Being an entrepreneur is the dream of many ambitious people, but the typical 9-5 working week simply soaks up the majority of time, leaving little available to get new ventures or side hustles off the ground. Thankfully, there are some very effective part-time business ideas that not only demand just a few hours to run and maintain, but are also very accessible.
But what are these part-time business ideas that can often be operated alongside a full time job? In this article, we will review various fulfilling and profitable venture prospects that you could pursue in 2025, as well as giving you an indication of the cost of starting up and the skills necessary for success.
Table of Contents
1. Social media management business
Yes, we are in the roaring age of social media. Nearly every business has a presence social media platform, due to the potential to connect with hundreds of millions of people daily. That being said, not every business knows how to properly promote themselves to potential clients and maintain a presence through the business’ high and low.
That’s where social media management comes in. Local businesses need people to grow their online presence through their social media accounts. But like with everything, there is routine and best practices to this art. Social media management is high in demand and could be a profitable side business for anyone who takes the time to learn the ins and outs of conducting daily business on the platform.
Social media management tools are cheap, with Buffer, Hootsuite and Canva all having rates ranging between £10 – £50 per month. The ROI for this low startup costs career option is high, with each client typically providing an income of between £200 – £500 per client, per month.
2. Write e-books
Writing services are big in the modern age. People read more than ever, consuming content through social media and messaging services. But the old-fashioned way of writing literature is just as prevalent. If you fancy yourself a wordsmith, you could add to the millions of e-books are downloaded each day.
The best thing about writing e-books is the creative control you have. Your skills are put on display to represent you, entirely, giving you both control and sole credit. Whilst publishers may have terms of their own, self-publishing is becoming more common, allowing you to decide how you want to market your e-books, and how much you want to sell them for. Once the writing is done, all of your income from your books will be residual.
Of all our part-time business ideas, this one demands very little in startup costs. That being said, you must stick at it, as you will only turn a profit once you’ve finished and done a good job, which requires a committed schedule to get anything done efficiently.
3. Dropshipping
The world of eCommerce continues to grow, and supporting it by utilising the dropshipping business model has provided the opportunity for hundreds of part-time business owners to create successful businesses.
Dropshipping allows you to sell products online without holding inventory, meaning the supplier is the one who holds and ships the product, and you profit from the price markup. There are so many different types of products that can be imported and sold as a curated online business venture. The trick is to ensure that your branding and marketing are on point and that you target a specific audience.
This requires extensive market research, of course, and you may benefit from some online courses to get you started. Ohterwise, you can expect the costs of starting up to be around £150–£600 to start:
- E-commerce Platform: £20–£50/month (Shopify, WooCommerce).
- Domain & Hosting: £10–£50/year.
- Product Sourcing Tools: £0–£30/month (e.g., Oberlo, Spocket).
- Marketing Budget: £100–£500 (Google Ads, Facebook Ads).
You should typically aim to make 20-30% of the money per product.
4. Online boutique
Let’s get one thing straight: Fashion will never go out of fashion. The general public will always be looking for great online boutiques that suit their particular style and budget, making it amongst many worthwhile part-time business ideas.
If you want to start an online fashion boutique, remember that your target market is very important. When it comes to fashion, you need to fulfil a niche in order to be successful. In order to be properly competitive with this business idea, we recommend that you create your own website.
This is another business idea that primarily makes use of social media, as it’s too good a tool to avertise your crafts.
5. Personal training business
The term “Personal Trainer” likely has you thinking of a religious gym-goer coaching people, but this isn’t necessarily the case. If you are someone who is physically fit and are proficient at a certain physical craft, whether that be body-building, martial arts or even yoga, consider putting your skills up for hire.
Personal training is all about conditioning. People who look for a personal trainer want to be able to condition themselves to become as fast, fit, and healthy as they are. This makes PT a rewarding part time business, allowing you to build bonds unlike any other across business sectors.
Many personal trainers reside within gyms, but plenty can be found on online platforms such as “Trainerize” or “My PT hub”.
6. Pet management business
Pet owners require products and services for their animals, and a lot of the less specialised services still charge highly due to the labour involved.
Some pet owners, like a lot of parents with children, need to find someone to mind their pet whilst they are away from the home, either just each day or for an extended period such as a holiday. This is where you could offer a pet-sitting service and make money either checking in on a pet regularly each day or even having it come and reside for you during the period its owners are away.
Starting your own business dog walking is another popular pet-related idea that is less laborious, depending on the level of training and breed of the dog. Dog-walking involves being outdoors for an hour or more, and is a good way of both earning money and getting some exercise at the same time. It can often be done to fit around your own day job but will depend on the number of animals you are looking to take on with your dog walking business.
Grooming is another service you could look to offer. It requires a bit more specialisation, as you’ll have to pick up the skills and know the products and methods of cleaning the animals, not to mention having the facilities and equipment to do it. Online courses are are a good avenue to gaining this knowledge.
7. Virtual assistant
Virtual assistant duties can include anything from answering calls to generating data entry, and they are often outsourced for small to mid sized companies. Typically, these duties are considered less important than the duties that the company is paying it’s employees for, and it’s typically more cost-effective and efficient to simply outsource them.
Virtual assistant work requires you to be organised, especially if you want to build up a good reputation for yourself. Know the programs and software you’ll be required to use, and keep a strong schedule in place. The absolute worst thing a virtual assistant can do is become a bottleneck for the company they are working for.
