Side hustles and passive income have been the top trending topics of the past 3 years. That’s partly due to the pandemic, where people found themselves forced out of their time-consuming routine and with time on their hands.
Another reason people jumped on this trend is because of the massive layoffs during the past year or so, and the overall unstable job security even in domains that were never affected or worried about job security.
Now, before I dive into different side hustles and discussing them, I want to debunk some of the information out there and call out some fundamentally wrong ones.
People all over the internet throw the “passive income” term very easily, but most of those are not even passive. They are very much active and require a certain amount of effort, while some others are semi-passive.
On the other hand, some of the ones that are indeed passive, might only have a return of investment, or a significant earning, when you’ve invested enough money into them. And that amount of invested money can someone by that high that you would be better off using it to start a real business that might produce far better returns.
These being said, never believe the term passive without diving deep into some research into the side hustle.
To have it clear, I will classify the side-hustle I’ll be talking about into 3 categories:
- Class A = no or low initial financial investment, low of time invested, relatively slow returns
- Class B = low/medium initial financial investment, high time invested, Fast returns
- Class C = high initial financial investment, medium time invested, slow returns
Stocks and Shares
A lot of investors out there are talking about investing into shares, stocks, ETFs, creating ISA accounts and so on.
These are indeed passive income ideas, as you don’t need to spend a lot of time on them. You do your initial research, which will represent the whole time spent, and then you decide to add that company stock / ETF into your portfolio. And just leave it there and forget about it, hoping and waiting for the company / companies in the ETF to grow.
However, the returns for this are volatile, in most cases under 30% a year, and you are better off not taking out the profit, so it compounds.
While the profits are not within the 3 digit percentile, in order to generate the equivalent of 1000$ a month, you will need an initial investment of at least 3–5000$.
Due to being a high initial investment and quite some research involved, I will add it to the Class C category.
Dropshipping and AmazonFBA
These 2 side hustles are part of the lies flowing around, when called passive.
There is a significant amount of time required to start up both of them, lots of market research, communication with manufacturers, waiting for samples, quality assurance, creating a website (for Dropshipping), and so on.
However, they have a very high chance to turn into a proper business, brand, and eventually being on it’s own and not representing a side-hustle anymore.
In terms of investment, there are multiple things to consider:
- Website + theme (if it’s dropshipping)
- Initial batch from manufacturer
- Ads + SEO
- Market Research tools
- Stock buying
- Amazon charges (if it’s AmazonFBA)
However, if the product becomes successful, there are pretty fast returns.
This is why I consider these Class B. Although, they require a lot of effort and should under no circumstances be considered passive.
AmazonKDP & Etsy Digital Products
This is something I have dabbed in quite a lot, so I have a lot of experience with.
The main benefit of it is that it requires NO initial financial investment at all. There are tools such as Canva or Office 365 that might be useful to create beautiful digital products that will sell better, but you can do that with no paid options as well.
It’s a very creative side-hustle, not fully passive because it takes a few hours to put into it, in order to create the digital products. Also, you might need to do market research as well.
On the other hand, there are fast returns here, and the profit margins are a lot higher than the ones of Dropshipping and AmazonFBA.
However, there is high competition so there might be slower returns unless you are wiling to spend a bit on marketing (Amazon ADS, Etsy ADS, etc).
This it why I will classify this a Class A.
Etsy physical products
This is a side-hustle that survived the pass of time for many years already. A lot of creative people, start doing jewellery, candles, decorations or paintings from their home, and sell them on Etsy or even Amazon.
When compared to AmazonFBA or Dropshipping, the costs are a lot lower here because you are eliminating the manufacturer from the equation, so higher profit margins.
However, there is a lot more time invested which will definitely make this not passive.
In terms of returns, it can be categorised as fast returns, but it depends on the niche and it might need a push with some advertising. Also, you now have the costs of materials, so an initial financial investment is definitely needed. But, you control the stock and adapt in terms of demand and sales, so the investment can be a low amount.
This is why I will classify this one as Class B, due to the amount of time needed.
Print on Demand
This side hustle is very similar to the digital products one with KDP or Etsy, but it offers a wider market.
You can do it on Amazon, Etsy, Shopify, Printful, Printify, Teespring or Redbubble. And you can have a shop there or connect it to your own shop.
Due to not having an initial stock to buy or manufacturers to find, there is very low to no initial financial investment.
In terms of time, it will take you a few hours to create the designs, accounts, and listings so it’s pretty fast. Unless you want to sell them on your own website which will be more time consuming but it’s not mandatory.
The returns can be fast on the right niche but will be slower and require advertising for more saturated ones. This is why I will classify this as Class A as well.
Blogging
You and me both! This is a side hustle that people started since before the age of facebook and instagram. A lot of practitioners used it as a stepping stone to move into being an influencer, which is a very profitable job.
Notice I said job, because it is, no matter what people who cannot keep up with the modern world will say.
Blogging is therapeutic, a good way for writers or any other professionals to showcase their skills and work, and a great way to share knowledge.
As a business, I’m not going to lie, it’s definitely not passive, requires constant time, and will generate a slow growth (if you do it organically).
Does not require any initial financial investment, but the amount of effort involved in researching and writing compensates for that. However, you can outsource the writing to someone else which will cost you but will make this a passive side hustle.
However, blogging, be it Medium or your own website, offers other ways of monetisation, such as using affiliate links in your stories. This is an adjacent way of earning from blogging but definitely a very effective way.
These being said, I am classifying blogging as a Class B.
Trading
This is another very big lie when considered passive.
It’s probably the least passive of all, and it’s closer to being a full-time job, as it really is for people.
It requires huge amounts of research, learning, courses to buy, study, being on top with the news, and knowing a lot of financial terms.
In terms of initial investment, in order to generate 1000$ a month, you will need at least 3–5000$ investment and very good skills. Also, not to forget this is a very high risk side-hustle and can also get you in debt.
Due to these reasons, I will classify this as Class C.
Freelancing
Now, this is a tricky one. Freelancing is a very big umbrella term and can encompass multiple domains: writing, programming, web design, UX/UI, logo design, video editing, etc.
It’s a very good way to monetise your skills, and gain knowledge and experience. So it’s recommended for any practitioner. It can also be a very good way to top up your earnings even when you have a full-time job.
However, it’s not passive at all, since you need to be active working on it. But, certain jobs can be outsourced, automated, you can use ChatGPT to write articles, Midjourney for logos, and so on.
It has indeed very fast returns, you can do multiple projects in parallel, and your earnings have no limits and increase exponentially.
This is why I am classifying it as Class B.
Affiliate Marketing
I’ve left this one for last because it is my favourite. There is a wide range of ways in order to profit from affiliate marketing:
- Medium / Blogging
- Instagram / TikTok / Facebook / Reddit / Twitter (if you have a following or can reach enough people)
- Newsletter (requires you to first acquire a following)
- Facebook / Instagram Ads
- Google / Youtube Ads
The initial investment can be 0, the time and effort consumption can vary (just know that your earnings will vary as well), and the returns are faster than any other side hustle.
If you have a following, it can be considered borderline influencer-like. You can be creative if you want to, and choose the platform that fits your needs.
This side hustle, can also go as a complementary solution for other side hustles as well, to top off your earnings.
This is why I will classify this as Class A.
Hope this analysis helped you and clarified how you view certain side-hustles. You should start what you can be consistent with.
Be mindful, that any side hustle is a little bit active, as you will need to do research and learn, if you want to be successful.
Also, note that the easier it is to do it, the more saturated the market is, so you need to stand out.
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