7 Side Hustles That Can Grow Into a Business, and How Each One Works

7. A print-on-demand store and its paid monthly or yearly plan

One marketplace's monthly plan costs less than per-item fees past forty items sold. Here are seven side hustles that can grow into a business. Number seven: a print-on-demand store and its paid monthly or yearly plan. The fee is not refunded, so you unsubscribe before the renewal date to avoid the next charge.

On Printify, you open Wallet, then Payments, and find Printify Premium. You choose Subscribe, then pick monthly or yearly billing for the plan. You then pick a payment method, and the fee is charged right away. The plan renews automatically, and you can change or cancel it anytime.

The plan takes up to 20% off most products in the catalog. Neck labels can also cost up to 33% less. Packaging inserts and gift messages cost fifteen cents each instead of twenty-five. You also get twenty-five AI mockup attempts a day.

With Premium, the support team handles order issues on your behalf. You can switch between monthly and yearly billing at any time, and the exact savings show before you confirm the upgrade. Some new products get additional discounts of up to 33%. In one billing currency, the plan starts from $39 a month or 299 a year, plus taxes where they apply.

By our count, twelve months at $39 come to 468, so yearly billing saves 169. 468 minus 299 is 169, about 36%. Prices depend on the billing currency you select. Rules can differ where you live.

If guides like this help you, subscribe: every step in this video comes from each platform's own official pages, linked below.

6. A handmade shop and its monthly seller subscription

Number six: a handmade shop and its monthly seller subscription. The subscription's credits don't roll over, and they expire if you don't use them. On Etsy, you open Shop Manager, then Settings, then Your subscription. You choose Upgrade under Etsy Plus and confirm, and the fee comes from your payment account balance.

Each month the package gives fifteen credits for creating or renewing listings in your shop. It also adds $5 in Etsy Ads credit each cycle. Advanced customization lets you feature listings or sections and choose a custom color theme for your shop home. Subscribers also get unlimited Marketplace Insights searches, with real search data from the platform.

It also shows similar keywords to help optimize your shop. You can cancel anytime, and access lasts until the end of that cycle. The shop then returns to the standard plan with no subscription fee. The subscription price is $10 a month.

After you cancel, your last day of access shows in the subscription dashboard. By our count, the five-dollar ads credit is worth half of the ten-dollar monthly fee, but it only pays for ads. Five is half of ten, before counting the fifteen listing credits that also come each month. When you enable restock requests, shoppers can sign up for an alert when a sold-out item is back in stock.

Fees can differ where you live.

5. Turn a selling account into a store with a monthly subscription

Number five: turn a selling account into a store with a monthly subscription. Even with yearly renewal, the store fee is still charged every month until you cancel. On eBay, you open a store and choose one of five store packages. On your first subscription you pick automatic monthly or yearly renewal, which sets the monthly price.

With a store, you get more listings each month without an insertion fee than sellers without a store. You also pay lower final value fees when an item sells. Extra tools let you manage and promote your business from the same store. The starter store costs $7 and ninety-five cents a month with monthly renewal.

Yearly renewal brings the starter store down to $4 and ninety-five cents a month. The next level up costs twenty-seven ninety-five with monthly renewal or twenty-one ninety-five with yearly renewal. Each higher package costs more, with the largest at $2,999 and ninety-five cents a month. Only yearly renewal is offered for the largest one.

The number of free listings each month varies with the store package you choose. The store subscription terms explain how fees are charged when you change the store level or cancel. By our count, the starter store's yearly renewal costs $36 less a year than monthly renewal. Seven ninety-five minus four ninety-five is $3, and three times twelve months is thirty-six.

Some categories are left out of the free listings, and selling limits apply. Fees can differ where you live.

4. Freelance design, from Entry Level up to Top Level

Number four: freelance design, from Entry Level up to Top Level. You can't pick your level: the curation team assigns it when your application is approved. On 99designs, you apply as a designer, and the team reviews your design skills and client communication. Your level then shows as a badge on your profile, below your name.

Entry Level designers can enter up to fifteen contests a month, while Mid and Top Level have no limit. Gold contests open from Mid Level, and Platinum ones only at Top Level. For direct projects, the client pays a fixed 5% fee, and the designer pays a separate fee by level. Higher levels also get more visibility when clients search for designers.

In Gold and Platinum contests, 15% of the total prize is split among all finalists. The winner gets a share of that 15% plus the rest of the prize. Designers may apply for a level review every six months if they meet the criteria. Top Level needs at least five repeat clients and a client review score of 4.5.

