Chunks of text just aren’t going to cut it if you’re setting up a blog or website, and you need to be able to incorporate a multitude of media to keep visitors on your page!Atavist allows you to embed everything from videos to Tweets in your content and makes for an overall more engaging and professional appearance for your part-time business projects!

7. Pressbooks. While the hustle and bustle of modern life has meant that short-form content is the content of choice for some, for others looking to gain a more in-depth knowledge eBooks and whitepapers are the resource of choice.Pressbooks is a fast and easy way to create eBooks and establish yourself as an industry leader in your spare time. Simply create the content that you want your readers to see and Pressbooks will help you mould it into a professional eBook that can be easily read and distributed online.

8. Adespresso. If you’re a part-time Social Media Manager with clients relying on your to boost their sales, Adespresso is the perfect tool to add to your arsenal when it comes to creating and executing ad campaigns.From the creators of Hootsuite, Adespresso allows you to have a centralized, online location for your clients Facebook, Instagram and Google Ad campaigns. Create, manage and analyse campaigns from your favorite armchair and make sure your part-time business flourishes.

9. Tailwind. Time is of the essence when you run a side business and you will often need to schedule content a week at a time to make sure clients and customers stay happy – especially when it comes to social media.Tailwind started as a tool to help business owners and marketers tap into the power of Pinterest and has since expanded into Instagram with gusto! This tool will help you schedule posts and even tell you which posts are worth republishing!

10. Buffer. Social media can seem like a minefield to part-time business owners when they start out. People look for instant access to the world’s hottest topics and trends so being able to provide content on a regular basis is key to side business success.Buffer allows you to schedule, monitor and analyse posts across all the major platforms – saving you hours of work when time is already tight!

11. Falcon. Building a successful side business is all about building lasting relationships with prospective customers. Most potential customers will come to your social media profiles to learn more about your business and, if done right, will push them to engage with you on a more personal level.Falcon allows you to engage with users via your content and in turn, allow you to analyse data in order for you to improve your part-time business. With the added benefit of onboarding from their experts, you can make sure you’re nailing your online interaction at every turn.

12. Buzzsumo. Whether you’re looking to establish your part-time business as a blogger or testing the waters to see what your competitors are doing right, it’s all about research.Buzzsumo is the perfect tool to help you find and analyse content that works well online and will in turn help you to create content that gets customers flocking to your website.

13. Sprout Social. Customer advocacy is something that will come over time to every side business but not without carefully planned postings and interactions with prospects and customers.Sprout Social is a social media management software that allows you to streamline your social media marketing efforts in order to minimise confusion and stress. Not only will it help you schedule content for weeks in advance if you so choose, it will also allow you to conduct social listening which will help you to keep your finger on the pulse of all things important to your customers.

14. Ahrefs. Research and constant evolution are the cornerstones of a successful side business. When your part-time business is in its infancy, it’s important that you are aware of the industry’s key players and what they’re doing that keeps customers coming back for more. With that being said, it’s also important for any part-time business owner to be able to audit the content they are putting out to the masses.This is where Ahrefs comes in to save the day. Whether you’re looking to improve your part-time blog’s content or conducting keyword research as part of your SEO business, Ahrefs provides you with all the information you need to analyse all the data available on the web.

15. MozPoorly executed SEO can result in the downfall of website, whether it be for your own part-time business or that of your clients. If you’re starting a side business, but have little knowledge of SEO, it can feel like a daunting and time-consuming task to get yourself up to speed on.Moz aims to take the grey area out of the idea of search engine optimization and provides users with everything from beginner’s guides to up-to-date access to the internet’s latest data.

16. Quuu. Millions of new pieces of content are uploaded online every second so it can often become a hard task for any part-time business to emerge successful from the masses. However, content curation is one sure fire way to ensure that your content is consistent and therefore more reliable to the people who choose to consume it.Quuu is a content curation platform that allows users to find content that is specific to their needs and wants. If you’re running a side business which relies heavily on creating up-to-date content for customers, Quuu will help you not only stay on top of industry trends but also provide inspiration for your next social media or blog post.

