More and more people are considering starting a secondary occupation. Why not, especially if you can work entirely from home? Thanks to the internet, technology, and the shift toward remote work, there are now countless opportunities to start a secondary occupation from home. Below, you’ll find a comprehensive overview of what you can do and who knows, you might find something that suits you!
Why is working from home as a secondary occupation so attractive?
Working from home is no longer a trend; it has become a structural part of many careers and secondary occupations.
The benefits speak for themselves:
- You (largely) decide for yourself when you work.
- Low start-up costs: often, all you need is a laptop and an internet connection.
- Flexibility: you can easily combine it with your full-time job, family life, or hobbies.
- You can work at your own pace and in your comfort zone, without commuting or office stress.
- You don’t have to take travel time or costs into account.
- Wide range of options: there is a secondary occupation tailored to everyone.
- You can turn your passion into an extra source of income.
It’s a fun way to earn extra money or even gradually build something bigger.
Inspiration: what suits you?
No matter what your skills are, you can find a secondary occupation made just for you, from creative and artistic to administrative and digital. Are you eager to get started, but don’t know which direction to go in yet? We’ll help you on your way with lots of examples of secondary occupations within specific fields. Ready? Time to start exploring!
Handmade products
- Homemade products: this can include ceramics, interior decoration, jewelry, or prints. Anything you’ve made yourself, really. You create it and sell it online; for sales, you can easily set up your own webshop with Shopify. This allows you to keep a clear overview of your products, stock, payments, and shipments. Etsy is also a platform where you can sell handmade creations, ranging from candles to T-shirts with your own design and stickers, as well as vintage items or materials used to create other products, such as beads, crochet or knitting patterns, or fabric.
- Repairing items: do you know a lot about clothing, furniture, or electronics, for example? Then you can offer your services on a platform of your choice, such as social media. This way, people with broken items can come to you for repairs. This can range from repairing specific garments or materials to restoring a chair to its former glory. To gain visibility for your repair work and attract customers, you could, for example, start a social media account and who knows, you might soon become a true repair influencer.
Digital products
- Illustrations, graphic design, or branding: there is a growing demand for freelancers to create logos, visuals, or designs. As an illustrator, you design images for children’s books, advertisements, magazines, and much more. These images can be created digitally or on paper, depending on what your client is looking for.
- Visual content: if you have an eye for imagery, you can deliver visual work that can be sold or used digitally. Think, for example, of creating templates in Canva, but also social media-related work falls under this category. You can get started as a social media manager or content creator.
Language and communication work
- Copywriting: the main task here is writing texts. This can be for websites, blogs, or advertisements, but also includes video scripts for commercials or social media.
- Translation: if you’re fluent in multiple languages, you can work as a translator. This can be for companies, books, manuals, websites, and much more!
- Transcription: convert spoken words from audio or video recordings into written text. This ensures that information is made available to a wider audience. Ideal if you are proficient with a keyboard and have an eye for detail. As a transcriber, you can work in any sector where spoken language needs to be made accessible in written form.
- Writing e-books: if you have a talent for writing, you can bring your own books to life online. This is useful if you want to turn your own knowledge into a profitable model or if you like to indulge in the world of fiction. There are many free tools available online to help you realize your idea step by step. You can sell your books on various platforms, such as your own Shopify website or other sales platforms like Amazon and Brave New Books.
Business and administrative work
E-commerce
- Dropshipping: as a dropshipper, you sell products without keeping any stock yourself. You act as the intermediary between the customer and the supplier. You can offer these products for sale in your own webshop and sell them without having to pack and ship everything yourself. This allows you to fully focus on advertising your products or designing your own products, such as clothing.
- Reselling second-hand or vintage items: through online sales platforms such as Vinted, Depop, or your own webshop, you can sell your own second-hand clothes and other items. But you can also browse the platforms yourself in search of hidden gems to resell.
Administration
- Customer service and support: you support companies by handling customer inquiries via email, chat, or phone. You can also be deployed as an online moderator or community manager, managing online forums, social media, or groups. You are responsible for what appears in these online communities and filter out unwanted content.
- Virtual assistant: work remotely as an assistant for a company. You will be responsible for all kinds of administrative tasks that can be handled digitally or by phone, such as managing the calendar and email traffic or handling phone calls.
- Administrative support: take on the administrative tasks of companies and be responsible for, for example, preparing meetings or document management.
- Accounting: process invoices, tax returns, and financial statements for companies.
- Data entry clerk: in this role, you are responsible for entering, processing, and checking data. You gather the necessary information and enter it into a computer system.