The more trust you earn with individual companies, the more sensitive work you’ll be tasked with, usually equalling more hours or higher pay, so make sure you don’t take on too much from too many companies at once. This makes it part of an effective roster of part-time business ideas, with short-term gains being high, and long-term gains potentially being a huge breakthrough.
8. Photography business
A photography business is one of the surefire ways to turn your creative passion into a successful business. It is also relatively low risk with low start-up costs, depending on the field you’re entering.
Your potential clients are varied, from small business owners who want good shots of their marketing materials, to random online dating profiles wanting that professional, engaging look for potential mates.
Before you start advertising your photography services, it would be a good idea to create a portfolio with which to advertise, and start by offering some free or discounted shoots to family and friends. Try to specialise as much as you can, and do market research to see how you can stand out from the competition. Word of mouth referrals can often work wonders in this type of business.
9. Gardening business
A garden can be the heart and pride and joy of the home, but it takes a real effort to keep it looking good. If you consider yourself a bit of a green thumb, a gardening service could be a business that would suit you well. Gardening is a labour of love, and there’s always more to learn, as well as a variety of plants to work with.
The start-up costs for this business structure are also relatively low. Getting your first clients may be the tricky part, but having a gorgeous and well-maintained garden of your own would definitely be a good advertisement, as well as advertising some gardens of friends and family that you’ve worked on for a discounted fee.
The sale of plants could also be a venture worth looking into if gardening is your thing. The popularity of house plants absolutely exploded during the first lockdown, and rare house plants are in high demand.
10. Subscription boxes
A subscription box is exactly how it sounds – a box full of subscribed items that are delivered regularly. Within can be an assortment of essentials rather than anything specialised, but each one is curated to target products that a person would probably be buying monthly anyway, such as shower gels. It’s an all-in-one convenient package that sometimes have surprises mixed in.
Many themed subscription box businesses have been popping up all over to great success, mainly due to social media curation, so skills as advertising these boxes are going to be required also.
As far as startup costs are concerned, subscription boxes are higher than usual. You need to buy the products yourselves, decorate the packaging, package them together in quality boxing and pay the delivery fee. This means you need to be careful with your pricing, not being high enough to as not be worth it, and not being low enough so that your return on investment is lowered.
11. Beauty business
Beauty has been a huge part of human existence for ages, to the point that even home-bound people who aren’t going to see anyone all day still finds themselves using healthcare and beauty products to up their self-image.
The chances are that there are multiple people in your neighbourhood on the lookout for an affordable and trustworthy beautician that can apply care regularly. Not only this, but these people are much more likely than customers in other sectors to refer you. Many beauticians that become their own boss usually claim that meeting new people an being appreciated is one of the most rewarding parts of the job.
12. Design an app
Mobile applications are used by millions of people around the world every day, and mobile applications have created a huge market. They exist to provide services, entertainment or simply to enhance convenience when using a real-life service or product. Even devices such as wireless headphones have their own dedicated mobile app.
Designing applications is demanding as far as skill investment, but should you have the skills, you should know that app development specialists are high in demand!
13. 3D printing
3D printing is definitely rising in popularity. The technology that a 3D printer provides you with gives you a whole new world of opportunities. By investing in a 3D printer, you could use it as a profitable business idea to create unique 3D printed items that you could sell for a profit, or rent out the printer to allow clients to experiment with their own creations.
While a 3D printer is a pretty pricey investment, it can be well worth it if you are looking to start a business that is both innovative and creative. If you decide to go ahead and purchase a 3D printer, ensure you do so from a reliable source, that you perform regular maintenance, and ensure that you know how to use the printer properly.
14. Freelance writing services
It’s a common feeling to believe that there are likely more blogs being created monthly than there are people who read them, but this is actually not true. A set of blogs that are created with the right intention can be the difference an online business being invisible or lighting up like a Christmas tree.
“SEO” is a term you may have heard, it stands for Search Engine Optimisation. This is a process that involves creating content that targets keywords that the website’s target audience is searching for. By creating blogs that are informative, comprehensive, and solve a person’s needs, you can convert a potential customer into a paying one using that blog as a gateway.
SEO content writing is the most common writing service, but far from the last kind. There is also copywriting, editing, proofreading etc. All of these require writing skills, and the patience to build your own portfolio full of work to attract clients. Start up costs consist of whatever your computer and internet costs, but you will almost certainly need to understand not only how to write, but about the specific secondary abilities required for the job, if applicable (SEO, etc).
15. Thrifting and reselling
Do you have an eye for great vintage pieces? A trending part-time business that you could easily start would be thrifting vintage and secondhand clothing and/or furniture and selling the pieces at a profit.
You could either operate your business online via various sites, like eBay, Vinted, Shpock or Depop, or social media platforms like Facebook Marketplace, or sell your items through a curated storefront or market. Thrifting and reselling also allows you to set your own schedule and work and earn extra income at your own pace.
Conclusion
With low start-up costs for the majority of ideas we’ve suggested for you, we hope this is the first of your many steps in creating a successful side business, whether it’s one you operate part-time alongside your regular job or even as a weekend business. Getting this type of business off the ground can be a rewarding and profitable way to earn extra income
Whether you are looking to operate a successful online business or provide a service at a physical location, getting the right business idea is key if you are going to make enough profits to make it worth all your effort and maintain your enthusiasm for the venture.
