25 Side Hustles for Men: Cash for Something You Love

There are lots of reasons to be thinking about some side hustles for men. You might need a little extra cash for a vacation or a big purchase. It could be that you’re looking for a career change, but you want to start slowly. Maybe you just want to be your own boss for a few hours a week and give yourself an extra layer of security. 

Whatever the reason may be, this list of the best Side Hustles for Men will point out a few ways that you can start putting some extra money in your pocket. You might even be able to grow one of your hobbies into a side hustle, and then into a full-time career. If you’re motivated, skilled, and reliable, you’ll be making some extra cash, filling your bank account, and calling your own shots.

As a note: This article is just about how to make extra money. I’m not discussing topics like insurance, business registration, or other legal matters that you might need to consider. If you’re starting a new business, you might want to check with your county government to determine what you need to do to operate above board. Also, there aren’t any BS suggestions like taking on line surveys or playing games that make you money. We’re men. Let’s have a little more pride than falling for that crap.

A Word About Side Hustles for Men

Here’s the thing, guys: starting a side gig, business, or a new career is nerve-racking (but something I think every guy should do before they die). If you’re nervous or lost, the following are a few tips worth checking out before you start your new endeavor.

Value First, Profits Later

Before you can expect to make any money, you need to provide a good or service that’s actually worth something. Focus your efforts on solving a problem or creating convenience, and your customers will happily fork over their hard-earned money.

Really, it’s about value. If you focus on creating value, your customers will come.

Be Reliable

Unless you’re more innovative than I am, it’s hard to start a completely new niche. There are lots of guys doing what you do. How do you stand out among the competition?

Be reliable. 

Reliability is a significant issue, and it’s one of the characteristics that has made me such a successful freelancer. If you make appointments, keep them. If you say you’re going to follow up, do it. If you say you’re going to do something, you damn well better do it.

Trust me, most of your competition is not reliable. The average person just doesn’t have the drive to be that accountable. If you want to stand out in the crowd, make sure reliability is one of the pillars of your business.

“Proceed as if success is inevitable.” -Seth Godin

That’s the best advice you can get, and as much as I’d like to take credit for it, it’s a pearl from Seth Godin. You need to proceed as if you’re already a success, or as if you can’t fail. If you do fail, learn from it and continue to proceed as if success is inevitable. 

It’s of the highest priority that you believe in yourself and what you’re doing so much that you’re not afraid to fail. You’ll make bolder decisions, take necessary risks, and move forward faster than someone who second-guesses everything they do.

Now, I’m not saying throw caution to the wind. Caution is good. But if you’re going to commit to a side hustle, it might not make money for a few months. You still need to proceed as if you know it will. You’ll be able to build a customer base, a reputation, and, eventually, a real business and a fat bank account.

Side Hustles for Men

Now that you’ve had your pep-talk, it’s time to get down to business. I put together a list of the best side hustles for men to check out for some extra money. If you approach any of these business ideas by providing value, being reliable, and maintaining a successful mindset, it’s only a matter of time before your passion project takes off. 

Leatherworking

Leatherworking is a craft, and it’s also a side hustle that can take a while to get really good at. The good news is that you don’t have to be really good to make some cash. There are lots of small projects that are easy to make that will make people want to slam their credit cards on the table.

Projects like keychains, front-pocket wallets, knife lanyards, and other trinkets are hot sellers. They’re relatively easy to make, and if you learn how to make several at a time, you can turn your garage workshop into a little assembly line. 

As your skills progress, you can start adding more challenging products that command higher price tags.

Sell Digital Products

Everyone knows that there is a huge market for digital products, but it feels tough to get into. Actually, selling digital products is easy to do, you just have to know what to sell. Ebooks, printable lists, and courses are all great products to sell, and if you have expertise in an area, you can capitalize on it.

You can sell digital products in a lot of different ways. The most popular options are  Amazon and Etsy. Amazon is a great place to sell ebooks, and Etsy is the place to go for printable checklists and items of that nature. All it takes is the knowledge you already have to put together the digital content, some writing or design skills, and the platform to launch it on.