17. Tweet Deck. Twitter is the home of some of social media’s most engaged and rapidly responding users so being able to monitor what people are saying about your business and the world more generally, will allow you to make sure your part-time business gets the press and publicity it deserves.Tweet Deck is Twitter’s now integrated scheduling and management system which allows you to create a customised view of the inner-workers of your account and its followers. Schedule tweets, monitor responses and see what people are saying about the things that matter most to your business through their handy software.

18. Hootsuite. Draw your mind back to our recent mention of Adespresso – this is where it all began. Hootsuite is a social media management software that set the bar when it comes to like minded software on the market today.We cannot stress it enough when it comes to social media – organisation and analysis is everything! Hootsuite allows you to not only schedule your posts, thus save your hours of stress but also provides you with data on where it’s going right or wrong.

19. Leadpages. Let’s face it, not everyone is a natural born closer, but if you’re starting your own side business closing deals with those first few clients can set you on the upward trajectory you need to achieve success. But at the beginning of every customer journey there comes a curious prospect.Leadpages allows your to create lead magnets for your side business’ website that will help move them further down the funnel towards the ultimate goal of that initial sale. From newsletter sign-up forms to an ‘About Me’ pop-up to help peak their interest, Leadpages is a must have for any part-time business owner looking to up their lead generation game.

20. Unbounce. Inbound marketing is arguably the most powerful tool for any business, whether for your own part-time business or that of your clients. Inbound marketing is a pretty well established concept in the marketing lingo of today, and it’s easy to see why. The people that are visiting your site have – whether through ads or manual search – come to your site in the hopes of having a problem solved.This is where a lack of structure within your site can result in your part-time business’ downfall. Unbounce allows you to create amazing landing pages, pop-ups and sticky bars that will capture your visitors attention, and if done correctly get them to stay on your site long enough to prompt them to make an inquiry or better yet – a purchase!

21. Click Funnels. Having a clear idea of the traditional marketing funnel is always a great place to start when it comes to starting your own part-time business. You need to know exactly what your ultimate goal is and how you are going to get customers or clients to move towards the finish line in which you secure their trust.Click Funnels is a fantastic tool that provides dozens of various funnels that are tailored to the needs of your business and it’s goal of turning website visitors into customers. Is the aim of your part-time business to sell a product? Do you want to find a way to secure more qualified leads? Click Funnels provides you with the funnel you need to achieve your goal and eliminate the stress of starting from scratch.

22. Kajabi. If you are looking to start a side business as an online coach or tutor, but have limited resources when it comes to creating and promoting your content Kajabi will be your one-stop-shop for success.Not only does Kajabi allow you to create online courses that will make up the core of your part-time business, but also give you all the tools you need to create amazing landing pages and marketing campaigns to help get you in front of the right audience.

23. Teachable. As the saying goes, ‘content is King’ and when it comes to creating online courses this is very true! If, as part of your part-time business, you are hoping to sell an online course to customers, then you need to make sure the quality of the course will meet and even exceed expectations.Teachable is an online course creation software that allows you to make professional course material that will rival even the most respected online academy and establish yourself as an industry expert.

24. Freshbooks. A lax approach to financing just isn’t going to cut the mustard when running a side business. In order to maintain a professional persona, you need to be precise when it comes to invoicing and accounting or else you run the risk of burning out before you reach your full part-time potential.Freshbooks is a fantastic tool that allows you to house all your financial information in one online dashboard. When starting a side business, you are CEO, marketer and head accountant of your company so make sure you stay on top of the numbers to ensure success.

25. Anchor. Podcasting has taken the world by storm in recent years and if you’re looking to start a part-time business it could be just the thing you need to get up and running. Podcasting allows you to not only focus on the things that you are most passionate about, but also broadcast that passion to like minded people!While you may not have your very own podcast studio (yet), Anchor is a great tool to help you to get your podcast business started. Not only does it allow you to create the podcast but it also will help you broadcast and monetize to help you achieve your ultimate goal of part-time business success.

