Are You Working A Side Hustle This Summer? — Experts Weigh In

If summer is a slow season for your small business, you might be inclined to work a side hustle to make a little extra money until business picks back up. If you’re not sure which gig is best to take on, we spoke to 14 entrepreneurial pros about the unique side hustles they’re taking on this summer.

1. “I own a boutique PR firm in NYC and teach Pilates as a side hustle. During the summer, I have a series called Pilates in the Park that I host in Astoria Park (Queens) two times a week. I have always had a strong interest in science, wellness and helping other so teaching Pilates is all those things rolled into one. At my PR firm, we also specialize in health and wellness, so everything comes together full circle.” — Lynette Pettinicchi, Founder, Lynette Nicole PR

2. “I’ve been working the gig economy as a freelance designer for years but this summer I’m going all-in on my new design website. It’s currently a side hustle, but I realized if I can sell my graphic designs as templates to other freelancers, I can develop a passive income and eventually kick working for clients.” — Adam McIntyre, Owner, BrandPacks.com

3. “I work full time as a web developer and I’m working on two different side gigs this summer. I love building and growing websites, so I decided to focus my time on two of my websites: ResumeBeacon and JungleFlip. ResumeBeacon is a resume builder and free resume template website. A user can build a resume from scratch using the automated tool or download free resume templates. The services and templates are 100% free! JungleFlip Amazon has a little secret. They sell open-box merchandise and huge discounts. JungleFlip scans Amazon and digs up the best deals. Discounts start at 40% off. The service is 100% free!” — Paul Dessert, Founder, ResumeBeacon.com, JungleFlip.com, PaulDessert.com

4. “This summer I am dedicating two hours a day to my new side hustle which consists of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to automate the customer service for SAAS companies through a chatbot. Thanks to the Google Tensorflow platform through Deep Learning, I am personally experimenting with the possibility of learning from the historical dialogues that took place between the customer service department and the user (through email, social media, WhatsApp, etc.). It is a work in progress, but I have been able to automate 31.2% of the users’ questions and I hope to reach more than 70% within the next two months.” — Cristian Renella, CTO & Co-Founder, elMejorTrato.com

5. “I’m part of a family of four crazy Americans who love nothing more than traveling, cooking together and, of course, eating. Last year, in addition to our day jobs, we designed and started importing these amazing Italian-made ceramic frying pans. Not only are the Vesuvio pans gorgeous, light-weight, and easy to use, our non-stick ceramic coating is also safer than Teflon, which contains harmful chemicals like PTFE and PTOA that could eventually flake off into your food. It’s been a fun side hustle for our whole family — and tasty too!” — Katherin Spaccarelli, Co-Founder, DaTerra Products

6. “I’m a full time middle school teacher with a side hustle. I own an interior design business that I push full throttle during the summer months.” — Carla Erskin, Teacher and Interior Designer, Carla James Interiors

7. “I currently work as a Consumer Savings Expert for Los Angeles-based coupon site. Additionally, I’ve been running a successful Etsy business for the past 2+ years where I sell vintage and handmade home décor, and this summer I’ve decided to try to make even more money by cleaning out my closet and setting up a Poshmark shop where I have been selling my unwanted clothes, shoes, handbags and jewelry. I initially started my side hustles to earn extra money with the goal of saving my earnings for a future home purchase. Even with a well-paying job, living in a major metropolitan city with high costs of living, paychecks can often be stretched thin, making saving for the future daunting. While I don’t plan on turning my side hustles into my day job, it has created a nice nest egg which I plan to tap into sometime in the next year or so to purchase my first home.” — Jill Caponera, Consumer Savings Expert, Promocodes.com

8. “I’ve started a small side hustle focused on news and information for people pursuing careers in finance and accounting. Many of the topics relate to the long-term career benefits of pursing professional designations such as the CFA charter and becoming a licensed CPA. I can personally relate to the challenges and struggles of trying to earn these credentials because I went through it myself and know firsthand of the benefits they can provide.” — Lou Haverty, CFA, Financial Analyst Insider

9. “My side hustle is a virtual assistants company that provides startup founders, professionals and others a cheap way to extend their teams with assistants located offshore. I believe that the skills gap between onshore and offshore talent is ever diminishing. The cost savings of going offshore for a dedicated team is worth the risk.” — Ayo Sopitan, Founder, EasyAide

10. “I’m a marketing exec from the tech scene turned voice actor over a 15+ year period. Currently I’m a full-time freelancer working almost exclusively from home, represented by talent agents and with management. As in many industries, mine has seasonality to it with summer being one of the lows. Right now, I’m doing part-time consulting for software companies, ones that employ people who like to work remotely and/or on relatively flexible schedule for more life-work balance. That’s critical for me because even during low seasons, any given day I still have same day auditions and next day bookings. Even if/as my pipeline hits light periods, I still need to stay in my home studio and ready to record pretty much on-call. The work moves fast enough that I can’t hold normal office jobs anymore without it being a conflict.” — Scott Reyns, Voice Actor, ScottReyns.com

11. “I am currently freelancing through Upwork as a marketing assistant for Becky J. Invitations and hope to take on more freelancing projects soon. I also walk dogs through Wag! two to three times per week and run the social media for a local franchise of Rita’s Italian Ice. As a personal side hustle, I have just begun a lifestyle blog where I discuss saving money, finding your passion, and achieving happiness in an accomplishment-obsessed world. I like to focus on unique career paths and hope to interview individuals who found their passions in unconventional ways. I’ve taken on these various side hustles to diversify my writing portfolio and maintain a steady income while going to school. I can see myself continuing on with freelance work even after graduation, because it gives me the freedom to explore a variety of subjects in my writing and is flexible enough that it would allow me the time to start my own business one day.” — Kristen Pizzo, Freelance Writer, KristenPizzo.com

12. “I am a full-time employee who has created a revenue consulting business to work with small businesses to teach them the importance of accounts receivables management. I created BCS Solutions to be a resource for those small businesses to take the frustration out of collecting past due accounts, so they can focus on the business at hand. I believe it’s not a money problem, but it’s a systems problem if a company has large accounts receivable balances. Collections is something most companies large or small dislike doing. No one wants to upset the customer or potentially ruin the relationship but to remain in business with a positive cash flow the invoices must be paid.” — Dee Bowden, CEO, BCS Solutions

13. “In many law classes, students don’t get a lot of firsthand knowledge from anyone; they study a lot, read up on the history of cases, go to lectures, and take exams. My friend, with whom I went to law school, has been a professor for some years, and he recently asked me if I would be willing to come in as a guest lecturer twice a week to supplement his materials. Each class earns me a small sum from the college and I spend it giving students information they wouldn’t get from textbooks. Although we discuss aspects of the law that might be confusing or what shows up in court most often, I also talk about the day to day activities, the years spent working toward owning a firm, and how to select an area of law to practice. One student was interested in how I came to begin studying employment law, and he was so intrigued that he inquired about an internship here at our law firm. I’m always looking for ways to turn my side gigs into more opportunities, and if the student wants to intern at our group, he may become an employee one day, having been here from the start of his career. Cultivating that kind of relationship early on is crucial for networking and business, and it allows me to have a positive impact. All because of talking with a class twice a week during the summer.” — Jesse Harrison, CEO, California Employee Rights Legal Group

Is your side hustle growing to the point of becoming a full-time business? Let us help incorporate it for you! Give us a call at 1-877-692-6772, or visit us at mycorporation.com.