Education, guidance, and coaching
- Online coaching: motivate and guide people remotely. As an online coach, you can use a wide range of skills. For example, you can help people out as a language coach, business coach, fitness coach, mindfulness coach, and much more.
- Teaching: do you enjoy sharing your knowledge about playing instruments, certain video games, or using online tools? Then you can start an online course on these topics. Help people move forward with your expertise.
- Tutoring: pupils and students are always looking for extra support in their education. Not only that, but you can also share your specific skills with others. For example, how to work with certain computer programs or how to build your own website.
Digital technical work
- Web development: companies are always looking for employees to build and/or maintain their websites.
- Website and software testing: you can also use your skills to test and evaluate other people’s websites or software. This involves performing a number of standard tests on the website to check its functionality, security, usability, compatibility, and performance. Companies are usually looking for different types of testers, such as professional testers who create and execute structured test plans, but user testers are also important. The latter are people from the website’s target audience who provide feedback.
- Software development or engineering: Do you have ideas for tools that can help companies work more efficiently? Put your knowledge to work and develop apps or tools that companies can use for a fee. For example, you can develop software that can be used as a website tester and tracks functionality and performance. Companies can hire you to design, write, and maintain computer programs or applications. You analyze the needs of users and convert them into functional software. In addition, you test the software, resolve errors, and ensure that systems function efficiently and securely.
- SEO specialist: as a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) specialist, you focus on improving the visibility and relevance of websites on search engines such as Google, Google Images, Bing, Ecosia, and YouTube. You optimize websites so they rank higher in these search engines. You research keywords and techniques and improve content to bring more visitors to the website.
- Affiliate marketer: are you a born salesperson but don’t have products of your own to sell? Then you can get started as an affiliate marketer! Affiliate marketing is a way of working online where you promote other people’s products and receive a commission for every sale. You share a unique link with, for example, your followers on social media, and you get paid for every sale made through that link. This happens not only on social media, but also on websites and blogs.
What should you consider before getting started?
There are fantastic advantages to having a secondary occupation that you can do from home, but there are also considerations to take into account before jumping into the unknown.
Realistic expectations & time estimates
Not every idea is an instant success. Some projects or assignments require time, perseverance, and often patience. Start small and see how you can combine it with your main job. Make sure you can do a secondary occupation without overwhelming yourself. Take it slow and expand at your own pace.
Make sure your personal life and your main job don’t suffer from a poor work-life balance. Try to maintain a good balance and plan your work so that it doesn’t get in the way.
A dedicated workspace
“Working at the kitchen table” may seem like a good idea, but in the long run, it pays off to have a dedicated workspace with everything you need to work efficiently. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a separate room, but simply having a dedicated place to work will boost your productivity.
Administration
Don’t get carried away too quickly when starting up and take enough time to stay on top of the administration of your secondary occupation from the outset. There are a number of administrative tasks that you should definitely not lose sight of, such as your bookkeeping. To keep your secondary occupation financially and administratively clear for yourself, you can use Dexxter. On our platform, you will find the help you need to keep everything organized, without having to be an administrative genius yourself. Good preparation at the start ensures that you will not be faced with any surprises later on.
Choose something you enjoy doing
Start with something you enjoy doing or are good at. That way, you can embark on a new, tailor-made challenge with complete confidence and be more willing to invest time and patience in it.
How do you choose what suits you best?
Everyone has different interests, available time, skills, and goals. That’s why it’s valuable to take a moment to reflect on yourself at the start. We’ve already discussed a few examples, but how do you choose between them? Here are some questions to help you narrow down your options:
- What gives you energy? Being creative, talking to people, writing texts, performing technical tasks, administrative work, or organizing numbers?
- How much time can you realistically free up alongside your regular job?
- Would you rather offer services, sell something, or create something?
- Do you have certain skills you can draw on? Such as language skills, design, administration, digital skills?
- How quickly do you want to grow? Is it a small side income, or do you have the ambition to scale up quickly?
With those answers in mind, it becomes much easier to choose a secondary occupation that suits you and that you can organize from home.
The choice is huge, and you decide!
As discussed earlier, there is an enormous range of secondary occupations that you can do entirely from home. Depending on your interests, skills, and available time, you are sure to find something in the list that is right for you.
The great thing about a secondary occupation from home is that you are in control of the pace. Take the first small steps slowly and see what works for you in your current lifestyle. Continue to expand gradually and keep reinventing yourself!
So, the first step has been taken. Try something out and discover the world of secondary occupations!
