Could your hobby be more than a passion project? Whether you’re looking for a fun side hustle or a unique idea to start your own business, your hobbies can give you the inspiration and momentum you need to take the leap.
From earning extra spending money to building a complete income stream, this guide shows you how to turn activities you already enjoy into money-making opportunities. Discover which common hobbies have real profit potential and learn practical steps to turn what you love doing anyway into a rewarding online business.
What makes a hobby profitable?
Profitable hobbies solve real problems, have market demand, are scalable, and stand out from the competition.
The creator economy continues to grow, with the North American creator economy market expected to reach $331.4 billion by 2034. If your goal is to monetize your hobby, there’s absolutely room for it.
But in order to make a hobby profitable, you can’t just start an online store or show up at craft fairs and local markets and hope for the best.
“You’re very naive at the beginning, thinking, ’I just need to put the work online and people will somehow find it and buy it.’ That’s not the case at all,” says Raquel Acosta, founder and ceramics artist at Glaze Me Pretty.
In reality, turning a hobby into a business takes time, effort, and a strategic approach.
You’ll need to find a niche, come up with a marketing strategy and business plan, and share what makes your hobby unique.
For Mush Studios founder Jacob Winter, the key was catching attention via engaging TikTok videos of his rug-making process.
“The feedback from my TikTok videos was amazing. The form of rug making was so new at the time that everyone was just like, ‘What is this guy doing in this garage on Long Island?’ I basically was making a painting but with yarn and a huge machine gun tattooing into the fabric,” says Jacob in a Shopify Masters interview.
“Once I saw that people were actually interested, it obviously got me super excited. So I decided to just continually make videos and just within that first year, we generated 23 million views.”
No matter the approach you take, it’s essential that you do research before going all in on your idea. That market research could be pushing out content on social media and tracking the response, getting feedback from local community members, sending surveys, or doing in-depth interviews. The research you do could differentiate what you thought was just a hobby from a profitable business idea.
25 profitable hobbies that make money
- Creative and design hobbies
- Content creation hobbies
- Making and crafting hobbies
- Service-based hobbies
- Food, drink, and lifestyle hobbies
You can monetize these popular interests to create profitable ventures:
Creative and design hobbies
1. Writing
If you can write compellingly and have the discipline, there are many ways to turn your writing into a paid gig. You can write your own blogs or newsletters and build an audience, either creating paywalled content using platforms like Medium or Substack, or by selling ad space on your blog.
You can also make money online by writing for others. Find one-off copywriting jobs on skill sites like Upwork or Fiverr, or work freelance or in-house for companies creating editorial, marketing, or social media content. Being a freelance writer and taking on your own clients is one of the most profitable ways to make money online writing.
Join networking sites like LinkedIn for writing opportunities, or consider making money as a freelance copywriter.
2. Illustration and design
There are countless ways to make money using your design and illustration skills. You can take on design gigs creating logos, websites, marketing materials, book covers, and graphics of all kinds.
If you want more control, you can put your art on products, from t-shirts to posters to canvases, and sell those items instead. Artists such as Maria Qamar of Hatecopy have built successful businesses by putting their art on clothes, décor, and prints.
This type of business is great when you’re starting out and want to keep overhead costs low. Print-on-demand services offer a low-risk way to print and sell your designs online without having to buy and store inventory. In fact, the print-on-demand market was valued at more than $10 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach over $57 billion by 2033.
Once you make sales and know which designs have the most demand, you can consider investing in your own stock.
3. Music
There are loads of ways to make money as a musician, like creating beats and samples to sell online.
When you list beats on third-party sites, such as Airbit and BeatStars, it works similarly to stock photo sites: People can purchase your music to use in their own content.
You can also set up your own site to sell samples to other artists directly. For example, Samples by Vanity is an online business that sells samples for artists to remix and splice together to create their own tracks.
You can make your audio exclusive or non-exclusive. There’s more money to be made when you sell exclusive rights, but you need to produce high-quality work. SoundOracle is an example of an online sample library with an excellent reputation—its sounds have been featured in more than 20 Grammy Award–winning songs.
4. Photography
Own a high-quality camera and know how to use it? Turn photography from a fun hobby into a profitable side hustle.
Depending on your interests, you can specialize in wedding and event photography, fashion photography, product photography, or even family and baby photography. For a more scalable gig, consider selling your shots as stock photos or prints online.
Different photography specialties will garner higher pay. For example, wedding photographers average $48 per hour while real estate photographers average $30 per hour. Avenues like event photography, family photography, and corporate photography can offer more steady work.
5. Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a highly specialized skill and can help you build a lucrative business. You can make money by selling custom wedding invitations, greetings cards, and signage. Alternatively, consider offering calligraphy classes or online workshops, creating and selling fonts, or selling calligraphy templates on Etsy or Creative Market.
In terms of the most profitable calligraphy types, one calligrapher lists prices up to $800 for wedding signage, more than $1,500 for a custom wedding invitation suite, and up to $1,500 for brand lettering.
Content creation hobbies
6. Vlogging
If you love sharing your thoughts, expertise, or experiences on camera, vlogging can be a great way to monetize your interests. You can create content on channels like TikTok and YouTube, catering to others with similar interests.
Monetization options include ad revenue, affiliate marketing, brand partnerships, or selling your own digital products (like ebooks or online courses). The key to success is choosing a niche you enjoy and staying consistent with content creation. Food, travel, tech, personal finance, fitness, and DIY projects are all popular niches with strong earning potential.
Keep in mind that monetization timelines and requirements differ across platforms. TikTok and YouTube offer distinct revenue models, so do your research to determine which platform will work best for you.
7. Podcasting
Podcasting has exploded in popularity, and it’s easier than ever to start your own show. If you have a passion for storytelling, interviewing experts, or sharing insights on a niche topic, podcasting can be both a creative outlet and a source of income.
You can monetize a podcast through sponsorships, listener donations (via platforms like Patreon), or by offering exclusive content through paid memberships. Many podcasters also sell related products, such as books, courses, or merchandise, to complement their brand. Essential equipment you’ll need includes a virtual studio to record and edit, high-quality headphones and a high-quality microphone, and sound-dampening tools for echoey spaces.
Typically, you’ll need to get 10,000 to 15,000 monthly downloads before you can be considered for a sponsorship. Different niches will affect rates as well. For example, video tool Riverside notes that podcasts in personal finance, health and wellness, tech, business, and self-improvement are often the most lucrative.
Consider listener-supported models where you ask listeners to pay to subscribe or pay for more premium content.
8. Comedy
Are you good at making people laugh? Do you know what the hottest memes are right now? Why not take that sense of humor and use it to build an audience on the internet? Comedy is one of the more creative ways to make money from a hobby.
You can probably think of several TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, or X accounts that have amassed large audiences simply by curating memes and viral videos or tapping into a niche of humor that no one else was serving.
Once you have an audience, you can partner with brands to create sponsored posts or turn your best running jokes into t-shirts and other products.
9. Gaming
Gaming has the potential to earn you extra cash in a couple of ways:
- You can livestream and play video games on Twitch and make money by becoming an affiliate, a partner, or a sponsored streamer. You can also monetize gaming by posting playthroughs to YouTube and earning ad revenue.
- You can ask for one-time donations from your community of viewers. A perk of this strategy is that it’s relatively easy to implement—you can start making money even in the early development stages of your audience.
- Offer subscriptions to your followers. This can help you maintain a loyal audience and earn a more predictable amount per month, although it is common for your audience to fluctuate.
While the amount of commitment needed to make a significant income might turn gaming into work, you can still have fun if you choose to stream a game you love, are good at it, and bring your personality to the screen.
Keep in mind that revenue will vary according to your audience size. Building an audience on a platform like Twitch involves: finding a niche, engaging with your viewers, building a network, crafting a personal brand, collaborating with other gamers, and promoting your streams.
10. AI-assisted content creation
The AI-assisted content creation market was worth $2.15 billion in 2024 and is projected to exceed $10 billion by 2033.
Partner with AI tools to craft blog posts, social media content, videos, logos, copy, and more. You’ll bring the strategy, communicate with clients to best understand their needs, work with AI to craft efficient and effective prompts, and edit the results.
According to ZipRecruiter, AI content creators in the US can make $116,615 per year.
11. Live shopping
Live shopping is when a host livestreams products to potential customers, who can ask questions and purchase those items in real time. The live commerce market is projected to reach $2.47 trillion by 2033, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.9%.
You can start livestreaming live shopping events on your own and sell individual products. Or, like comic book shop Revenge Of, leverage livestreams to tease product releases.
“We do a livestream every Tuesday. Our comics come out every week on Wednesday, and so we run down some of our favorites in a livestream in which we’re interacting directly with customers who are both ecomm as well as in store,” says Joe Myers, co-founder of Revenge Of. “It’s developed its own kind of lore for people at this point.”
Making and crafting hobbies
12. Jewelry making
Handmade jewelry is always in demand, and with online platforms like Etsy, you can turn a creative passion into a profitable side hustle. Whether you work with metals, beads, resin, or even upcycled materials, unique and well-crafted jewelry can attract customers looking for something special.
