The best side hustles for military members are flexible and portable: knife sharpening, building a military niche website, training AI models, and house hacking with a VA loan. For military spouses, the best options are remote businesses that survive a PCS move, like virtual assistant work, bookkeeping, and an online store.

Yes, active-duty service members can have a side hustle, but you’ll usually need approval first. Under the Joint Ethics Regulation, off-duty employment is approved unless the work would involve prohibited conduct, and your branch may add rules on top of that. For example, Air Force guidance requires sign-off from your supervisor, legal office, and commander, plus at least six hours of rest before your next duty period.

Military spouses face a different challenge. The civilian spouse unemployment rate was 20% in the 2024 Survey of Active Duty Spouses. With a PCS move every few years, portable work matters.

Below are 18 side hustles for military members, veterans, and spouses, with real examples from people I’ve interviewed on The Side Hustle Show. Jump to the list sorted by situation to find what fits your duty status.

1. Knife Sharpening

Matt Rowell got the idea for his side hustle while deployed with the Navy in Djibouti. He picked up a sharpening kit, taught himself from YouTube videos, and practiced his way to proficiency.

He went on to earn $30–60 an hour sharpening knives for his local customers. In one month, he made $1,700 and had to turn some customers away.

It’s cheap to start, easy to do on your own schedule, and every house you drive past is a potential customer.

2. Build a Military Niche Website

Your military experience is valuable to the people coming up behind you.

Retired Army Chief Warrant Officer Steven Foust built NCOonFire.com to help soldiers get promoted faster. He sells memberships and mentoring, and eventually grew it to $14,000 a month!

Think about what you know that others are searching for: promotion points, PCS moves, military benefits, or transitioning to civilian life.

3. Start an Authority Site in Your Specialty

Dr. Ryan Gray was an Air Force flight surgeon when he and his wife started MedicalSchoolHQ.net, a resource for premed and med school students.

He grew the website and podcast on the side, and eventually turned it into a full-time business after leaving the Air Force.

Whatever your specialty, from aviation to IT to logistics, there’s probably an audience looking for what you know.

4. House Hack with a VA Loan

The VA home loan lets you buy a home with up to 4 units with no down payment, as long as you live in it.

That makes it a powerful house hacking tool. Live in one unit, rent out the others, and let your tenants cover most or all of your mortgage. When you PCS, you can keep the property and rent out your unit too.

Here’s our full guide to house hacking, including how Craig Curelop rented out part of his home to cover his housing costs.

5. Train AI Models

AI companies pay people to review and improve chatbot answers by rating responses, fact-checking, and rewriting answers that miss the mark.

It’s a remote side hustle you can do on your own schedule. DataAnnotation lists generalist projects at $25–50 an hour, with higher rates for coding, STEM, and other specialized fields.

The work can be on-and-off depending on what projects are available.

6. Fitness Coaching

Service members know how to train for a fitness test. Plenty of civilians (and recruits) will pay for that kind of accountability.

You could offer in-person sessions, online coaching plans, or test-prep programs for people trying to join. Here are more fitness side hustle ideas with real earnings.

7. Delivery Gigs

Delivery apps let you work whenever you have a free evening or weekend, and you can stop anytime.

With DoorDash, you pick up and deliver takeout orders. With Instacart, you shop for groceries and deliver them. Either way, you choose when to log on, so it’s easy to work around duty hours.

8. Online Surveys and Apps

Survey and rewards apps won’t replace a paycheck, but they’re an easy way to earn a little extra from your phone during downtime.

Swagbucks pays for surveys, videos, and shopping, and KashKick pays you to try games and offers. Here’s our full list of the best online survey sites.

9. Loan Draw Inspections

Lou Shaver spent his career as an inspector, first in the Army and then for the Navy. In retirement, he started doing construction loan draw inspections, photographing homes under construction so lenders can release the next round of funding.

He charges about $65 per inspection and now averages about $4,100 a month, with almost no startup costs and not much selling.

10. Win Government Contracts

The government is the world’s largest customer, and small businesses won around $154 billion in contracts in a single year, according to retired Lt. Col. Ricky Howard.

Veterans have an edge here: some contracts are set aside for veteran-owned and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses through the SBA. Here’s Ricky’s step-by-step guide to winning government contracts.

11. Become a Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistant work is one of the most portable jobs for military spouses. Your clients don’t care whether you’re in North Carolina, Germany, or Japan, as long as the work gets done.

Abbey Ashley started her VA business while on maternity leave and booked enough clients in a few months that she never went back to her old job. She has a free training on becoming a VA that covers where to find clients.

