The Side Hustle Show

715: The 10 Best Side Hustles of the Year

December 29, 2025

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  • Successful side hustles often involve finding a niche where you can provide superior customer service or a modern experience compared to complacent legacy providers, as seen in the vending machine business. 
  • The 'sell your sawdust' concept, or repurposing existing entrepreneurial resources like media kits or trackers into digital templates, is a viable path to creating passive income through printables. 
  • For location-based businesses like glamping, success can be achieved by focusing on the experience and social media presence to command premium prices, even without traditional four-star amenities, while adhering to a 60-30-10 rule for site selection. 
  • Harrison Knott, the youngest guest ever on The Side Hustle Show, is highlighted for mastering short-form video and TikTok shop for his e-commerce business, despite being a teenage serial entrepreneur. 
  • The recap of the top side hustles includes vending machines, selling printables (digital products), UGC creation, foam party rentals, white label e-commerce, glamping, return reselling via ShareTown, directory websites, Facebook content monetization, and repurposing public domain content. 
  • Listeners are directed to a Spotify playlist and the URL sidehustlenation.com/bestof25 for convenient access to the specific episodes detailing these 10 best side hustles of the year. 

Segments

Top 10 Side Hustles Introduction
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(00:00:01)
  • Key Takeaway: The host selects the top 10 side hustles chronologically based on personal excitement and potential impact.
  • Summary: The host introduces the annual recap of the 10 best side hustles, presented in chronological order of their original episode release. Selections are based on the host’s excitement and the feeling that the idea was compelling enough to try immediately. New listeners are advised that episode numbers are included for reference.
Vending Machine Business Deep Dive
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(00:01:20)
  • Key Takeaway: Vending machine businesses, rebranded as ‘AI smart markets,’ can scale rapidly by focusing on responsive property management and financing equipment through sales proceeds.
  • Summary: Anthony Keloje scaled his Chicago vending machine business to over $50,000 a month in 16 months, eventually exceeding $100,000 monthly. Success hinges on providing excellent customer service to property managers by being immediately reachable and responsive to stocking needs. The business model involves securing machines, often financed by their own sales revenue, and focusing on high-volume locations.
Printables Digital Product Strategy
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(00:06:13)
  • Key Takeaway: Printables businesses thrive by repurposing existing internal resources or targeting low-competition keywords to stack evergreen digital assets.
  • Summary: Cody Berman proved that a new Etsy printables shop could reach $1,000 a month in four months by leveraging existing tools like debt trackers or media kits. The strategy involves brainstorming hundreds of ideas, then using keyword research tools like E-Rank or EverBee to find high demand with low competition. This model emphasizes creating a digital asset once and selling it repeatedly for leveraged income.
UGC Creator Monetization Explained
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(00:11:47)
  • Key Takeaway: User-Generated Content (UGC) creation is freelance content work focused on brands needing authentic video for their own feeds, requiring no personal following.
  • Summary: UGC creators earn hundreds of dollars per short video by helping brands fill their social feeds or create ads, distinct from traditional influencer marketing. Initial outreach involves creating a portfolio and cold pitching brands via Instagram DM or email, specifically asking to connect with the person in charge of brand partnerships or content. Brands across fashion, tech, and software utilize UGC to source authentic marketing material.
Quo Business Phone System Ad
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(00:18:17)
  • Key Takeaway: Quo offers a modern business phone system featuring shared collaboration on calls/texts and an AI agent capable of lead qualification and routing.
  • Summary: Quo is presented as a top-rated business phone system that operates via an app on phones or computers, allowing teams to share one number. Its key feature is an AI agent that can answer calls, qualify leads, and route inquiries 24/7, preventing missed customer interactions. Businesses can try Quo free and keep their existing phone numbers.
Shopify E-commerce Platform Ad
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(00:19:29)
  • Key Takeaway: Shopify provides comprehensive tools, including AI assistance for descriptions and marketing campaigns, to help entrepreneurs launch and scale online stores quickly.
  • Summary: Shopify enables entrepreneurs to move from inspiration to action by offering customizable templates and built-in marketing tools for email and social campaigns. Users can leverage AI features to assist with writing product descriptions and editing photos. New users can start selling immediately by signing up for a low-cost trial.
Mobile Foam Party Business Model
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(00:20:35)
  • Key Takeaway: A mobile foam party business can be started with low risk by pre-booking events and using customer deposits to fund the purchase of professional equipment.
  • Summary: Tim Karstenson funded his foam party equipment, including a $2,500 professional cannon, using deposits from parties booked months in advance. He targeted daycares, schools, and libraries within a 35-40 mile radius using direct postcard marketing. The business requires minimal utilities—just a water source and an electrical outlet—and offers high hourly rates, such as $375 for a one-hour birthday party.
White Label BBQ Seasoning E-commerce
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(00:25:44)
  • Key Takeaway: E-commerce success can be achieved by white-labeling an existing, proven product, allowing the entrepreneur to focus solely on marketing and distribution.
  • Summary: Chris Gray built a $300,000 side business by white-labeling a seasoning blend his brother enjoyed, avoiding the high overhead of opening a restaurant. He contacted the manufacturer to arrange private labeling, providing his own branding and logo design. Initial sales were driven by influencer marketing targeting large barbecue channels on YouTube.
Glamping Site Location Strategy
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(00:30:17)
