Want to be your own boss? A number of side hustle marketplaces can help by bringing customers to you, helping you invoice and collect, and sometimes by providing timely advice on how to better serve your customers. In many cases, these be-your-own-boss sites serve as a launching pad for full self employment.
Just ask Dan Simms.
Fleeing a long work commute, he set up a profile on Rover nine years ago. Today, his dog-sitting business earns $80,000 annually, despite the fact that he takes two-months off to vacation each year. And most of his clients now come from personal referrals, not Rover.
“I still have the Rover page, but don’t show much availability, for fear that I will have to tell my loyal clients that we are full,” Simms says.
Be-Your-Own-Boss Sites
Be-your-own-boss marketplaces differ from other side gig sites in that they don’t send you jobs nor dictate how much you earn.
Most have you set up a profile that says who you are, what you do, and what you charge. The sites then present your profile, as well as several others, when someone is looking for the type of service you offer.
Because clients choose you, it is important to make your profile compelling — emphasizing what makes you perfect for your ideal customer. (See How to Be Your Own Boss for more instruction.)
What sites can help you be your own boss? Here are 5 great be-your-own-boss sites and their specialties.
Etsy: Art & Crafts
When it comes to massive e-commerce sites, Amazon and eBay are the world leaders. But, if you’re interest is specifically in artistic and hand-crafted goods, no site compares with Etsy. Etsy invites freelance creators to set up a store on the site to sell both authentic handmade goods, as well as “print-on-demand” goods that they’ve designed.
You determine what to sell, how to manufacture, price and ship it. Etsy simply markets your goods to hundreds of millions of customers each month for a portion of the proceeds. The site hosts freelancer-owned stores that sell everything from breadboards to dining tables; candles to clothing.
The site normally charges less than 7% commission on sales, but charges more for big sites that it actively promotes.
Wonderschool: Child care
If. you love caring for children and think you might want to make a profession of it, check out Wonderschool. This site can lead you through the myriad steps you’ll need to take to get properly licensed, no matter whether you want to run a summer camp or a full-time day care center. This includes helping you write a business plan; find appropriate space (or modify your home); and fill out the appropriate paperwork for your state licensing officials to review.
When you’re up and running, the site will handle administrative tasks, like billing and your answering service for 10% of your revenue.
Taskrabbit: In-person services such as cleaning & construction
Those who want to make a living with their hands — painting, fixing things, cleaning them up, or building — can find help through Taskrabbit. This site markets your service to clients and bills them for your services.
The site encourages freelancers to sign up and create a profile listing what you do and what you charge per hour. If you want to offer a variety of services — maybe plumbing, electrical work, cleaning, organizing, painting and furniture assembly — you simply check all of those boxes. You set a price for each service and get 100% of the price you set.
Outside of a small start-up fee, Taskrabbit doesn’t charge freelancers to get work here. Instead, the client pays the service fee through site mark-ups.
Fiverr: All remote services, from AI to illustration, writing to programing
Any legal service that can be done remotely can be advertised through Fiverr. Like the other be-your-own-boss sites, Fiverr suggests that you create a profile and a compelling description of what you do. The site will then suggest that you create tiered service offers — basic, standard and premium.
So, for instance, if you’re an animator and want to make whiteboard animation videos, you might offer a “basic” 20-second video for $50; a “standard” 60-second video, with voiceovers and script editing for $150; and a “premium” 90-second video, with additional bells and whistles for $200.
Customers browse the site for the services they need and simply buy the package that appeals to them. Fiverr collects payment and releases it to you, minus the site’s 20% fee, when you and the client mark the job as complete.
However, because the process of creating your own business offer can be difficult, Fiverr offers tutorials for those new to the site. It’s worth taking the time to go through them and heed the advice.
Freelancers rave about this site, saying it can produce a full-time living from a part-time job. But with tens of thousands of competitors here, your profile can also get ignored completely if you fail to differentiate yourself.
Rover: Animal care
Love animals? You can make a living taking care of them with the help of a site called Rover. At Rover, you set your own agenda, saying what type of animals you want to care for, when you’re available and what you charge. If you provide ancillary services, like pet pick-ups, check-ins, walks, training or grooming, you can list that here too.
In addition to listing different prices for different services, you can have different prices for different times of the year. You might, for example, charge $50 a night for boarding pets during the week but $75 a night on weekends and holidays.
Freelancers say they can easily earn $500 to $1,000 per month with this site, working just part time. Or you can turn it into a full-time gig like Simms.