The designer fee drops from 15% at Entry Level to 5% at Top Level. Mid Level designers pay 10%. By our count, on a five-hundred-dollar project, a Top Level designer pays $50 less in fees than an Entry Level one. 15% of 500 is seventy-five, and 5% is twenty-five.

Top Level designers must keep up their work, or they risk dropping back to a lower level. Payment provider fees can differ where you live. That's past the halfway mark: a print-on-demand store, a handmade shop, a selling store and freelance design so far. The last three cover streaming, an agency and a monthly selling plan, with the best last.

3. Streaming, from Affiliate to Partner

Number three: streaming, from Affiliate to Partner. Applying does not mean you are accepted, and suspension history is part of the review. On Twitch, you complete the Path to Partner achievement in your dashboard as an Affiliate ready to level up. Doing so unlocks the button to apply for the Partner Program.

In the two months before you apply, at least six streams need seventy-five average viewers per thirty days. Your content also has to follow the guidelines and terms. Applications outside these criteria may be accepted for exceptional growth or an audience on other services. Partners keep past broadcasts for sixty days.

Partners can accept channel subscriptions at three tiers and unlock up to sixty channel emotes. They also receive a share of ad revenue and choose the length and frequency of mid-roll ads. Viewers cheer with Bits, a virtual good, and partners get a share equal to one cent per Bit. Viewers from front-page promotions or embeds don't count toward the viewer requirement.

Partners also get a dedicated support team, with an answer expected in one to two business days. By our count, 500 Bits used to cheer for a partner come to a five-dollar share. 500 times one cent is $5, which is how the share adds up. Subscription revenue can vary with where each subscriber lives.

Rules can differ where you live.

2. Add an agency account to your freelancer account

Number two: add an agency account to your freelancer account, then bring in a team. The agency, not the clients, is the one that pays its members. On Upwork, you need a freelancer account first, then open Account settings, Contact info and Additional accounts. You then choose New Agency Account, and each freelancer can create only one agency.

In the agency profile, you can add the agency name, an overview, an hourly rate and a portfolio. A designer, developer and copywriter can offer services together under that one profile. Owners or managers handle client communication, assign work, and manage contracts and payments. Members work under the agency's contracts, and the agency and each member decide how much the member is paid.

To add team members, you subscribe to the Agency Plus plan. It allows unlimited members, a custom profile link and insight into competing bids, plus a shared Connects balance for proposals. You see the Agency Plus price under Change Plan before you choose it. Payment terms match solo freelancers, and hourly payments follow a weekly billing cycle.

The Agency Plus plan rolls over up to 400 unused Connects each month. Connects themselves still expire one year after you purchase them, even with Agency Plus. By our count, a fixed-price payment a client submits on a Monday becomes available that Saturday. Five days after Monday is Saturday, the same timing as for solo freelancers.

Payments from the agency to its members are not protected by the platform. The agency keeps its own tax records, and tax rules can differ where you live.

1. A monthly selling plan, or paying per item sold

Number one: a monthly selling plan, or paying per item sold. By our count, past forty items sold a month, the monthly plan costs less than paying per item. On Amazon, you see two selling plans: Individual at ninety-nine cents per item sold, and Professional at a monthly price. You then sign up for Individual or Professional from the pricing page.

Both plans let you use the platform's storage and delivery service, which has its own costs, or you can deliver orders yourself. Both also let you list one product at a time and set static prices. Professional adds bulk tools to list, price and manage inventory. It also includes ads, brand tools and automated pricing.

Business-to-business selling, worldwide selling and apps come with it too. Ads are optional services with added costs, so you decide whether to use them. The brand tools need the brand to be enrolled in the platform's brand registry first. After you complete seller registration, you can switch or cancel your selling plan at any time.

The Professional plan costs $39 and ninety-nine cents a month. That monthly price does not change with the number of items sold. By our count, the Professional plan costs less than the per-item fee from forty-one items sold in a month. Forty-one times ninety-nine cents is $40 and fifty-nine cents, above thirty-nine ninety-nine.

Referral fees apply on both plans: a percentage of the total price or a minimum amount, whichever is greater. Selling plans can differ where you live. So, seven side hustles that can grow into a business: Printify's paid plan, Etsy Plus and an eBay store. Then come design levels on 99designs, Twitch Partner, an Upwork agency and Amazon's monthly plan.

Rules and availability differ where you live. So open the platform's own help page first, and see what it asks for in your area. Which one would you try first? Tell us the number in the comments.

Results vary, and this is information only, not financial advice. This is Wealth Filings. Next, more side gigs and how each one works, linked on screen.