  • Key Takeaway: Successful glamping sites require strategic land selection based on the 60-30-10 rule and can secure direct bookings through strong social media documentation.
  • Summary: Garrett Brown advises locating a glamping site within 60 minutes of a major city, 30 minutes of a regional attraction (like a lake or park), and 10 minutes of basic civilization for operational support. Financing is easier when purchasing land that already includes a house, allowing for lower down payments and instant equity. The majority of bookings came directly through social media rather than platforms like Airbnb due to the unique experience documented online.
ShareTown Return Reselling Simplicity
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(00:35:57)
  • Key Takeaway: The ShareTown side hustle offers a simple, low-overhead entry into reselling bulky returns by facilitating pickups and listing items on Facebook Marketplace.
  • Summary: ShareTown acts as a reverse logistics partner for online retailers, paying local reps to pick up and resell large, difficult-to-return items like furniture or mattresses. This gig requires minimal audience building or product creation, focusing instead on the physical labor of pickup, storage, and sale on platforms like Facebook Marketplace. Reps earn a portion of the proceeds from each successful flip.
Local SEO Directory Building
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(00:39:25)
  • Key Takeaway: Informational directories focused on local SEO are more AI-resistant than general content blogs, requiring a niche selection process guided by data and personal interest.
  • Summary: Frey Chu recommends that directory niches be 70% data-based (high search volume, low competition) and 30% interest-based to ensure sustainability. A key strategy is identifying a ‘clear bounty’—an existing, successful but outdated directory—to improve upon, proving concept viability to search engines. Local SEO is considered more protected from LLM disruption than general informational content because trust and specific local data are critical for high-consequence searches like daycares.
Facebook Content Monetization Testing
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(00:45:24)
  • Key Takeaway: Facebook content monetization is an invite-only, high-volume game where consistency (5-8 posts daily) and repurposing viral content from other platforms drive growth.
  • Summary: Facebook’s content monetization program is currently invite-only, but creators with existing pages may find monetization toggles available. Success requires high posting volume, with one guest finding a sweet spot around 20 posts per day, testing various formats like text-only posts and screenshots of financial charts. The strategy involves organic content marketing to attract new users, followed by retargeting ads focused on the membership offer.
Public Domain Radio Membership
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(00:50:13)
  • Key Takeaway: Repurposing free public domain audio, like 1950s radio shows, by injecting modern, niche advice creates a unique, subscription-based content solution.
  • Summary: Cheyenne Bolek mixes her homemaking and cleaning advice into free, public domain radio shows (like Dragnet) to create an entertaining subscription service. Members pay a quarterly or monthly fee for weekly new episodes, solving the pain point of keeping a house clean through engaging content. The marketing funnel relies on Instagram posts directing users to a lead magnet (free sample episodes) which then funnels them toward the paid membership via email sequences and retargeting ads.
Honorable Mentions Recap
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(00:56:53)
  • Key Takeaway: Local SEO services offer a fast path to significant income, and young entrepreneurs can master e-commerce through short-form video and learning from early mistakes.
  • Summary: Eric Dingler suggested that the fastest path to $20,000 a month is through a local marketing service, which can eventually scale into a location-independent agency. Harrison Knott, a 15-year-old e-commerce entrepreneur, successfully used short-form video marketing to sell cooling towels, emphasizing the importance of learning from early business mistakes.
Honorable Mention: Young Entrepreneur
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(00:57:30)
  • Key Takeaway: Fifteen-year-old Harrison Knott is highlighted for his eighth business, mastering influencer marketing via TikTok shop to sell cooling towels.
  • Summary: Harrison Knott, the youngest guest ever on The Side Hustle Show, successfully ran an e-commerce business selling cooling towels using short-form video marketing. He was transparent about expensive mistakes common to new entrepreneurs. His story serves as an honorable mention focusing on influencer marketing success.
Recap of Top Side Hustles 1-4
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(00:58:13)
  • Key Takeaway: The first four featured side hustles involved scaling vending machine operations, creating passive income through low-competition digital printables, earning income via UGC creation, and running a low-risk local foam party rental business.
  • Summary: Vending machines were discussed regarding scaling and financing machine acquisition through business proceeds. Selling printables focuses on creating evergreen digital assets that generate passive income repeatedly. UGC creation allows individuals to get paid for content creation without needing a large influencer following. The foam party rental business was presented as a fun, low-risk validation model for a local service.
Recap of Top Side Hustles 5-10
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(00:58:58)
  • Key Takeaway: The latter half of the top 10 included white label e-commerce, high-yield glamping, return reselling, niche directory websites, Facebook monetization, and public domain content repurposing.
  • Summary: White label e-commerce involves branding existing popular products rather than creating new ones. Glamping offers four-star pricing potential without the high startup costs of traditional hotels. Directory websites focus on adding value and competing in SEO for ’near-me’ searches. The host identified Facebook’s content monetization program as a new income stream he plans to scale.
Episode Conclusion and Resources
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(01:00:17)
  • Key Takeaway: All ten featured side hustles are compiled into a single Spotify playlist accessible via the show notes or the direct link sidehustlenation.com/bestof25.
  • Summary: Listeners are encouraged to check out the specific episodes for deeper dives into any of the ten highlighted businesses. For convenience, all episodes were compiled into a Spotify playlist. This playlist can be accessed through the episode description link or by visiting sidehustlenation.com/bestof25.