26. Wix. One of the first steps in starting any part-time business is to set up a website. This will be your online office where customers can come to find out more about your product or service and provide them with everything that they need to get in contact with you.Not everyone who starts a part-time business, unless that side business is in website design or development will have the time or money to invest. Wix allows you to create a professional and mobile-friendly hub without breaking a sweat. It’s also a top-rated website builder. 

27. Squarespace. Another great company that makes website design a breeze when it comes to starting a part-time business is Sqaurespace.Having a strong online presence and consistency is key to ensuring that you start your home business on the right foot. With the help of their responsive templates, you can create a site to rival even the biggest players from the comfort of your living room at a fraction of the cost.

28. Bulkly. Time is of the essence when you start a side business, so being able to automate your online content in a smart and organised way will allow you to focus more time of the thing that matters most – your customers!Bulkly allows you to schedule your social media content to ensure that you are constantly providing relevant updates across all of your social media channels. This works two-fold as it keeps customers engaging and allows you, as a part-time business, to broadcast content outside of your part-time hours.

29. Manychat. A happy customer makes for a happy side business. In the modern age that we live in today, customers and prospects expect an instant response to their most pressing questions. Falter in your communication with them and you run the risk of losing a customer. One way of eliminating this is by setting up chat bots that automatically respond to customer queries and buy you time to give them the hands on approach they need. Manychat is a Facebook Messenger bot that allows you to respond to customers immediately with a personalised message and create a positive relationship from the very first message.

30. Mobile Monkey. We’ve talked a lot about small business social media marketing in a broad sense but it’s time to focus it in a little more and ensure your part-time business communicates on a one-to-one basis with customers. Facebook Messenger marketing gives you the opportunity to market your business in a more personal way and Mobile Monkey will help you to take it to the next level.Their amazing features not only allow you to set up automated responses but also allow you to switch over to live chat with the click of a button and with a seamless integration with WordPress, you’ll never have to worry about a missed opportunity or unhappy customer again.

31. Trello. Whether you’re working from home or starting a side business, you’re sure to enlist the help of contractors every once in awhile. Expanding your side business comes with further responsibility and an even stronger focus on organisation and morale.Trello is a brilliant tool to utilise when starting a part-time business that involves plenty of teamwork. They’re easy to navigate dashboard allows you to create team agendas, centralise all your productivity apps and ensure over all else, that you are all singing from the same hymn sheet.

32. Bookmark. As the owner of a part-time business, you need to be able to constantly evolve and learn in order to keep your side business fresh, relevant and successful. Bookmark is dedicated to helping small business owners create a lasting online presence.“A website tool for non-technical people”, Bookmark makes creating your online side business easy without the need for overly complicated jargon. On top of providing you with a broad range of designs to choose from, the tool is jam packed full of e-Learning courses and online coac

33. CanIRank. Search Engine Optimization is the topic on everyone’s lips and if you’re starting a side business, it’s something that you need to invest heavily in to ensure that you get your online presence off to the best possible start.CanIRank is an SEO software that combines up-to-date SEO data with ranking models to help you understand how best to execute an SEO strategy for your part-time business with content that works best for you and the needs of your customers.

34. CRM software – When you’re just starting your small business or it’s been around for years, word-of-mouth marketing is likely an essential part of your strategy. That requires maintaining strong relationships with prospects and buyers, whether they’re still in their consideration stage or already a loyal customer. CRM software helps businesses track and manage sales interactions, meaning you’ll be able to provide personalized customer journeys. It’s the modern-day Rolodex!

35. Timely. If you’re starting any side business, Timely is the perfect tool to track your time, automatically without the fuss. Resources are very limited for side businesses and time is the most important resource of all. With the help of Timely, you can spend more energy on the fulfilling, complex work that advances your goals and reveal you actually spend your time to help address unconscious behaviors and patterns and ultimately get more value from your time.

When starting a part-time business you might soon come to realise that you need to obtain or improve certain skills. After all, the better you are able to perform a service, the more likely it will be that your client will be happy.

