Teenage years are a great time to explore your creativity, discover your passion, and find a hustle of business that makes you money. Fortunately, there are numerous side hustles for teens that you can employ to earn real cash for yourself weekly or monthly.
You can do so much for yourself as a teenager by earning a few hundred dollars consistently. You’d probably start chasing certain financial goals, learning how to budget your money, and saving extra cash as well. Besides, this will boost your confidence once you realize that you can now independently work for your own money.
Most of the side hustles for teens listed in this post won’t require you to go through much hassle. All you need to do is learn the ethics and cues of the job and dedicate a few hours every day to working for your money.
What Are The Best Side Hustles For Teens?
The best side hustles for teens are online-based part-time jobs or side businesses. This is because teenagers can now use only their smartphones or laptop with an internet connection to work online and earn money from the comfort of their homes.
Why Do Teenagers Need Side Hustles?
There are two good reasons why teenagers need side hustles. Firstly, teens need to pick up side hustles to learn to be responsible and hardworking. This prepares them for adulthood. Secondly, as a teenager, making money from side hustles will enable you to meet some of your small financial goals. You could purchase that trendy T-shirt or wristwatch when you’re earning money.
How To Make Money As A Teen With Side Hustles
As of 2022, there are so many opportunities for teens to earn money. But firstly, you need to identify which side hustle or job suits you. Would you rather hustle online or go to the field and find jobs like lawn-moving?
Once you decide on which side hustle you want to make money from, you need to get started with it as soon as possible. If it’s a part-time job, you can visit job listing sites, where different types of part-time and full-time jobs are advertised. Apply for any job you are qualified for and await the response of your recruiter.
However, if the side hustle you want is like a side business rather than a regular job, you must learn to find clients yourself. For instance, if you decide to start washing cars to earn money, that’s strictly business. You will need to literally walk door to door within your neighborhood, looking for car owners who need to get their vehicles cleaned.
On the other hand, if you pick up graphic design, content writing, or video editing as a side hustle, your ideal clients are online, as this is a digital skill. You must leverage the power of social media and digital marketing to locate people who will willingly pay you for offering your services.
20 Best Side Hustles For Teens To Make Money
If you want to start making money as a teenager, here are 20 side hustles you should know:
1. Freelance Writing
Freelance writing is quite common among the side hustles for teens. If you are used to expressing yourself in written content, you could start making extra money as a freelance writer.
The best part about this side hustle is that you need little or no capital to get started. You only need a laptop, an internet connection, and, most importantly, your competence and creativity in writing high-quality content.
There are so many websites and online-based companies looking for freelance writers to hire. To get hired by any of these brands, you need to position yourself professionally with a portfolio. Your portfolio is expected to contain some of the best content you have previously written. Most times, it’s your portfolio that qualifies you for a job.
2. Blogging
Blogging is one of the well-known ways both teenagers and adults make thousands of dollars every month. Once you have a monetized blog and you begin to attract a significant number of visitors daily, you have just made yourself a money-making machine.
Like most side hustles online, blogging only requires little capital to start up. You can build your blog yourself using platforms like Wix and Elementor. You will only need to spend money when buying your blog’s web hosting and domain name.
But more importantly, you need to decide on the niche you want to write on. A niche is a particular area or subject matter on which your blog focuses. Your niche could be tech, fashion, agriculture, animals, health, or lifestyle. Make sure you choose a niche you love so that blogging becomes interesting for you, rather than tedious.
3. Social Media Management
Social management is one of the profitable side hustles for teenagers online. You can make hundreds of dollars weekly if you work for multiple clients. As a social media manager, you are responsible for managing the social media theme pages of businesses. This will require you to respond to potential customers, create engaging content, and probably drive sales.
This is a side hustle you can do from home using your PC. Also, it’s advisable to take one or two courses on platforms like Udemy or Coursera to become a competent social media manager.
4. Lawn Mowing
If you are not interested in any online-based job, lawn mowing is one of the good side hustles for teens you might want to try.
You need little or no experience to do this job. As long as you know how to handle a mowing machine, you will be fine. Moreover, most of your clients could reside within your neighborhood. These are people, especially seniors, who need to take care of their lawns. They won’t mind paying up to $10 per hour to have you handle the job.
