Balancing a side hustle isn’t always an easy thing to do. If you’ve got a 9-5 job, that often eliminates most daylight hours—and if you’ve got a family, your responsibilities there could further reduce the hours you are able to put into your budding business. If you’re a night owl, though, there are several side hustles that you can still grow into fully fledged company.
Not every side hustle is well suited for late hours. If you’re planning to launch one that requires real-time interactions with people in your area, it likely won’t work. Your energy levels are likely to be a bit lower, too, so you’ll want to factor that into the equation. Progress could be slower than people who work “regular business hours.” And you’ll have to be especially disciplined about sleep so your day-to-day work doesn’t suffer.
That said, there are certainly some advantages to working on your side hustle business in the evenings. Distractions will be minimal, letting you focus and (ideally) complete tasks in less time. And your risk factor stays low, since you can test ideas, pivot and build income while you remain a full-time worker, removing a lot of pressure from would-be founders. And because you’ll only have a limited amount of time, you’ll learn to do away with busywork, focusing on high-value tasks instead.
Success for side hustles after 9 p.m. can come down to having a clearly defined goal. Keep your scope small at first and accomplish one idea at a time. Structure will be your most important tool. With that in mind, here are five side hustles that are well suited for evening and late-night hours.
E-commerce
Some people find their artistic muscles are strongest in the wee hours. Whether you enjoy painting, playing with a 3D printer, making jewelry or some other expressive endeavor, there could be a market that’s interested in paying for your creations. Etsy is one of the go-to spots to set up a store to sell those wares. There’s competition, but there’s also a huge built-in customer base. Listing an item costs 20 cents and there’s a 6.5 percent transaction fee on the sale price. Etsy can also help advertise your goods beyond its site for another cut of the sale price. Amazon is another popular platform for selling your wares. As you build a customer base, you’ll be laying the groundwork for a possible full-time business.
“E-commerce experience demonstrates initiative, risk tolerance, and business acumen,” says Eric Carrell, CEO of SEO agency Dofollow.com. “These sellers learn inventory management, customer servicedigital marketingand financial planning. It’s a comprehensive skill set applicable to many professional roles.”\
Newsletter creator
This is a side hustle that is best suited for niche industries. There are countless news roundups in the go-to categories and you’ll find yourself competing with major news outlets. But if you specialize in a high dollar, niche area, you could have the market to yourself. Think of it as a Morning Brew for that niche, waiting for subscribers when they wake up. Writing is the single fastest rising side hustle, according to research from Falcon Digital Marketing. Interest in the category spiked 5,546 percent last year. Total searches topped 264,000, nearly six times the closest competitor.