Freelance Writing

I’d be lying to you if I told you I didn’t think freelance writing was the best side hustle to make money. If you have some background knowledge in a particular subject and you can follow directions, you can be a freelance writer.

Many of the biggest outlets aren’t looking for a polished writer with 20 years of experience and a doctorate in writing. They want someone who can relate to their customers and put together some written content. If you market yourself correctly to outlets that matter to you, you ARE their customer. It’s easy to relate to yourself.

I truly believe more guys should try writing. If you can string a sentence together, you can find someone to pay you for your knowledge. 

Start a Podcast

Are you an expert at anything? Or do you have the ability to talk to anyone about anything? Give podcasting a try. You’ll be able to share information with a huge potential audience and probably have a lot of fun in the meantime.

It’s important to realize that it does take time to build an audience. However, podcast audiences often become very attached to their favorite hosts, which means they’ll be tuning in for new content every chance they get.

Handyman Work

Do you like working with your hands? Can you fix stuff? Do you mind getting dirty every now and then? Oh, and do you like to make money? If the answers to those questions were “yes,” “yes,” “no,” and “yes,” you might consider running a handyman side hustle.

If you’re good at painting, plumbing, a bit of electrical work, and possess some carpentry skills, trust me, there’s money to be made. The one thing that will help you stand out against the crowd is reliability. Answer your phone, show up on time, and keep an extra shirt and pair of boots in your truck so you’re not showing up covered in dirt and grease.

Rent Your Driveway Space

If you have a driveway in a busy part of town, consider renting the space for some extra money. People pay hundreds of dollars for parking spaces in busy cities, and you can charge $50 to $100 for yours and get a few tanks of gas covered each money.

This is one of the easiest side hustles, but make sure to keep the driveway clean, get rid of any overhanging branches over the driveway, and I’d suggest a camera or two for security’s sake.

Landscaping and Lawncare

When I was a cop, almost everyone I worked with had some sort of landscaping and lawncare side hustle. Some of them built these businesses up so much that their employees were running the show while the guy was driving around in a patrol car.

It doesn’t take a massive investment to get started. If you already have a truck, just throw your lawnmower and trimmer in the back, and you’re ready to go. You’ll need to learn to mow straight (which is something I cannot do), as well as create clean edges around flower gardens and walkways, but the rest is pretty straightforward. Again, reliability is vital.

Moving and Heavy Item Delivery

If you have a truck, a strong back, and a buddy willing to help, you might consider getting into delivery services. People will pay you to haul heavy items to different addresses, and this can be a very lucrative side gig.

For example, I knew a guy who would make runs to NYC a few times a week to pick up ice cream. He had a truck and was willing to make the run, and he always had some extra dollars lining his pockets (he needed it, too, because he had like three girlfriends).

Snow Plowing

If you live in a cold climate that sees its fair share of snow, you could be making thousands of dollars in side hustle income every winter. Assuming you have a truck or SUV with four-wheel-drive, you can buy a snowplow for as little as a grand, which you can pay off easily within the first season.

People will spend a lot of money to have their driveways plowed. Often over $100 each snowstorm. You can always upsell as well, offering to salt and shovel for some extra scratch. And, there’s something adventurous about the man-vs-nature struggle a snowstorm creates. Throw a few extra bucks in your pocket, and it’s even better.

Coach a Sport

Believe it or not, former athletes (even if it’s just the high school level) can get paid quite a bit of money to coach or teach a sport. My own son has a personal baseball coach who currently plays college baseball. And we’ve paid him over $700 this summer to work with our son for two hours a week. 

That’s good money.

You could also consider coaching a travel sports team. Many travel programs pay their coaches to coach or manage their travel teams. If you’re already a school district employee, you might also be able to make some extra money by coaching a school team. Think about it!

Teach a Course or Skill

Guys, chances are you know how to do at least one thing really well. Whether it’s writing, programming, whittling, landscaping, fixing cars, hunting, first aid, or making cocktails, there is something in your wheelhouse. I promise, someone is willing to pay you to teach them. If you want to make some money for your bank account, start a side hustle showing them how. 