You’ll also find that if you are highly skilled in an area, you will be able to charge more. As well as that, you could avoid outsourcing a task in your business by teaching it to yourself which could save you a lot of money in the early stages of your business.

These tasks can range from simple design work all the way to website coding.

These skills could also be directly linked to your business or regard a supporting process. In any case, the courses outlined below are some that we have hand-picked in order to help you go from beginner to pro in no time at all.

If you’re looking to start a part-time business in the world of blogging, it’s always good to lay good foundations on which your side business can grow. When starting your part-time business in the online world, you will be the head of management, marketing and strategy carefully rolled up into one part-time powerhouse.

That’s why it’s important to bring yourself up to speed on all things content marketing and writing. Below are some useful courses – both paid and free of charge – to get you started in the world of blogging and content marketing:

8 Free Courses on Content #Marketing and #Writing

If you decide to start a part-time business in which you sell a product, it’s always important to have the knowledge behind you to help nail down the most important aspects of selling online.

Whether you choose to start an online store from scratch or take advantage of the many marketplaces available online today, the resources listed below are a great jumping off point to get your side business off to the best possible start:

Making Money with Amazon Online Arbitrage | The Clearest Path to Self Employment

10 Best Free Online Courses for Web Designers

How to Start An Ecommerce Business Without Spending Any Money

How To Start an Ecommerce Business From Scratch

The Ultimate Guide to Selling on Amazon FBA

Your Complete Guide to Running a Successful eCommerce Business

What is eCommerce and How to get started

If design has always been a passion of yours, then starting a side business in graphic design might be the next logical step in furthering your career.

It is important to remember however, that the market in this industry is extremely competitive and you will be up against designers who often have years of work and hefty portfolios behind them. One sure fire way of elevating yourself to the level of graphic design professional is to hit the books and learn everything there is to know about what makes a great graphic designer:

Success starts with a great design

19 Sites For Free Online Graphic Design Courses

11 Extremely Helpful (And Free!) Online Graphic Design Courses

The Most Essential Graphic Design Resources, Tools and Tricks to Create a Professional Brand

Becoming an AdWords Specialist or Consultant in your spare time is a great way of building a highly sought after career that has the standard rates to prove it

The industry is constantly evolving so in order to keep up with updates, it is crucial to give yourself the baseline knowledge needed to provide your clients with their desired results. Below are some resources that will help you do just that:

The 8 Best (& Free!) AdWords Tutorials for Beginners Right Now

The 7-Day AdWords Tool Belt – A Free AdWords Course

While the idea of social media marketing is still relatively new, the research and knowledge base behind it is vast and immense.

In order to provide prospective clients with a chargeable and more importantly, deliverable service, you need to have the skills required to churn out high-performing strategies with content to match. Check out the courses below to get yourself up to speed on the world of social media marketing:

37 Free Social Media and Marketing Courses to Elevate Your Skills Today

Facebook Blueprint

f the idea of starting a part-time business in affiliate marketing sounds appealing to you, but you lack the in-depth knowledge you need to succeed, going back to basics is always a good way of ensuring success.

And while we can go on forever about the intricacies of the trade, have a look at the links below to get a more intensive overview of what it will take to make your side business in affiliate marketing succeed:

The Affiliate Marketing System

Affiliate Marketing: Passive Income without Spending a DIME

Starting a side business in the creative industry takes a lot of hard work and of course – creativity! Some people have a keen eye for what works visually and others need a little bit of extra help to get them started.

Either way, there are plenty of resources online in which you can take matters into your own hands and teach yourself everything there is to know about visual editing and photography.

14 Websites Where You Can Learn Photoshop for Free

Digital video editing

The Best Free Online Photography Courses and Tutorials

Not everyone who has a passion for web design and develop will have the advantage of 3 or 4 years of hands-on university teaching but not to worry!

