Want to start a side hustle and earn extra money? Here's how to launch a lucrative business and bring in six figures.

Shaunna Davis, the founder of Jétom. Courtesy of Davis

• Side hustles have become a way for millions hoping to find financial stability or extra income.
• In recent years, side hustles like freelancing, content-creation, and product sales grew.
• Successful side-hustlers revealed how they built six-figure businesses.

When Shaunna Davis finishes her 9-to-5 job as a personal assistant, she jumps to her next role as the founder of the vegan-handbag company, Jétom. Like many people during the pandemic, Davis reallocated the time she’d typically spent commuting home to building her side hustle.

“I always wanted to start a business for myself,” Davis said, adding that her inspiration for Jétom stemmed from losing her mother, the self-proclaimed queen of handbags, in 2020. “Jétom became something to have a memory by and something for me to have personally.”

Some start side hustles to fulfill a passion, while others are looking for additional money. Today, inflation, layoffs at prominent companies, and predictions of a potential future recession have many entrepreneurial-minded individuals looking for ways to earn ancillary income.

Regardless of the reason, the past few years lit a fire under multiple other methods of side hustling like freelancing, creating social media content, working as a virtual assistant, and consulting or business coaching. Side hustles from professional services to homemade goods have become a way for some entrepreneurs to pull in thousands of dollars each month.

Davis’ handbag company netted $14,000 in sales in its first four months in business, which Insider verified with documentation. Another entrepreneur, Lisa Andrea, regularly books $8,000 in revenue a month from her side hustle, The Financial Cookbook, which Insider also verified with documentation.

Andrea started The Financial Cookbook, an online financial-coaching company, to earn extra income and try entrepreneurship part time before taking the plunge.

“It is my side hustle right now, but my goal is to grow it as big as I can so that I can do it full time in the future,” Andrea said.

Among the more than 10 million businesses launched in the US between 2020 and 2022, it’s unclear which are side hustles and which are full-time jobs. Regardless, more free time and a need for financial stability were drivers of the entrepreneurial boom, according to Michael Baynes, CEO and cofounder of Clarify Capital, which helps small businesses secure loans.

“These new side hustles had a lot to do with people working from home and having the ability to juggle multiple things at the same time,” Baynes said. “They asked themselves, ‘Is there an opportunity for me to dive into one of my side interests and try and make a business out of it?'”

After Davis finishes her day job, she moves to work on her handbag company. Courtesy of Davis

Low barriers to entry make the risks of entrepreneurship worth it

While launching a startup is risky, some businesses are easier to create than others. Startup costs can be as low as the price of Internet access, and many online platforms make it simple to get started.

“You can become a freelancer so much easier now and have a better line to getting clients than we had before,” Jacqueline Kirtley, a management professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, told Insider.

Side hustles such as working as a virtual assistant, selling online courses, hosting livestream events, and freelancing offer low overhead costs, remote work, and accessibility, and they don’t require additional degrees or certifications. What’s more, these roles have netted entrepreneurs thousands of dollars a month or six figures in annual revenue.

Leveraging expertise, as Andrea did with financial coaching, is one way entrepreneurs can start a side hustle and balance risk versus reward.

“Service-based businesses have a much higher chance of success than product-based,” Nishank Khanna, a product and growth specialist at Clarify Capital, said. Service-based side hustles can include providing financial services online or starting a trucking business, while product-based ones can include selling homemade goods or food.

Decide the best financial route for your business

While the costs of starting up can be low, entrepreneurs must weigh whether they’re willing to invest additional capital to build their side hustles.

They can use some personal savings or dip into their monthly income to pay for initial costs, said Arielle Loren, the CEO and founder of 100K Incubator, a business-funding app for women. But she added that after three months, they should either see a proof of concept that indicates growth, or the need for additional growth strategies.

“If you’re not making quick money, then is this really a side hustle?” she said. “Or is this a business that’s going to need a lot more capital and with a longer-term plan?”

But, Loren said, a side hustle allows you to be more conservative about the amount of capital you take because it’s not a full-time business.

“My advice for someone starting from the get-go is to understand your runway and your cash-flow positivity,” Khanna said, adding that entrepreneurs who most effectively and strategically use their capital, no matter the amount, are the ones who will be successful.

The Posh Organization sells apparel under the brand Posh Life. The Posh Organization

Boost revenue by increasing prices and generating multiple streams

Once your side hustle is established, the next step is generating meaningful income. Annalisa Abell, who runs a virtual-assistant business called Elevated Assist, suggests entrepreneurs use market research to help set realistic prices. She studied competitors’ rates when developing her pricing structure.

Meanwhile, generating multiple income streams is another way to increase revenue. Tyra Johnson Brown, who also founded a virtual-assistant company, said that strategy helped her expand her business. Customers of her Posh Organization can purchase her services or merchandise, like her e-book and weekly planner.

Promoting your business on social media is also key to financial success. Andrea, of The Financial Cookbook, suggests entrepreneurs start by reaching customers across platforms.

She said content shared on one platform can be repurposed for another, saving entrepreneurs time and money when trying to reach customers on apps. Additionally, she said, user-generated content, where a company account posts content from users, is another way to repurpose photos or videos.

Courtney McWillams quit her job as a social worker to focus on her dog-daycare business full time. Courtesy of Courtney McWilliams

Set boundaries when establishing work schedules

For some entrepreneurs, a side hustle is a way to build a new 9-to-5 career. After Courtney McWilliams opened her dog daycare, MaryMac’s Doggie Retreat, she started working less for ride-hailing apps. That’s when she realized her new venture might also be her new full-time career.

Other side hustlers prefer to balance multiple jobs at once. They say organization is key to maintaining work-life balance. Sandra Blaschke, who created the puzzle company Prints in Pieces, reserves working hours for her job in marketing and nights and weekends for her startup.

An earlier version of this article appeared on March 14, 2022.