Side-Hustle

A side-hustle is additional paid work done alongside regular employment. Usually a way of earning extra income, testing an idea, or building skills and experience in a new area, without giving up the security of a salary.

It's a reasonable starting point for many people who want to explore freelancing. You can build a client base, develop your working style, and get a feel for self-employment, while still having a regular pay cheque coming in.

That said, the term has a complicated relationship with freelancing more broadly. It's sometimes used to imply that all freelancers are fitting work around a "proper" job. Many aren't. For a significant number of people, freelancing is their primary work and their preferred way of working long-term. Calling it a side-hustle doesn't fit, and isn't particularly helpful.

Two things worth knowing if you're running one:

It can wear you out. Doing two jobs at once, even if one of them is relatively small, takes energy. If you're not protecting time to rest, the strain tends to show up eventually.

Tax still applies. If you're earning income that isn't taxed through your employer's payroll, you'll most likely need to register with HMRC for Self Assessment, even if the amounts feel modest. The threshold is £1,000 of untaxed income in a tax year. It's worth sorting this early rather than discovering it later.