One approach is to offer customizable pieces, like personalized name necklaces or birthstone rings, which tend to have higher profit margins.
Some jewelry makers also run subscription boxes featuring a new handmade piece each month. If you don’t want to craft pieces yourself, you can also sell DIY kits, teaching others how to make their own jewelry at home.
13. DIY crafting
If you enjoy working with your hands, there are plenty of crafty things to make and sell: candles, bath bombs, soap, and more.
“Handmade” communicates a certain quality, care, and uniqueness that mainstream alternatives don’t offer. You can test the market for your products by selling them on a smaller scale to friends and family, at local maker markets, or on Etsy, and then consider scaling into a full-time business as you rack up customers.
If the idea of crafting the goods yourself isn’t striking a chord, you can also make money selling kits that allow customers to flex their own maker muscles at home. For example, you could create DIY kits for fun projects, like Flower Moxie’s DIY bridal bouquets.
While DIY crafting can be a source of great enjoyment, remember that in order to make this hobby profitable, your margins and production efficiency matter. Before going all in, calculate your material costs, time involved in making each item, and what you can realistically sell your crafts for. Then, consider making items in batches to increase efficiency for your business.
14. Pottery
If you have skills around a potter’s wheel, consider selling pottery to make extra money. The global pottery and ceramics market was estimated at more than $11 billion in 2024 and is estimated to grow to over $17 billion by 2033.
Build your own website to maximize profits and reach, sell at local craft fairs, or even opt to offer in person classes. You’ll have more success if you decide on a particular style or hone in on a niche. Consider producing trending pottery styles like layered glazes, imperfect or more natural shapes, and playful designs.
15. Restoring and flipping furniture
If you enjoy DIY projects and have an eye for design, refurbishing old furniture can be a profitable hobby. You can find inexpensive pieces at thrift stores, garage sales, or even curbside, give them a makeover, and sell them for a profit.
Many furniture flippers document their transformation process on social media, attracting buyers and growing an audience. You can sell locally through Facebook Marketplace or go nationwide through platforms like Etsy and Chairish.
Service-based hobbies
16. Teaching or tutoring
If you’re knowledgeable about a subject, whether that’s math, science, a foreign language, or a creative skill like photography, you can turn that expertise into a money-making business by tutoring or teaching online. Platforms like Wyzant, Preply, and Outschool let you offer lessons to students of all ages. Or, you can create your own YouTube channel or online course to generate passive income.
Platform-based teaching will offer a direct pool of clients for you to work with, but you won’t be able to own those relationships long term. You also may have to pay fees to the platform you choose to work with.
For a more personal approach, consider offering one-on-one tutoring services in-person or online. Even niche topics, like playing the ukulele, coding in Python, or perfecting latte art, have an audience willing to pay for lessons.
The tutoring rates you charge will depend on the subject matter you teach and your own credentials. For example, ZipRecruiter found that the average hourly rate for an LSAT tutor is around $34. In contrast, the average hourly rate for a reading tutor is around $25. Depending on local requirements, you may need to obtain a business license or credential to perform tutoring work.
17. Fitness
There are many ways to make money from your love of fitness. You can:
- Become a certified personal trainer and train clients online or in person
- Create and sell custom workout plans
- Start a YouTube channel or Instagram page sharing workout tips
- Offer fitness coaching for niche groups (e.g., busy professionals, postpartum moms, seniors)
There’s also a huge market for yoga instructors, dance coaches, and martial arts trainers who offer online sessions.
Becoming a fitness instructor can require certain credentials, so check with your local jurisdiction to better understand what those are. You also may want to look into insurance to protect yourself in case any of your clients get injured.
18. Pet care
If your life revolves around animals, a pet care business might be right up your alley.
Transforming your hobby into a pet business can take a variety of forms. With Supakit, for instance, owners Leili Farzaneh and Kevin White turned a personal pet story into their own shop selling cat accessories.
Or, if you have a unique pet story or extensive experience taking care of animals, you can turn your expertise into extra cash by starting a YouTube channel, TikTok, or Instagram page devoted to pet-related content.
Alternatively, you can build a local pet-sitting or dog-walking business. You can charge an hourly rate for individual pet-sitting or work with groups of dogs to take on daily walks.
Most pet care businesses will need to follow regulatory requirements. These depend on factors like the type of work you do, your location, animal welfare laws, and health and safety. To better understand what animal care regulations are near you, consult your local jurisdiction.
