5 Side Hustles To Start In 2026
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Are you looking for a new side hustle? Here are five awesome side hustle ideas that you can try out in 2026 to help increase your income.
What Is A Side Hustle?
A side hustle is usually a way of making some extra money alongside side your main job. This could range from selling your old clothes to taking part in market research. With the cost of living still increasing for many, having a side hustle can be a great way to earn some extra cash to put towards treats, days out or even a holiday.
Here are my top five side hustles for 2026.
1. Market Research
Market research is one of my favourite ways to make extra cash. While it’s not as consistent as some other side hustles, it’s still fairly easy to get regular sessions, especially if you register with several different market research companies.
Sometimes market research is conducted online and other times it may be in person, either one on one or as part of a group.
In my experience market research pays around £50 – £60 per hour-long session although this can vary. You may also find sessions are shorter than the time listed making the hourly rate even better.
My favourite places to find market research opportunities are Respondent, People For Research and Askable.
2. Tutoring
Tutoring can be a great way to earn extra cash from your skills.
From assisting with GSCE revision to helping someone learn a musical instrument, if you have expertise in a particular subject then there is money to be made.
You can start by signing up to a website like TutorHunt.com where you can find students and of course, they can also find you once you’ve set up a profile.
You can offer to tutor both online or in person in your local area, just don’t forget that you will need an enhanced DBS check before getting started if you don’t already have one.
3. Start A Niche Website
Blogging is often cited as being a great side hustle and it absolutely can be, but it can take a lot of time, and effort and it can take a while before you start earning money.
While blogs tend to cover a wide range of subjects, niche websites typically focus on one very specific topic, such as travel in just one city or town.
It’s easier to grow a niche website as you can quickly be seen as an authority on your subject and this can allow you to build traffic from Google without the need for social media which can then be monetized through in-content advertising and sponsored posts.
If you already blog or build websites and have some SEO knowledge, niche websites can be an excellent way to add an extra income stream and once established only need a little maintenance.
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4. Pet Sitting & Dog Walking
If you love animals but don’t have time or money to commit to having a pet full-time, pet sitting and dog walking might be the right side hustle for you. Earning money while getting lots of slobbery doggy cuddles or spending an evening with a cat curled up on your lap sounds like a win-win situation to me!
You could advertise locally on social media or sign up for a site such as Tailster.com.
Before starting this side hustle, you might want to consider insurance just in case anything goes wrong, although unlikely, it’s always better to be safe than sorry, especially when it involves someone else’s beloved animal.
5. Sewing And Mending
Being able to sew and mend well are definitely skills that have dwindled over the past few decades.
However, I think we are slowly seeing a shift away from fast, throw-away fashion back to people buying more expensive quality pieces of clothing that have been made to last.
So, if you’re a dab hand with a sewing machine, are fab at taking up seems or can fix a hole in anything, setting up a small sewing and mending business could be quite lucrative.
This is a perfect side hustle for those who aren’t keen on setting up an online business as you’d probably be able to get quite a bit of business from word of mouth although you might want to consider a Facebook page as a bare minimum before getting started.
These are my top picks for side hustles to start in 2024 – do you have anything you’d add to the list? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
