What do yall do for side income?

[TaperPin]

I built commercial bars for a year - retro, classic old world, modern, old Spanish, contemporary, industrial. We did a little of everything - nothing special technically. I insisted we use under bottle lighting whenever possible since there’s something cool about the look. An audio visual guy on staff was freed up to help and I showed him how to install and wire LED tape lighting into the bottle stands and liqueur shelves.

Fast forward a year after the bar project ended and I get a phone call from the same audio/visual guy asking if he can hire me part time to build small super simple liqueur steps for home bars with underlighting. No, but thanks for asking. He was selling $5k of these little things a month on eBay for 10 hrs/week of labor and couldn‘t make enough to keep up. His cost was $20, and was selling them for $100 - it came out to $100/hr after taxes. While it lasted, about 2 years, if you bought one on eBay it was probably from him. Now dozens of retired guys with table saws are selling them for barely any profit and probably make around minimum wage.

Lawn aerating is a profitable side hustle - in and out quick with low risk. A nephew does this even though he doesn’t have to.

I know a guy who bought a commercial sewing machine and a set up to make replacement spa covers. His high school age sons makes about $30/hr sewing them, but don’t seem to enjoy it unless they are broke.

The easy money seems to something not tied to the number of hours worked. Get some kind of social media that draws people’s attention and sell them a T-shirt. Build a storage unit business. Take a Remington designed recoil lug from the 1950’s or 1960’s, rename it Tubbs style and sell them to shooters.

 

[spitfire_er]

I flip metal working machines of all sorts. Enough to cover one of my monthly loan payments. Also started a gunsmith shop, feeds the habit. Still have my day job till I payoff my student loans in 2089.

 

[Varmintcong]

Mechanical and welding work for local farms/ farmhand, loggers and trucks. Keeps skills somewhat sharp and gives extra spending cash.

This! and firewood I can’t keep up life is beautiful

 

[Varmintcong]

This! and firewood I can’t keep up life is beautiful

We grow veggies and hops

This! and firewood I can’t keep up life is beautiful

we grow hops and veggies… no more cows

 

[Seekbigger]

I was a full time horse blacksmith for years, started a construction business several years ago! I now do the horse shoeing on the side, always plenty of that to be done in my area!

 

[KsRancher]

north west Montana. Sorry!

Bummer.

 

[fngTony]

I built commercial bars for a year - retro, classic old world, modern, old Spanish, contemporary, industrial. We did a little of everything - nothing special technically. I insisted we use under bottle lighting whenever possible since there’s something cool about the look. An audio visual guy on staff was freed up to help and I showed him how to install and wire LED tape lighting into the bottle stands and liqueur shelves.

Fast forward a year after the bar project ended and I get a phone call from the same audio/visual guy asking if he can hire me part time to build small super simple liqueur steps for home bars with underlighting. No, but thanks for asking. He was selling $5k of these little things a month on eBay for 10 hrs/week of labor and couldn‘t make enough to keep up. His cost was $20, and was selling them for $100 - it came out to $100/hr after taxes. While it lasted, about 2 years, if you bought one on eBay it was probably from him. Now dozens of retired guys with table saws are selling them for barely any profit and probably make around minimum wage.

Lawn aerating is a profitable side hustle - in and out quick with low risk. A nephew does this even though he doesn’t have to.

I know a guy who bought a commercial sewing machine and a set up to make replacement spa covers. His high school age sons makes about $30/hr sewing them, but don’t seem to enjoy it unless they are broke.

The easy money seems to something not tied to the number of hours worked. Get some kind of social media that draws people’s attention and sell them a T-shirt. Build a storage unit business. Take a Remington designed recoil lug from the 1950’s or 1960’s, rename it Tubbs style and sell them to shooters.

Did your nephew buy the aerator or just rent it when he has a handful of clients lined up?

 

[TaperPin]

Did your nephew buy the aerator or just rent it when he has a handful of clients lined up?

At first he rented it, but it doesn’t take long before it makes sense to buy and get a small easy to load trailer for it. Although it’s the width of a lawn mower, it weighs 300 lbs. His dad probably saw how much the rental fees were, bought it, and got $10 from each job until it was paid off.

Now that he is out of high school and has a day job and family, it’s also a time saver to have it ready to go so a single job nearby can be profitable. I‘m under the impression when someone calls on a weekend, if he can’t get to it quickly the person is likely to call someone else.

This is also one of those businesses that is easy to sell to the neighbors of a client simply by knocking on the door, introducing himself and leaving a business card.

 

[justinspicher]

I pick up brass from the local range and turn it int at our recycling center.

 

[Mike Islander]

I buy and sell domain names. Have sold several for five figures. I owned over 3000 at one time. Now down around 700.

A couple I should have bought but balked would have cost me six figures, but would have sold for seven figures. Fate favors the bold, but bold often leads to broke.