19. Translating
Being fluent in multiple languages can be a highly valuable skill. Businesses, authors, and content creators often need translators for documents and books or subtitles for videos. You can offer translation services on platforms like Upwork or Fiverr or reach out directly to companies in need of localization.
Translation rates will vary based on the languages you work with, and whether you specialize in anything specific. You may need to obtain credentials, like ATA certification, depending on the type of work you do.
20. Driving and delivery
Driving for a ride share app or delivering food are two of the fastest ways to monetize a hobby. All you’ll need is a car or bicycle. While you won’t own your own client relationships and will lose money to fuel costs and fees, this is a low-barrier way to make some extra cash on the side.
One source lists Uber Eats and Doordash among the top delivery apps to generate income. Glassdoor and NerdWallet place Doordash earnings at anywhere from $10 to $25 per hour.
The ride sharing market is also still going strong, with its market size estimated to reach almost $97 billion by 2030. Ziprecruiter estimates average hourly earnings for rideshare drivers at $21.
Food, drink, and lifestyle hobbies
21. Cooking
If you’re the kind of person who hosts elaborate dinner parties and wants to share their culinary prowess with the world, there are many paths you can follow. YouTube and social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram are great for creating a loyal following of fellow food lovers.
Once you’ve amassed a significant number of fans, you can partner with complementary businesses as an influencer. You might even take your favorite hobby on the road with a food truck business, or choose to monetize a food blog.
Or you could create your own line of products, like Jaswant Kular, who turned her homemade spice blends into a successful family business called Jaswant’s Kitchen after her daughters couldn’t replicate her traditional cooking.
Whichever route you choose, food content performs well online. One recent study found that 77% of Americans make meal decisions based on what’s trending, and 93% of respondents see food content on their feeds regularly.
Start with one format (e.g. TikTok reels), then post consistently and often. In order to monetize your content, consider becoming an affiliate, setting up brand deals, streaming classes, or offering subscription-based meal plans.
22. Drinking (and knowing about) coffee
Globally, people drink more than 2.25 billion cups of coffee every day, fueling an industry worth over $269 billion. And as coffee drinkers have become accustomed to brewing their caffeine fix at home, it’s a prime time to capitalize on this opportunity.
Globe-trotting creatives Jeff Campagna and Tania LaCaria found that coffee mixed well with one of their other passions: motorcycle travel. They opened Steeltown Garage Co., an apparel, accessories, and riding gear store and café that caters to bikers and coffee enthusiasts alike.
You could also monetize your coffee knowledge by educating others, creating coffee-related content online, or offering a curated set of products via an online store.
23. Thrifting
If you have an eye for hidden gems, thrifting and flipping items for profit can be a fun and profitable hobby. You can buy low-priced items from thrift stores, garage sales, or estate sales and resell them on platforms like eBay, Poshmark, and Depop.
People make money reselling everything from vintage clothing and rare sneakers to retro video games and old cameras. Some resellers specialize in refurbishing items to increase their value before selling.
Consistent sourcing trips, as well as learning what to look for in terms of brand and quality, can help you increase your margins and help you procure higher-value items.
24. Brewing beer
Homebrewing, or making your own beer at home, is becoming increasingly popular, with the global market for home brewing beer machines set to hit $85.7 million by 2032.
While brewing beer at home is legal across all 50 states, laws vary. Consider contacting your local jurisdiction or state’s alcohol beverage control agency, as you might need to get certain permits, licenses, and approvals from federal, state, and local authorities.
If you have experience making unique or award-winning beers, you can set up your own online store selling supplies and recipes to adventurous homebrewers, create an online course, or create your own YouTube channel discussing the finer points of the craft. Brooklyn Brew Shop, for instance, sells homebrew kits and accessories so its customers can enjoy the hobby themselves.
Homebrewing is a technical hobby with lots of equipment requiring careful setup and maintenance. You can build and sell these brewing and kegging setups, or tutor budding brewers directly (in person or virtually).
25. Gardening
Gardening is a hobby that can make you happier, healthier, and—if you’re interested in pursuing it professionally—an entrepreneur.
If you’re an avid gardener, you can earn money selling plants, even if you don’t have a large garden or nursery to cultivate them. Leaf & Clay, for example, sells succulents both as one-time purchases and on a subscription basis, while Emma Sibley grew her passion for plants into London Terrariums, a full-fledged business with a brick-and-mortar storefront.
You can also sell products and accessories to help customers connect with their own gardening hobbies. Technology seller ēdn introduced an indoor garden to its product line, helping customers grow herbs and other plants in a compact space with artificial light.