One of the many advantages of living in such a technological world is that resources and tools are available from the comfort of your home computer. Whether you’re looking for a refresher course or starting from scratch, we’ve found some great resources to get your part-time business started on the right foot:

8 Best (FREE) Web Development Courses for Beginners

49 Of The Best Places To Learn To Code For Free

Whether you’re hoping to start a part-time business as an SEO Specialist or hoping to learn the basics in order to get your side business’ website up to scratch, when it comes to Search Engine Optimization Moz has nailed the fundamentals of SEO in their training course below:

SEO Training Course by Moz

Not everyone is a natural born salesperson. The idea of it may even make some of you feel overwhelmed at the very thought of it, but regardless of your stance, it’s a crucial part of side business success.

Thankfully there are plenty of resources online. From easy-to-digest articles to more hefty training course; a selection of which we have listed below:

Online Business Training for Small Business Owners

HubSpot Academy Sales Training

B2B Sales Tips To Help You Grow Your Business

Sales Skills Success Vol. 1: Sales Training For Beginners

The 25 Best Sales Training Programs for Every Budget and Team

You can have the greatest product or service, but if you don’t know how to sell it you won’t get far.

If you start a part-time business, you will need to know how to market it, but that’s only half the battle, because once you get a new lead you need to know how to turn them into a happy customer.

It might be scary to approach your first customer but there are ways you can prepare yourself and minimise any first time jitters.

In this chapter, we will show you some great resources to learn the basics of sales and be perfectly prepared for your first sales contact.

Every great salesman knows that the key to success is a great sales pitch. But you’re not going to pitch that to an empty room, are you?

There are plenty of resources online to help you create a great sales pitch that gets potential clients excited. Here are just some of our favorite introductory courses to help get you started:

How to Write a Winning Sales Pitch in Less than 10 Minutes

An Introduction on How to Sell

So you’ve taken the plunge and pitched your product or service to your first client. Now what? It’s time to keep the momentum up and close the sale in order to secure the first customer for your part-time business.

While every closing will be different, it’s always a good idea to brush up on the techniques used by the experts in order to get your side business off to the best possible start.

If you’re looking for some light reading on how to do so, you might find the following links useful:

How to Close a Sale: 7 Closing Techniques & Why They Work

Closing Sales – Business by Design

Once you’ve made your first sale and acquired your first client, don’t you want to keep them coming back for more?

By nurturing and maintaining your client list, not only will you be more likely to see return business but also increase the chances of them recommending your to a friend! This process continues through the entirety of the sales and marketing process so in order to make sure you hone your skills, try enrolling in some of the courses below to bring you up to speed:

Sales And Marketing Training

Marketing and Sales

Online marketplaces can be ideal in making the search for your first client a lot easier. Why should you try to acquire each customer with hard labour, if there are websites that have tons of customers who need help and are ready to order?

With such a wide variety of marketplaces online, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed when it comes to starting your part-time business. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the world’s most reliable and successful marketplaces to help you make an informed decision.

These sites vary from those that offer low skill, one off gigs all the way up to high skilled ongoing work.

These marketplaces can be competitive and often times you are competing against other freelancers, and part-time business owners who need the work just as much as you do, but if you do great work and get great reviews, you can quickly gain a reputation and have potential clients approaching you. These are some of the marketplaces we are familiar with but with enough searching I’m sure you can find.

1. Fiverr. Starting a side business as a freelancer can often seem like a minefield but having a centralised location in which you can sell your services – whether as a part-time translator or graphic designer to name just two – will help you to reach an audience that is hungry for your services.Fiverr is a great place for any small business owner to start as it provides you with the opportunity to become a seller where potential clients can search for your services and pay for a ‘gig’ which is all housed within their easy-to-navigate system.

2. Upwork. No one is an island, especially with the small business world. There may come a time, while working on a project – in whatever area that project may be – that you will need the help of freelancers to help you get the job done or perhaps they will need you!Upwork works like Fiverr in that you, the person seeking the services of a freelancer, can post a project and get responses from suitable freelancers registered on the site. From architecture to customer service, simply list the needs of your project and hire the perfect person for the job.