One thing that makes lawn mowing one of the best side hustles for teens is that you don’t have to work with only one client. You can also control your time since it’s not like a formal job you do in the office.
5. Delivering Newspapers
Newspaper delivery is one of the traditional ways for teens to make money on the side. Even a 14-year-old can easily do this job and earn cash every week.
In fact, it’s a very flexible hustle for teens since it’s something you can quickly do before leaving for school in the morning. Remember, you are only delivering the newspapers within your neighborhood. With your bicycle or scooter, you can complete your delivery within an hour.
6. Washing Cars
Washing cars may not seem like the picture-perfect side hustle for teenagers, yet you could make over $1000 per month doing this. You can either get employed by a car wash business or set up your own establishment. You only need to invest a little money in buying basic car wash gear such as soap, wash mitts, brushes, drying towels, and other important equipment.
You can ask your friends to join to make the job more fun and easier. You’d only have to share your earnings, and you can earn between $5 to $20 for each car you clean.
7. Babysitting
Babysitting is one of the easy side hustles for teens, especially if you are a girl. The average rate for babysitting is about $15 per hour. But as a teenager with little or no experience, you will have to settle for a lower rate – somewhere between $8 and $12.
A perfect way to get your first babysitting gig is by letting your family recommend you to another family or close friend. For example, my younger sister started babysitting for a family my mom knew quite well at the time.
8. Selling Artwork Or Crafts
If you know how to create beautiful artworks or crafts, that could be an opportunity to make money from your hobby. I’ve met teenagers who are painters and sculptors, and occasionally, they get to sell their artworks for a significant amount of money. If you fall in this category of teens, you can make a living selling your creativity.
Fortunately, the internet has made it much easier for creatives to achieve this. There are various web-based platforms where you can list your artworks and reach out to potential buyers. Since you can sell a single artwork for thousands of dollars, there’s no denying this is one of the lucrative side hustles for teens.
9. Make Money Taking Online Surveys
Completing online surveys can make you some money. All you need is your smartphone and internet connection. You’d also have to sign up on a platform like Survey Junkie. Survey Junkie pays you for taking quick surveys within some minutes. You can earn between $1 to $50 per activity.
If you want to make a lot of money from online surveys, you will have to sign up with different platforms. Survey Junkie is just one of many numerous web-based platforms that pay teenagers for taking online surveys.
10. Earn Money Playing Games
Have you ever thought about making money while doing something as trivial as playing games?
There are many websites and apps that are ready to pay you for playing games with your smartphone. Don’t get it wrong; you aren’t gambling or doing anything of the sort. All you need to do is play a few mobile games for a few hours daily, and you will get paid.
However, you won’t be paid with real cash most times. Instead, you will earn points. Your points can be accumulated and redeemed as gift cards. That’s still an obvious financial benefit from playing games.
VeryDice, App Cent, and Long Game Savings are some of the creditable apps that pay users for playing games on mobile phones.
11. Online Tutoring
Online tutoring is one of the great side hustles ideas for teens. If you have profound knowledge in a subject, you can become a tutor by teaching that subject. It’s mostly a part-time job that’s flexible, allowing you to gain control of your time. You can be an online tutor and still be involved in something else.
You can get jobs by checking ads in the newspaper, searching Facebook groups, or getting a recommendation from a family member or friend. The only downside to online tutoring is that you won’t earn as much as adult tutors because you don’t have a college degree. Nevertheless, you can still generate a decent amount of money.
12. Creating Videos On YouTube
Being a YouTube creator is one of the most lucrative ways to make money online. Although you can’t start making money as soon as you create your channel, this hustle can earn a ton of money consistently. All you need to do is make sure your channel gets monetized so that you can start earning money from every video you upload.
Mr. Beast, the world’s biggest YouTuber, started his first channel as a teenager. He currently has over 100 million subscribers and makes millions of dollars yearly from YouTube ad revenue and sales from merch.