Finally, you can make good money as a gardening influencer or teacher by setting up your own channel on social media, with tips and resources for the tens of thousands of users searching for good gardening content.
How to make money from a hobby
To start a business based on your hobby, take the following steps:
1. Validate your business idea. Do some market research to make sure there’s demand for your offering.
2. Find a business name. Come up with a business name that gives your business a unique identity and explains what you do. Shopify offers a free business name generator to make things simple.
3. Make a plan. Create a business plan to keep you on track to meet your goals.
4. Understand business finances. Set up business accounts, funding sources, and other money matters. (An accountant can help you with these tasks.)
5. Develop your product or service. The product development process is where you turn your hobby-inspired offering into something customers are willing to pay for, whether it’s a physical or digital product, a consulting service, an online course, or a membership. Don’t be afraid to start with a very basic prototype like the team at BedJet did.
“With BedJet, it was an ugly prototype that just had only the most basic functions that our current product has,” says Mark Aramli, its founder.
6. Pick a business structure. Legitimize your business and protect your personal assets by picking the best business structure that meets your needs.
7. Research licenses and regulations. Do your due diligence to ensure you’re conducting business lawfully, or retain the services of a lawyer or legal consultant.
8. Select your software systems. Build your website, set up accounting software, and get the rest of your tech stack up and running. An ecommerce platform like Shopify is a great all-in-one solution that supports entrepreneurs of all sizes.
9. Find a business location. Determine where you can operate your business, whether that’s from home, a studio, a store, or online.
10. Plan workload and team size. Bootstrap or hire help, depending on your business plans.
11. Launch your business. Let the world know!
When will I make money from a hobby?
Turning your favorite hobby into a side hustle or full-time job has its perks: You’ll be your own boss, work on your own schedule, and set your own prices—all while doing something you love. Nevertheless, it’s important to have realistic expectations about the time and work that starting a business from a hobby entails.
To start, you’ll need to build a marketing strategy to let the world know about your side hustle. That strategy may begin on organic social media, then expand to multiple marketing channels like paid ads and email.
When you start making sales, it’s key to keep track of the incoming and outgoing cash. This makes tax time easier, simplifying the process if there’s an audit and helping protect your personal assets. Additionally, tracking your revenue and expenses helps to ensure that your money-making hobby is indeed profitable. Consider investing in accounting software to manage your books.
Building a lucrative business or side hustle takes time. Depending on what you’re doing, it could be months or even years before you achieve financial independence or a full-time income from your favorite hobby.
“I got a few orders around October on Etsy,” says Tamara Mayne, founder of Brooklyn Candle Studio, during an interview for the Shopify Masters podcast. “In November and December, things got really crazy. My entire apartment was covered in candles. My husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, was helping me wick countless jars and our floors were covered.”
Read more
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- How to Start a Dropshipping Business- A Complete Playbook for 2024
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- How to Start a Candle Business (with Examples)
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- How To Source Products To Sell Online
- How to Start a Bath Bomb Business from Home- A Step-by-Step Guide
- How to Start a Clothing Line in 12 Steps (2024)
- Cash in on Your Expertise- 10 Steps to Create an Online Course That Sells
Hobbies that make money FAQ
Can a hobby turn into a profitable business?
With the right business plan, marketing strategy, and financial preparation, it’s certainly possible to turn your hobby into a side hustle and, eventually, a full-time hobby business.
What are hobbies that make money?
Some popular hobbies that you can easily monetize include:
- Writing
- Music
- Cooking
- Gardening
- Photography
- Crafting
- Comedy
- Brewing beer
- Gaming
How can I turn my hobbies into money?
How you make money from your hobbies will depend on the activity. Some ideas for monetizing your hobbies include selling products online, charging for your services as an expert consultant, or creating a YouTube channel or Instagram account to generate ad revenue.
How to find a hobby that makes money?
To find a hobby that makes money, consider our list of 25 recommended options:
- Writing
- Illustration and design
- Music
- Photography
- Calligraphy
- Vlogging
- Podcasting
- Comedy
- Gaming
- AI-assisted content creation
- Live shopping
- Jewelry making
- DIY crafting
- Pottery
- Restoring and flipping furniture
- Teaching or tutoring
- Fitness
- Pet care
- Translating
- Driving and delivery
- Cooking
- Drinking (and knowing about) coffee
- Thrifting
- Brewing beer
- Gardening
What is the highest paying hobby?
The highest paying hobby depends on many different factors. Generally, the highest paying hobby balances your own time and funds invested with steady income and strong profit margins. For example, making passive income from a hobby might earn you less, but will take up very little of your time.
