10+ Easy Side Hustles You Can Start Today For Under $100

With the inevitability of AI replacing all our jobs, I’ve been looking into side hustle ideas that I can start without a huge investment.

I’m not giving up freelancing, but I think it’s time to have a backup plan, just in case.

These are some of the easy side hustles you can start today, with less than $100 in your pocket.

Some of these methods may seem obvious, and some might sound silly, but I’ve seen people make serious money using each of these side hustle methods.

If you have the will and determination to do the work, these will help you earn a side income or even earn a living.

Note: Most of the side hustles in this list are focused on local and physical projects. You can start them online, but it’s too competitive and unpredictable. You’ll have a much better chance at making more money by targeting local customers with physical products.

1. Custom T-Shirt Prints

There’s this small custom print T-shirt shop in Sri Lanka called Hopelk, which is run by a single person.

She makes custom prints of T-shirts featuring popular cartoon characters and generates tons of orders every week.

This creator started printing the t-shirts by herself, even accepts custom orders, and promotes her business entirely through Instagram and Facebook.

She now has a physical store location as well.

This is just one example of approaching a custom t-shirt printing business. There are plenty of ways to go about it.

But the important thing to remember is to pick a niche or a theme, and then focus on dominating your local audience.

You don’t need to own a printing machine or heat press to start a t-shirt business. There are shops out there where you can go to get your t-shirts printed out.

What You Need To Get Started

• Plain, single-color t-shirts
• Artwork to print on the t-shirts (hire an artist or use ChatGPT)
• A print shop that does t-shirt printing
• Social media accounts to promote the products

2. Make Wooden Ornaments

Some of the highest-selling products on Etsy are wooden ornaments.

In the above example, you can see that one product is just a coconut shell that can be used as a flower pot. And it costs $6 dollars!

It doesn’t get easier than this. We actually throw away at least two coconut shells daily at our home.

Go around your house and look for things you can use as products in creative ways.

If you can’t find anything, grab a saw and a piece of wood and make something yourself.

Just look at this product! It’s just a triangle made from a piece of wood. And it’s got over 700 sales.

What You Need To Get Started

• Anything that you can find in your house
• Or a piece of wood to craft something creative
• A saw and creative thinking
• Some paint
• An Etsy or eBay account

3. Create a Subscription Box

Remember Dollar Shave Club? Before it was acquired by Unilever for $1 billion, this business used to be simple and effective.

They basically made a subscription box that sends a set of men’s care products right to the doorstep, every month. Things that men need every month, like shaving razors and grooming products.

This business model is still very effective. Today, we see all kinds of subscription box services that are making big money.

One example I recently came across is a box of sweets sent from Japan, featuring unique chocolates and other sweets from the country.

You can also follow this strategy to create a subscription box with a unique approach. And you’ll be able to generate revenue on autopilot, every month.

What You Need To Get Started

• Find a solution for an everyday need
• Turn that idea into a subscription box product
• A website to accept orders
• A payment process (Stripe, PayPal) to accept payments
• A shipping method to send products
• Social media channels to promote the product

4. Custom Wall Art

This is another idea from a business I saw on Instagram called ProPanel.

This creator sells wall art panels that look like posters, but they are done in an incredible quality.

I actually ordered a few wall art myself from a shop similar to this. I even sent the artworks myself, so all they had to do was print them out on the canvas and fit them into the frame.

You don’t need all the equipment to start this business. At first, you can make a deal with a shop like this to print your wall art to sell it on your own.

What You Need To Get Started

• Artworks to print as wall art (you can use ChatGPT)
• A print shop to print out your wall art
• Ask the shop to make the frames or make them yourself
• A shipping method to deliver the wall art
• Social media channels to promote

5. Design Children’s Books

It sounds like a lot of work, but it doesn’t take much to design a kids’ book these days.

Books for children are mostly about illustrations and art. Designing the artworks is the tough part.

If you can draw, you’re golden.

Unfortunately, hiring an artist can be expensive and out of our budget.

But thanks to AI tools, you can get this job done with minimal effort.

ChatGPT can now generate illustrations with consistent characters. Learn how to write prompts to generate those artworks. And then use ChatGPT to generate meaningful stories for the book.

Now, the ideal way to design and print a children’s book is to go to a local print shop. But that’s going to cost you more than $100.

So, here’s what you can do while staying within our budget.

What You Need To Get Started

• Generate a meaningful story using ChatGPT
• Create illustrations using ChatGPT
• Signup for Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
• Design the book using Kindle Create and publish the book with a print edition
• You will now be able to order author copies of the book at a discounted price
• Order a few copies and start selling them through your social media

Follow this method to gather enough funds for your next book, which you should print by yourself and sell through your website and social channels.

