Ten Side Hustles You Can Start in the Philippines

A side hustle adds income on top of your main job. It can ease daily money pressure and get you to goals like an emergency fund or a house faster. Some grow into a full-time business.

The best one depends on your time, skills, capital, and long-term plans. Pick one that fits your lifestyle and leaves energy for your main job. You can try any of these ten without a big launch.

The earnings below are estimates from published guides, and some are several years old. Your results will depend on where you live, what you charge, and how much time you put in.

Walk dogs and sit cats

About 78% of Filipino pet owners have a dog, and about half have a cat. Many of the people who need sitters are busy professionals, dual-income families, and travelers, including condo residents who are often away for work.

Dog walking, in-home sitting, and overnight care all fit around a day job. Cat owners can book a sitter to stop by a few times a day to feed and play with their pet. Searches for cat products are rising too.

Sitters can charge ₱200 to ₱300 or more an hour for walks and visits, and ₱500 or more for a full day. Startup costs for house and pet sitting are estimated at ₱5,000 to ₱20,000. A neighbor’s pet is an easy first booking. Agree on schedules and feeding routines up front, and word of mouth will bring repeat clients.

Bake, cook, or mix drinks

Cakes, pastries, and bread are the usual picks for home bakers. Holidays spike sales of cakes and giftable items, and school days lift sales of cheap breads and snacks.

Cooking and drinks widen the menu. Siomai, milk tea, burgers, and fried chicken are popular food options. You can deliver home-cooked meals to busy individuals and families, or sell fruit shakes, iced tea, and lemonade from a stall in a busy area.

Estimated startup costs are about ₱5,000 for homemade drinks, ₱5,000 to ₱15,000 for home baking, and ₱10,000 for home-cooked meals. Baking at home needs less capital because you don’t rent space. Many home bakers sell through Facebook Marketplace, Instagram, and GrabFood.

One guide’s costing puts pandesal profit at about 44% of sales and loaves at about 22%, before labor, transport, and utilities. The same guide estimates a small bakery’s profit at ₱1,000 to ₱2,500 a day, but that setup costs ₱50,000 to ₱150,000.

Take on a client abroad

One foreign client paying $300 to $500 a month brings in roughly ₱15,000 to ₱27,500. Two clients bring in ₱30,000 to ₱55,000. Virtual assistant work for foreign businesses is one route, and short-form video editing and social media management are others. Jobs turn up on Upwork, Onlinejobs.ph, and Facebook groups such as Virtual Assistant Philippines.

Pay climbs with skill. Entry-level general assistants typically earn $4 to $6 an hour. Skilled admin and customer service work runs $10 to $15 an hour, and specialist skills like bookkeeping or paid ads command a 30% to 60% premium.

Sell what you no longer use

Buy and sell is one of the most common side hustles, and online selling is a big part of it. Home-based resale is estimated to start at ₱10,000 to ₱30,000, and an online store at ₱10,000 to ₱50,000. Beauty product reselling starts around ₱5,000 to ₱20,000.

In the 2019 national household survey, the average online seller earned ₱7,774 a month. That is an average, so expect a range. The usual advice for earning more is to pick items with steady demand and reasonable margins, and to invest in good photos and descriptions.

Facebook Marketplace and Carousell are both free for sellers. On Marketplace you only need a Facebook account. Upload clear photos from several angles (up to 10 per item) and make the first one count, since it becomes the thumbnail. Show the price upfront, describe the condition honestly, and check what similar listings sell for.

Carousell lets you keep up to 30 active listings at a time. Use relevant keywords and hashtags, reply politely to offers, and relist items that have sat too long. You can also share listings in existing Carousell groups. Weekend pop-up markets are another place to sell, and they are no longer only about food.

Run errands for busy people

Pabili (buy for me) and papila (queue for me) tasks are already a service people pay for, from grocery runs to medicine pickups. Grab has offered both through its app. Personal shopping for busy people earns a fee or commission, with estimated startup costs of ₱5,000 to ₱20,000. One day is enough to try an errand, so it is an easy hustle to test.

Delivery apps charge customers a base fee of about ₱49 to ₱100 a trip before distance, which shows what a short run is worth. Bigger jobs pay more. In 2020, one errand runner charged ₱1,000 to shop for ₱8,000 worth of groceries and got a ₱300 tip. If you have a bike or motorcycle, delivering parcels, food, or goods is another option with flexible hours.

Make videos and share affiliate links

You can make YouTube or TikTok content and earn from ads and brand deals. Growth takes time and consistency, and sponsorships come once you have an audience.

Affiliate links add a second income stream. You share product links on a blog or social page and earn a commission on each purchase made through them. It works only with a loyal audience and regular content, and you have to be upfront that the links are affiliate links. Results are slow at first.

Expect little at the start. Direct creator payouts are tiny, around ₱0.30 to ₱0.80 per 1,000 views in one estimate. Commissions and sponsorships carry the income. TikTok Shop commissions run 10% to 20% of product sales. The same estimate puts mid-tier creators at ₱10,000 to ₱100,000 a month in commissions, and creators with 10,000 to 50,000 followers at ₱5,000 to ₱25,000 per sponsored video. Take these as rough upper ranges.

Sell load from your sari-sari corner

Load retailing means selling prepaid load, handling e-wallet cash-in and cash-out, and taking bill payments. It remains useful in many urban and rural areas, and some places still lack payment centers or malls. It pairs well with a sari-sari store, a small home shop that sells everyday goods.

Setup costs under ₱2,000, and one guide puts typical profit at ₱1,000 to ₱3,000 a month. Commission runs 5% to 10% for multi-network retailers and 7% to 13% for exclusive telco resellers. Some retailers reportedly make around ₱1,000 a day, including one in Antique who said so in 2015. Commission rates change, so check the current ones.

Do laundry for your neighbors

Wash, dry, and fold clothes for nearby households. Work out your water, detergent, electricity, and labor costs before you set prices. Give customers a clear turnaround time and label each load to avoid mix-ups.

We found no reliable income figures for home laundry. A full laundromat is a bigger bet: one guide estimates about ₱10,000 a month in profit per machine washing 75 kg a day, with startup costs of ₱1,000,000 to ₱2,500,000 or more.

Rent out what sits in storage

Ladders, folding tables, sound systems, and party decorations can all be rented out. Promote them in community groups and on local social media. Use rental agreements, deposits, and condition checks to protect your items. We found no reliable Philippine income figures for rentals, so start with things you already own.

Print your designs on demand

Create designs for shirts, mugs, or tote bags. A third-party printer makes and ships each order, so you hold no inventory. Your work is design and marketing. We found no reliable Philippine earnings figures for print on demand.

Pick one and try it

Choose the hustle that fits the hours you already have. Start with something you own, like a skill or a free Saturday. Keep it small at first. Some side hustles stay extra income, and others grow into a full-time business.