What’s the Best Proven Side Hustle Idea with $20k?

If you had $20k to invest and wanted to make the most side hustle in a year…no scams, no gimmicks, just real returns…what would you do? Imagine it’s a competition, and you have to prove your idea is legit. What’s your winning strategy?

Surely we should be asking you that, SideHustleNinja.

Kim said:
Surely we should be asking you that, SideHustleNinja.

Needs more blog content

The “D” jobs are your safest bet. Dull, Dangerous, Dirty, Difficult. The jobs that no one else wants to do, but that you’re willing to tolerate and even learn to enjoy.

Heavy equipment mechanic, production baking, welding, septic tank pumping, etc. etc. I can’t say what will be most in demand for your area; you’ll need to research that. But find something where there’s an obvious lack of others doing it, and a demand for it, gear up, and dive in.

@Mika
Are you suggesting a side hustle or for him to go to trade school?

Eden said:
@Mika
Are you suggesting a side hustle or for him to go to trade school?

Either.

$20k would buy you a well-used pumper truck, and allow you to pump tanks in your off-hours.

$20k would stock a nice welding shop, and provided you already have some hobbyist welding skill, you’d have no problem getting customers for evening work.

$20k would outfit a bakery if you already have a building for it. If you know of some retailers who are looking for pie and cookie suppliers going into the holidays, you’d pay back that $20k in a hurry and be making good money on the weekends.

My point being, that the most consistent side-hustles are really no different from regular self-employment opportunities. If fact, many self-employed people started out their enterprise from a side-hustle while working full-time somewhere else. It’s appealing to look for investment, speculative, and online-sales opportunities as a side-hustle, because they’re relatively easy to do. But they aren’t as guaranteed of success as a typical manual-labor side-job.

@Mika
I love the way you put this… dirty … cleaning trash bins … even if it’s 2x year… more than I am doing now… summer must be great within the industry due to smelly trash