There are lots of online course providers, like SkillShare, that you can use to upload a course and sell it to students. Many of these platforms even let you set your own prices. You might even consider writing a book or guide and self-publishing it. The chances are that by teaching your skill to someone else, you’ll find a whole new appreciation for it in the process.

Teach English Online

I love this one, and my wife actually does this as a full-time job. Teaching people the English language online is an awesome and fun way to earn money online. And it can be particularly attractive for men.

If you work for a company, many of the cultures they cater to respect men more than women and want to learn from them. Also, if you go it alone and cater specifically to other men, you could create your own lesson plan and teach them English while discussing sports, hobbies, and other things that men can connect on.

Start a Pressure Washing Business

Man, I love this idea. With just a bit of an upfront investment, some social media accounts, and some work ethic, you could be making up to $100 an hour with a pressure-washing side business.

What would you wash? More like what wouldn’t you wash! Sidewalks, decks, houses, boats, driveways, fences.. The sky is the limit. If it’s just a side business, I would even consider niching down into cleaning just one or two types of surfaces like driveways or walkways and offering the best possible services you can.

Outdoor Guide

Now more than ever in our lifetimes, people want to get outdoors. It might seem wild (see what I did there?), but there are people that will pay you to take them hiking, camping, hunting, and fishing. If you know what you’re doing, offering some type of guide service might be a great way to make some extra money.

Like some of the other side hustles on this list, there are some licensing requirements that you might have to deal with, particularly with your customers. You can even put together weekend retreats where you take a group of would-be wilderness refugees to a state park. You can teach them wilderness first aid, shelter building, navigation, or any other badass skills you’d like. It’s your show; I’m just the ideas man.

Photography

Photography is an awesome way to make a little extra money. With a decent-but-affordable digital camera and some editing software, you can start snapping shots of things you actually enjoy shooting and getting paid.

There are a couple of ways to make this work. You can start your own website and sell prints, which can be great but it does require a bit of marketing and SEO chops. Or, you can upload your photos to stock photography sites. You’ll make just a few cents off of each sale, but they can add up very quickly, netting you a few hundred dollars each month if you’re dedicated.

Detailing

I just paid a gentleman $175 to detail my truck. I’m sure he only used $30 or $40 worth of products, but the amount of time he saved me was well worth my money.

If you start this side-hustle, you could be making that cash too. With a small start-up investment in a good vacuum, a buffer, and some waxes, cleaners, and polishes, you could be raking in the dough. If you’re good, your customers will share your name and number with everyone they know. 

Woodworking

If spending time in your workshop sounds like a great way to make a little extra cash, woodworking might be a great side hustle for you. There are a few projects that people are more than willing to pay fairly for, and you can whip them up in your spare time. 

If you already have the tools required, consider creating cutting boards, coasters, shelves, and other small projects that don’t take a ton of time or materials. If you can set your shop up like an assembly line, you can put three or four pieces together at once. The more efficient you are, the better you’ll do.

Drive an Uber

If you have a reliable car, a driver’s license, and the ability to converse with people, consider driving an Uber for an extra income. You choose the hours you work and how many clients you pick up each day (and where), and you get to make extra money.

Are there downsides to driving folks around? Sure. Drunks might puke and some people might treat you like shit, but their money is just as green, so why not give it a shot and make some additional money?

Start a Blog

I wish I could say that I really just want you guys to be better men, and that’s why I started this blog. But the reality is that I also want to make some money, and running a well-oiled blog with quality content can do it.

Even if you’re not a great writer, a blog could be an excellent side hustle. There are many programs and apps that will read your content and do their best to correct your errors. And, the truth is that most people aren’t great readers. As long as your content is engaging and valuable, a few errors here and there won’t hold you back from starting your own blog.

