After trying more than 30 side hustles — some hits, some flops — Cody Berman has developed what he calls a "side hustle framework."
There are essentially four ways to bring in extra income, the financially independent millennial and author of "Retire by 30" told Business Insider.
Here are his four types of side hustles, plus the one he says is the easiest to start.
Type 1: Trading time for money
The first type is the most straightforward: trading time for money. That could mean online freelance work, such as writing, video or podcast editing, website building, or compiling email newsletters. It could also mean in-person work, such as landscaping, driving for Uber, delivering for Instacart, or completing tasks through other gig-economy platforms.
"You're just straight up trading your time for money," Berman said. For example: "I make $15 an hour doing this. I work three hours, that's $45."
While these side hustles can start producing cash quickly, the trade-off is that income generally ends when the work ends. Plus, there are only so many hours in a day.
Type 2: Scalable income streams
The second type is a scalable income stream — something that can continue earning after the initial work is done. Examples include a digital product, podcast, YouTube channel, or course. A creator might spend hours making a product or piece of content once, then continue earning through sales, sponsorships, affiliate links, ads, or other monetization strategies for years.
Real estate also fits into this bucket, Berman said, because an investor can buy a property, get it rented, and then collect income over time.
The appeal of "type two" side hustles is that they're not strictly tied to hours worked — and, for Berman, they've been the most lucrative. The trade-off is that they typically take time to build before they produce meaningful income.
"You're not going to start a YouTube channel or create a digital product today and make money with either of those things tomorrow," he said. "But in six months' time, those things might start making serious income."
Type 3: Sharing economy
The third type, the sharing economy, involves renting out assets you already own.
That could mean listing a house or spare room on Airbnb or Vrbo, renting out a car through Turo or Getaround, or using platforms that let people rent out storage space, pools, lawn equipment, photography equipment, power tools, trampolines, or bounce houses.
"I see so many people who are just sitting on gold mines," Berman said. "They might have this asset, but they just haven't listed it or set it up for one of those platforms."
Bringing in extra cash doesn't always mean building a business from scratch, he said: "You just might need to 'turn on' one of the assets that you already own."
Type 4: Agency-style businesses
The final type is what Berman calls a hybrid model: turning a time-for-money side hustle into an agency-style business. For example, someone might start as a freelance writer, charge clients by the project, and hire other writers to help complete the work. Or someone might start as a dog walker, then grow it into a dog-walking company by hiring other walkers.
"This is taking a type-one side hustle and basically turning it into an agency of some sort," he said.
The model can be more scalable than doing all the work yourself, but the trade-off is that it requires managing clients and employees, pricing, and quality control.
The easiest way to get started
When Berman was trying to leave his corporate job in 2018, he started with type-one side hustles.
He took on freelance projects, including writing newsletters, editing videos and podcasts, and managing affiliate programs.
"It was literally anything that I could do to make money trading my time," he said.
At the same time, he was building type-two income streams, including a blog, podcast, and digital products business. Those took longer to start profiting, but today they are among his largest sources of income.
"Today, I exclusively focus on these type-two-style hustles, where I am creating something, building something, buying something that is going to pay me in perpetuity," he said.
For someone who needs extra cash quickly, however, Berman said type-one side hustles are often the simplest place to start: "You could literally hop on Taskrabbit tomorrow and go do a couple tasks, or hop on Instacart or drive Uber tomorrow."
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Kathleen is a correspondent at Business Insider, covering investing and the path to financial freedom. She's been writing about personal finance for BI and other publications, including CNBC, since 2015.Her coverage includes the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement, real estate investing, and side hustles. She also occasionally covers small businesses and enjoys writing personal narratives about her own experiences navigating the world of money.Elkins graduated from Williams College in 2014 and resides in Los Angeles. Outside work, she trains for marathons and triathlons in the Santa Monica Mountains.Follow her on LinkedIn.Popular articles:
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