6. Offer an Instagram Photography Service

Sharing the best snaps on Instagram is like a competition between influencers and creators. They are now hiring professional photographers to take their daily snaps.

If you know how to handle a high-quality camera, you can make some serious money by offering a photography service dedicated to social media influencers.

There are plenty of online courses you can take to learn photography.

And I know DSLR cameras are expensive, but you can rent one for a day for just a few bucks. Or borrow one from a friend. Just until you get your business up and running.

What You Need To Get Started

• Learn photography and how to use DSLR cameras
• A place to rent or borrow a DSLR camera
• Do some work for free to build a reputation
• Promote your work on social media

7. Make Themed Sticker Packs

I recently ordered a really cool sticker pack to personalize my laptop.

They were themed around one of my favorite games, Cyberpunk 2077. And I was blown away by the quality of these stickers.

These sticker packs are very easy to make and cheap to print out. You can actually sell them for a good profit if you find a niche market with low competition.

People like to express themselves through the products they use. And stickers are a great way to do that.

You can get these stickers printed out from your local print shop. Ask them to cut them out. Or you can print them at home and cut yourself. But try to focus on quality.

What You Need To Get Started

• Find a niche audience (like popular TV shows, movies, etc)
• Create the stickers using Canva
• Use a print shop to print out the stickers
• Promote them on social media

8. Personalized Gifts

People often shop for last-minute gifts for special occasions. And one of the first places they go to for these gifts is social media.

I came across a situation like that and found a cool shop that sells a unique product.

What this shop does is print a Google map showing a special location, like the place you met your partner, and make a beautiful framed gift out of it.

These are quite popular on Etsy and Instagram as well, especially as wedding gifts.

That’s just one idea. You can also create other styles of personalized gifts, like gift boxes of a person’s favorite sweets, offer custom grooming product packs, and more.

What You Need To Get Started

• Offer personalized gift boxes that users can customize to their preferences
• Package them well and include a note
• Use social media to promote or sell on Etsy

9. Create a Pet-Themed Product

People don’t hesitate to spend money on pet products. They just love to see their cats and dogs happy.

I came across some weird and crazy pet products online that have been selling like crazy. There’s this one product that lets you lick your cats!

You don’t have to make stuff like that.

I’m talking about simple products like cute clothing items, hats, and collar tags that you can easily craft at home.

These products sell like hot cakes, especially on sites like Etsy.

What You Need To Get Started

• Craft a cute product at home for cats or dogs
• Setup an Etsy shop to sell it
• Promote on social media

10. Craft Greeting Cards

It is very difficult to make meaningful gestures these days when everything happens digitally. It just doesn’t take any effort to send well wishes to someone.

People who care about their friends and family still take the time and effort to send greetings in a more meaningful way.

Nothing beats the feeling of receiving a greeting card in the mail with a handwritten note. Nothing can replace it.

You don’t have to be an artist to create beautiful greeting cards. Just search online to come up with a creative idea and print those greeting cards at home.

What You Need To Get Started

• Use Canva to design beautiful greeting cards
• Print them out at home or at a print shop
• Sell them on Etsy or any other marketplace
• Promote on social media

11. Sell Notion Templates

This is something you can do entirely online.

For some reason, people are obsessed with the Notion app and its systems. And they often look for new ways to get more out of their productivity systems by using templates made by others.

Notion templates have a huge demand. There are creators on platforms like Gumroad and Etsy making thousands of dollars selling Notion templates every week.

Some of these templates cost over $100!

What You Need To Get Started

• Learn to create Notion templates
• Sell them on Etsy and Gumroad
• Or sell them through your website
• Promote them on social media

12. Offline Freelancing

It’s just a fancy name for day labor, but it works.

This method is all about offering your services to your local customers.

I’ve seen plenty of videos and social media posts where young people go door-to-door offering services like window cleaning, roof cleaning, and lawn mowing services.

Most people are delighted to purchase their services. And then they make videos showing the process and make some revenue from YouTube as well.

It’s a win-win situation.

You don’t even have to offer labor-based services. Even if you’re a web designer or marketer, you can visit your local shops and offer your services. It actually works better than sending cold emails.

What You Need To Get Started

• A skill you can turn into a service
• Communication skills to sell your service
• Willingness to walk around the neighborhood?

Over To You

Many of the example businesses I showed were making products that were infringing copyrights. It hasn’t been a problem for them because in our country, it’s not a huge issue.

But things may work differently in your country, so proceed carefully. Always try to use licensed materials for prints or make them yourself.

Starting the side hustle is only the first step of the process. Marketing and selling the product is the toughest part.

If you already have a good presence on social media, it will be easier. If not, don’t get discouraged. Ask your friends and family to buy the first few products, use that money to run some ad campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. Things will start to pick up from there.