With many millennials struggling to make ends meet or disillusioned with their 9-5, a generation of freelancers and sole traders have started up businesses (or ‘side hustles’) to great effect.

While often launched for financial reasons and to top up an individual’s salary, many businesses are started as passion projects for working professionals that they can build up alongside their main job.

These businesses can inspire their owner to work around their weekday schedule with the aim of growing their side hustle to a level that they can eventually manage on a full-time basis.

Here are some of the different types of side hustles that have taken off in the UK over the last few years.

Freelance work

Ideal for those in professional services such as accounting, graphic design or digital marketing, freelance work allows individuals to work for clients on an ad-hoc basis. Freelancers are earn some extra funds on the side of their regular job by working on evenings and weekends for other companies, developing their skills and charging a rate of their choosing.

Frequency of work can be an issue, however, with some companies only requiring work from their freelance employee every few weeks or so. However, by developing a larger client base, freelancers are more likely to be able to rely on a steady stream of work as when one company doesn’t need any work, another company are there with a task or project. Working remotely also affords you the opportunity to undertake freelancer work abroad, whether you're living abroad and working for a British company or working for a company based overseas.

Vacation rentals

Renting out your home on Airbnb or another vacation rental site can be a great way to earn money over the weekends or for a few days a month. If you have a friend or family to stay with during this time, you can earn a tidy sum renting your home to holidaymakers visiting the UK.

Provided you own the property, use a secure website such as Airbnb and make sure you have the time and resources to prepare your home and welcome each guest, vacation rentals can be a huge earner on top of your 9-5 job. 

E-commerce

One for the more entrepreneurial of workers, creating your own e-commerce website and selling goods online outside of your day job is the way that some of the largest retail brands in the world began.

Whether you import products from the manufacturer to sell, or you sell your own homemade products, becoming an online retailer could be the start of something big. Once you’ve stocked your inventory, built your site and listed your goods, your business will be ready to take orders from customers from all over the world, at all hours of the day. Then all you’ll need to do is package and ship your goods in the evenings or on weekends. 

While this type of second job requires the most investment (in stock and start-up costs), it can provide the most self-sufficient side hustle out of the three, as well as providing a platform for growth.

Currency exchange for sole traders

If you happen to fall into one of the above categories, or are looking to start up your side hustle, it goes without saying that you’ll want to bring as much of the profits home as possible and won't want to lose out on poor exchange rates and costly transfer fees.

With better rates than most high street banks, as well as low transaction fees, moneycorp could save you money on each and every payment you make when you transfer your foreign earnings back into pounds. Sign up for a sole trader international payments account today to start making the most of your income.