 

[NDGuy]

I like making sharp and pretty things

 

[rearnakedchoke]

Just signup for some OT at work. Try to live within my means so I don’t feel forced to work more.

 

[TaperPin]

I forgot to add hanging Christmas lights as a great money maker, but you have to enjoy heights, working fast, and long hours from Thanksgiving to the middle of January. Making $1000 per day is not uncommon, but you need to look at it like a professional would and have a system or things take 4x longer. Inside christmas decorating is a completely different skill set and you need a tall little giant ladder and 6’ regular ladder, clean drop cloths, and portable shop vac. $500 for half a day is not uncommon.

It dawned on me there are a lot of carpenters on here - if you enjoy finish work, it’s quite easy to find small side jobs by posting online you’ll install doggie doors for $75. It sounds simple and rather stupid, but it gets you in the door and if the client likes you, they will have a long list of small jobs, or the guy who does their small jobs would have done it. Charge more if you want fewer more well off clients, and less if you don’t mind crappier clients.

Try hard to find a cul-de-sac or county road with an HOA - those homeowners always share information on trades people they like. One good one will keep a guy employed full time.

Hanging pictures and curtains is a profitable gig if you dont mind working directly with clients - it can be frustrating standing on a ladder holding a picture as they figure out if it looks better a little left or a little right. Bigger houses have bigger more expensive things to hang, so it helps to have good judgement to prevent damage. A tall tripod and self leveling laser line level makes life easy.

If you’re mechanically inclined, people are always looking for drier vent and drier cleaning. Most driers are easily opened up and vacuumed out, but you have to enjoy wrestling with them and fixing jacked up vent hose and poorly installed duct.

Of all the construction side jobs I’ve seen, almost none pay as well as repainting facia on two story houses. If you enjoy working off a tall extension ladder that’s a $1000/day gig and once you’re done the neighbors will want a quote.

Finish carpenters are often good at tile once they learn the basics. When a client has a good budget for a small tile job it’s easy money, but don’t screw it up or it’s hard to fix.

One of the biggest money makers, but also the most risky is restaining golden oak kitchen cabinets to a darker shade - $10k is often on the low side. Two guys can knock out a normal kitchen in a couple of weekends if they have their system down and don’t waist time. This requires good judgement and attention to detail to prevent issues with the finish failing.

Be careful of contractor licensing - most will let you do very small jobs and stay out of trouble, but contractor boards are often actively seeking out unlicensed guys doing medium size projects.

Good faux painters make crazy money on small rooms, but most part time faux painters just aren’t good at it.

If someone is an artist, I’d suggest looking into painting murals inside McMansions. One guy I know is booked 5 years out and makes $10k a week - he only paints with free or nearly free samples of latex paint. He went from weekends to full time quickly.

The world if full of small pockets of money - it’s just a matter of finding out what you enjoy and who will pay for it.

 

[GotDraw?]

Ooooo....now mix the KUIU top with the Sitka bottom.....

...I think you meant to say "Keep the boots on"

 

[Divide93]

I am retired from pouring concrete, now I clean at night. Body is too banged up to give a rat's ass about any extra work!

 

[deer310sg]

Had my own concrete side gig for many years. Then helped a local guy pour. He has since retired. Sold all my forms, pins, concrete saw. But still kept my finishing tools. Do powerwashing and stain, sealing decks.
And hunt......alot.
Retired from municipality Senior Equipment Operator Sewer Utility

 

[IDVortex]

Well, I'm having a hard time trying to even get motivated to do side gigs, owned my own business for 4 years until a took a job I knew from the get go I shouldn't, and had more red flags then what one could buy, but family is family, right?

With that being said, I'm working on trying to get some advertising going to specialize in helping home owners do their own additions, I do the foundation and framing, but then they can continue on and do their own work or find their own trades to finish it, to keep cost down.

Something I enjoy doing, I can be in and out, not commit a huge amount of time with, and still help folks out.

The other thing I'm trying to come up with and market is porches, beam/glu-lam porches. Fun and enjoyable work, and can make a good return on that stuff.

 

[deer310sg]

I am retired from pouring concrete, now I clean at night. Body is too banged up to give a rat's ass about any extra work!

I hear you on that!

 

[ewade07]

I had the great idea of chopping up my deer antler and selling them as dog chews. I only sold on Facebook and Craigslist and the market was hot for a year or two. But, it has since dried up since everyone and their brother is doing it now. Made good money while it lasted though.

 

[loganwayne]

im a commercial project manager by day.

I work on log cabins, chinking concrete and latex, log replacements is big money for fairly easy work
i also got lined up with a couple places that sell hot tubs, you wouldn't believe the amount of people that buy a hot tub without a place to put one or have a deck strong enough to support it. most of those are a Saturday job with a helper building a 10x10 deck or adding bracing to an existing deck.

another guy that is a pm does doors and hardware and hangs pictures. fast and easy for the most part.