Funeral Services

This might seem a bit macabre, but working part-time with a funeral service is a great way to make some serious extra cash and one of the best side hustles for men. If you have a strong stomach and don’t mind getting called out in the middle of the night, you can make a killing (ha) helping funeral directors remove bodies from homes.

The funeral business pays pretty well, and funeral directors are willing to pay for strong guys who aren’t going to bounce a body down the stairs while the family is watching. If you’re reliable, courteous, and careful, it can be an excellent side-hustle.

Walk Dogs (and Dog Care)

If there’s one thing we millennial men love, it’s dogs. Why not start a dog care side hustle that will allow you to walk dogs? You’ll get to play with the best doggos while also putting some cash in your pocket?

Whether it’s dog walking services, dog sitting, or dog grooming, you can make a bit of extra scratch (omg, these puns are epic) by taking care of Fido. If you have the time available, some pet owners will even pay you upfront for a month’s worth of service to walk dogs. And, you get to hang out with man’s best friend.

Rent Out a Spare Room

If you have a spare room in your home or apartment, consider listing it on Airbnb or other rental websites. This side hustle idea could bring in $50 to $300 a night, depending on where you live and the level of accommodations.

This isn’t that hard to pull off, either. Just clean out an extra room, freshen it up with some new bedding, curtains, and decor, and list it on a site. Will it be weird? Yeah, maybe it’ll get a little weird. But that additional cash in the bank will feel great.

Home Cleanouts

If you’re looking for a side hustle that typically pays well but is also full of a lot of “unknowns,” cleanouts might be a great idea for you. Real estate agents and banks will often look for these individuals when they have a house up for sale. They need the old owner’s junk out of the house, and they typically don’t care how you do it.

Here’s the uncertainty: you have no idea what people are into or what kind of weird crap can go on inside a home, so buckle up for some adventures. If you start a cleanout side gig, beware that you might find more than you bargained for.

But, if you find a really cool, valuable item, it’s generally yours to keep — pretty sweet.

Beekeeping

Raw honey or pure wax can command a pretty decent price tag. People literally eat it up. And, the best part is that you don’t have to make either: The bees do almost all the work.

Getting used to bees does take some time, but once you do, you can really get into how well they work together. And when you’re selling honey for $20 a pound, you’ll really appreciate their efforts. And if bees start to become your thing, you can also start a pest control business where you help protect pollinators while also solving homeowners’ pest problems. Makes sense to me.

Real Estate Investing

Real estate investing is one of the best side hustle ideas that men can get into. Essentially, you buy a house, fix it up, and then rent it or sell it. Or, you move into it and sell your old home. This is a technique that thousands of people make work for themselves, and it can produce a lot of extra income.

Here’s why it’s a great move for some men: If you’re at all handy, you can learn to fix most issues in a cheap home. Fix the drywall, replace the floors, solder some pipes, and coat the walls with some fresh paint.. It’s not terrible work. And you could be setting yourself up for positive cash flow every month. I won’t say that you’ll earn passive income (because that’s how scummy landlords treat it) but it could be a lucrative side hustle. You might even want to look into commercial real estate at some point.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re embarking on a new career, looking for a bit of extra security, or you’re just looking for some extra cash, one of the side hustles above will help you get there. Just be sure to do a bit of research as far as taxes, licenses, and insurance go so your business is sure to be on the up-and-up.

Your turn. What’s your side hustle? What are you doing for a bit of extra money? Got a better idea than these 15 side hustles? Let me know in the comments below, and make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss future posts! 

Side Hustles for Men FAQs

How do I make an extra $1000 a month?

Starting a side hustle is a great way to make an extra $1000 a month. Whether it’s handyman work, starting a blog, or doing home cleanouts, a side hustle can improve your cash flow tremendously.

What are the most profitable side hustles?

In my experience, freelance writing was the most profitable side hustle. Within the first month, I was cash flow positive and making quite a bit of difference in my finances, working just part-time.

How can I make $1000 a month in passive income?

Passive income is a tricky term, because no matter what side hustle you start, you will have to put a lot of effort in initially. But, with a side hustle like blogging, one monetized article can continue to make money month after month.

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