3. People Per Hour. While you find your feet in the part-time business world, it is often the case that projects develop over time. Paying a freelancer by the initial project size may not always been the best option for you so People Per Hour allow you find freelancers in your industry and pay then by…you guessed it…the hour!People Per Hour gives you a platform in which all transactions are fast, safe and supported. With the help of the highly-skilled team, you can be sure that when money changes hands, it’s done in the most efficient way possible and communication with your chosen freelancer is always easy. Alternatively you can list yourself as a freelancer on the site and select the perfect projects for you to launch your side business.

4. Konker.io. Konker.io is another tool that can be used by service seekers and providers alike. Say you work are a part-time web designer who works from home; Konker allows you to create a profile in which you can list your services and showcase your expertise in the area of web design.To look at it another way, if you are a small business owner who is looking to launch a website in which you showcase your amazing cleaning services, Konker will help you find the perfect freelancer to create a website and alleviate the stress of creating it from scratch yourself!

5. Freeeup. Freeeup up is a freelance provider service with a difference. While some of the other marketplaces we have mentioned work on a review system, Freeeup organises it’s freelancers based on their level of expertise – basic, mid level and expert level.This means that as a part-time business owner looking to freelance, once vetted by their team, you can establish yourself amongst other leaders at that level and therefore charge more for your services. On the other side, if you are looking to enlist the help of a freelancer on your site, you can determine the budget according to the level of expertise needed in order to help your part-time business succeed.

6. Guru. When it comes to easy businesses to start on the side, Guru is a great place to start earning a steady income from your part-time work. Clients can choose to pay by milestone, task, hour or using recurring payments so monetizing your side business is as simple as signing up as a freelancer and securing your first client.Say, for example, you are a part-time Social Media Manager. You may agree to receive payment once a social media strategy has been tailor made for your online clients. This not only creates a great relationship with potential clients but also increases your chance of maintaining their trust in your services which will ultimately keep them coming back for more!

7. Freelancer. If you’re a freelancer starting their own part-time business, working by project rather than by hour could be a great way to get started and establish yourself within the industry.Freelancer allows you to register your side business and upload examples of previous projects you’ve worked on in order to increase your chances of capturing the eyes of prospective clients. Clients pay for your work when a project is complete and Freelancer’s live chat feature means that communicating with your client is seamless and fast.

8. Microworkers. Microworkers is a great marketplace for freelancers and clients alike. As a freelancer, you may not be needed to work on the entirety of a project and their platform allows clients to list specific (or micro) tasks they need the help of an expert like yourself to complete.If you are looking to start a side business in photo or video editing, this marketplace is a great place to get started in order to build your portfolio before moving onto larger scale projects.

9. Gigbucks. When it comes to creative small business ideas and setting up your own part-time business, Gigbucks is a marketplace that tailors its approach to digital marketers and other creative minds.As a freelancer on Gigbucks you can list your services under categories such as advertising to writing and charge a maximum of $50 per gig. It’s free to post on the site and there’s not limit to the amount of gigs you can accept so as a creative looking to start a side business, it’s a win-win all-round!

10. DesignCrowd. Setting up a part-time business in the design industry can be an incredibly lucrative and rewarding task! DesignCrowd is a marketplace built specifically for designers to register themselves as freelancers looking to work and in turn provide potential clients with a way to select from the best of the best for their next design project.What makes DesignCrowd different however, is that rather than a client reaching out to you before a project, you create a design before submitting it for consideration along with other designers on the platform. While this may seem hyper-competitive, it is also a great way to establish yourself if your design is chosen.

11. Crowdspring. As a freelance designer looking to venture out on your own side business adventure, one thing you’ll need to create is the perfect pitch with which to capture your clients attention. Crowdspring will get you working that pitch on a daily basis as their business model involves clients posting project descriptions and potential designers pitching their big and bold ideas in the hope of a commission.While it may take you a while to get into the swing of this marketplace, the platform rewards hard work and clients can create a 1-to-1 project away from the prying eyes of other design competitors.