To enjoy your hustle as a YouTube creator, you need to choose a niche you love. Make videos about the interesting things you care about. However, ensure your videos entertain your viewers or help them solve problems. That’s the only way you can get people stuck to your channel.
13. Scavenging For Recyclables
Not everything has to be forgotten in the trash can. Some recyclables can make a lot of money, as long as you are willing to get your hands a little dirty. At the moment, America is big on recycling. Some States offer cash for plastic bottles and cans you find.
For example, California pays $0.05 for 24 ounces of cans and bottles. To make a decent amount of money from this side hustle, you would need to gather as many recyclable bottles or cans as possible. Apparently, this is one of the side hustles any teen can do.
14. Designing T-shirts
If you have a flair for graphic design, you might want to consider making money from T-shirt designs. This is not one of those traditional side hustles for teens. You can make a crazy amount of money if you develop a popular design.
To get started, you need to first become a professional graphic designer. There are so many affordable online courses that can teach you graphic design within a few weeks.
Once you’ve acquired the skill, the next thing is to choose your niche. You need to pick a niche that has a lot of potential buyers. For example, sport is a great niche. You will definitely find buyers if you can come up with eye-catching T-shirt designs.
Spreadshirt, Merch by Amazon, and Teespring are some of the most reliable online T-shirt companies that can help you get started with this business model.
15. Selling Photos
Selling high-quality pictures online is one of the legit side hustles for teens. If photography is your hobby or passion, don’t sleep on this. There are several websites and apps looking for exceptionally creative photographers to buy themed photos from. However, this means you would have to be talented as a photographer if you want your photos to be sellable.
If you want to take this hustle more seriously, you might want to develop your own site, where your pictures can be uploaded and sold.
16. Dog Walking And Pet Sitting
Many teenagers love dogs, but most teens don’t make money from this passion. It might interest you to know that you can earn up to $11.50 per hour walking dogs or looking after someone’s pet.
It’s one of the side hustles for teens to make money without having to do anything out of the ordinary. Within your neighborhood, there could be people, especially seniors, who need someone to look after their pets. That’s an opportunity to make money legitimately.
17. Advertising On Your Car
If you have a car, you can get paid for placing ads on the vehicle. However, your parents need to approve of this for you to be eligible.
Many small and big brands are willing to advertise their products or services on your car. All you need to do is approach this brand formally and pitch your offer, giving them reasons why your car should be used for an ad. This hustle can make you thousands of dollars consistently every month.
18. Pool Cleaning Service
Pool cleaning may not be regarded as one of the teens side hustles to make money, but you can make a reasonable sum of money doing it every week.
The rich folks with pools in your neighborhood definitely need someone to remove the leaves, plastic bags, and pieces of paper from their pools. You may also have to top off their chemicals. Since this gig usually comes weekly, you can book an appointment with the number of clients you can conveniently handle.
19. Become A Virtual Assistant
Of all the side hustles for teens, virtual assistant is a very common part-time job for young people to make money. This job can earn over $1500 per month, especially if you’re working for a big brand.
To get started, you need to first get trained on the job. There are different online courses and training programs that can teach you how to be a professional virtual assistant. After getting trained, you can start searching for your first gig on job-listing sites like Indeed and Job2careers.
20. Graphic Design
When it comes to making money online, graphic design is one of the best side hustles for teenagers. Like web developers, video editors, or content writers, graphic designers can make thousands of dollars monthly by pursuing a freelance career. Platforms like Fiverr and Upwork can help you get your first graphic design gig.
Once you sign up on any of these platforms, you can create your formal graphic design profile and start looking for potential clients. Also, you will need to have a portfolio containing some of your best designs. A good portfolio increases your chance of getting hired by someone.
Quick Summary: Best Side Hustles For Teens
Having read this post, you can see that there are lots of side hustles for teens. You have to decide now if the side hustle you want is a part-time job or a side business that will earn you more money than a regular teenage job.
If you’re going to try a business idea, you must understand that you may not make money at the initial stage. You’d have to stay consistent until the business becomes profitable.
Freelancing, blogging, and T-shirt designing are examples of business ideas that won’t make you money immediately. You’d have to spend a couple of months investing in the business before you can earn your first dollar.
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