12. 99 Designs. Not everyone’s side business story will be the same, especially within the creative industry. While some artists may like the thrill of competition, others may favour a more relaxed and one-to-one approach. Luckily 99 Designs has created a marketplace that caters to both instances.As is evident of their website, 99 Designs advocate designers work from home – “from Sydney to Serbia” so if you’re looking for an easy business to start from your kitchen table, 99 Designs will be the creative marketplace for you.

13. Task Rabbit. Running a side business doesn’t always have to involve late nights slaving over a laptop! In fact, one of the home business ideas with low startup costs is handyman work!One great side business to start in that case would be to get yourself set up on a marketplace such as Task Rabbit and help people with projects and repairs that they need done around the house! Task Rabbit allows you to find jobs that suit you, with prices determined by you and all to fit around your busy schedule!

14. Design Contest. Design Contest is another creative marketplace in which you, the freelancer, compete with other creative minds to wow potential clients!The client creates a contest in which you and other designers compete to win the ultimate cash prize as set out by the client. While some may not be comfortable with investing time in a project without a guarantee, when starting a side business risks are needed. So why not get your adrenaline pumping and secure your first client through pure talent?

One key factor for the success of your business is setting achievable milestones. These milestones will measure your progress and hold you accountable for your goals. They also mark important steps in the life of your company and can be a great motivator for you, if you implement them correctly.

There are a few things to consider when setting these up, so we’ve compiled a list of useful resources that teach you everything you need to know about setting and measuring milestones.

1. Why do you need to set milestones?

There are many reasons why, even as a part-time business owner, you need to set milestones. If met, they will give you the boost you need to keep the hustle going. If missed they will provide you with the tools to learn how best to improve what you are doing.

In order to give a more in-depth understanding of how to get this aspect of your side business in order, we’ve put together this handy list of resources that will talk you through everything you need to know in order to ensure you set and hit your milestones.

2. How to measure these milestones:

6 Business Milestones to Hit in Your First 5 Years

How to Build a Lean Business Plan Step 3: Set Milestones

Important Milestones for Your First Year as an Entrepreneur

How to Develop Milestones for Your Business

Five business milestones to meet in your first year

3 Milestones to Include in Your Small Business Marketing Plan

The True Measure of Business Success

How to Measure the Success of your Small Business

Don’t know where or how to start your part-time business journey? Do you need some extra motivation to get going?

The internet is awash with entrepreneurs who have done just what you are hoping to do by reading this blog – start a side business which thrives and grows over time!

These side hustle blogs will keep you up-to-date on everything you need to know about creating and growing a part-time business.

They are some of the highest quality blogs for people looking to make money outside of traditional business hours and no matter what type of side business you have decided to create, you will find use in all of these:

Side hustle nation Ryan Robinson 7 Side Hustle Blogs That Will Inspire You to Make More Money How to Talk to Your Boss About a Side Hustle How to Start a Side Hustle: Your Comprehensive, No BS Guide 8 Reasons Why Blogging is the Best Side Hustle MY $1 Milion Side Hustles How To Start Starting With A Side Hustle Is The Best Way To Build A Business You Love

Blogs can be great, but if you are looking to make use of dead time then podcasts are perfect, because you can listen to them while driving, running, cleaning or any other activities that require you to keep your eyes facing forward.

Or maybe reading isn’t your thing and you find that you retain information better when someone articulates it to you. Podcasts allow you to listen to advice, stories and tips from and about people who have created successful side hustles and will help you stay up-to-date on everything side hustle related.

The podcasts listed below address many topics that could benefit you and your new part-time business. The hosts and the guests they speak to are usually people who started and successfully built a side business and often converted this business into their full-time occupation.

Not only are they incredibly insightful but you can listen to them during your commute or while doing your chores. Here are our top choices:

Side hustle school The side hustle podcast Ryan Robinson Side Hustle Pro The Fizzle Show Podcast! Podcast Episodes Making a Business Girlboss Radio: We’re a Podcast Network!