12. Virtual Bookkeeping

Small businesses need someone to keep their books in order, and it’s flexible work you can take with you from base to base.

Kate Johnson, the wife of a naval officer, started her bookkeeping business with an extra 9 hours a week. When we spoke, she was able to earn $70 an hour from home. Here’s a free training on how to get started.

13. Start an Online Store

Samantha Hamilton grew Dottie for Running, her Disney-inspired running skirt brand, while raising three kids and living in Germany, where her husband was stationed.

She built it into a six-figure business and eventually sold it for $120,000. An online store can move with you, as long as you have reliable shipping.

14. Sell Printables on Etsy

Printables are digital files people buy and print at home, like planners, checklists, and party invitations. Etsy delivers them automatically, so there’s nothing to ship when you PCS.

Rachel Jones averaged over $10,000 a month selling printables on Etsy, while balancing a full-time job and two young kids.

15. Teach Online Classes for Kids

Outschool lets you teach live online group classes to kids from anywhere with an internet connection.

Jade Weatherington grew from $32 her first month to $10,000+ a month working about 20 hours a week.

16. Pet Sitting

Military families are always moving, deploying, or traveling for training, and many need someone to watch their pets.

On Rover, you set your own rates for boarding, house sitting, drop-ins, and dog walking. Here’s our full Rover sitter review.

17. Create UGC Videos for Brands

UGC (user-generated content) means getting paid to film short, authentic-looking videos that brands use in their ads and social media. You don’t need a big following, and you can do it from any duty station.

Megan Collier landed her first $750 UGC deal within 10 days and now earns about $300 an hour.

18. Find a Remote Job

If you’d rather have steady part-time work than run a business, FlexJobs lists hand-screened remote and flexible jobs, so you don’t have to dig through scams.

It’s also worth checking the MSEP partner portal on Military OneSource, where partner employers recruit military spouses.

Side Hustles for Military Members and Spouses by Situation

Active duty, with approval: knife sharpening, niche websites, AI training, fitness coaching, delivery gigs, and surveys and apps.

Deployed or stationed overseas: AI training, authority sites, printables, and online classes. Check host-nation rules first.

Military spouses: virtual assistant work, bookkeeping, an online store, pet sitting, UGC, and remote jobs.

Veterans and retirees: loan draw inspections, government contracts, and house hacking with a VA loan.

Looking for More Side Hustle Help?

• Start Your Free $500 Challenge. My free 5-day email course shows you how to add $500 to your bottom line.
• Join the free Side Hustle Nation Community. The free Facebook group is the best place to connect with other side hustlers and get your questions answered.
• Download The Side Hustle Show. My free podcast shares how to make extra money with actionable weekly episodes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can active duty military have a side hustle?

Yes, but you’ll usually need approval first. Under the Joint Ethics Regulation, off-duty employment is approved unless the work would involve prohibited conduct. Your branch may also require sign-off from your chain of command and set rest requirements, so check with your legal office before you start.

What are good side hustles for military spouses?

The best ones are portable and remote, so they survive a PCS move: virtual assistant work, bookkeeping, online stores, printables, and online teaching.

What are good remote jobs for military spouses?

Start with the MSEP partner portal on Military OneSource, where partner employers recruit military spouses. FlexJobs also lists screened remote and flexible jobs across dozens of fields.

Can you have a side hustle while deployed?

Online side hustles like AI training or running a website can work, as long as you have internet access and approval. Matt Rowell got the idea for his knife sharpening business while deployed with the Navy.

What are the best side hustles for veterans?

Veterans can use skills from their service in businesses like loan draw inspections, compete for veteran set-aside government contracts, and use a VA loan to house hack.

What do hermit crab food, glitter bombs, and dog sunglasses have in common? They’re all real businesses making real money by solving weird, specific problems nobody else wanted to touch.

Steve Chou, from My Wife Quit Her Job, is back for his fifth appearance on the show, dating back to 2015.

He’s the author of The Family First Entrepreneur, and he built two successful side hustles before leaving his day job.

This episode continues the business idea donation series Steve and I have done a few times before, the kind where we just brain-dump a bunch of fascinating, often ridiculous business ideas we’ve stumbled across.

Past installments include Episodes 657, 563, and 530 in the archives.

Tune in to Episode 764 of the Side Hustle Show to learn:

• how niche pet products can quietly turn into multimillion-dollar businesses
• why “waste” products like dung, lost luggage, and old furniture can become profitable inventory sources
• how emotional triggers like fear, novelty, grief, and humor drive viral product sales

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Niche Pet Products Keep Winning

Steve’s take: it’s sometimes easier to go after something very specific than to face a lot of competition in a bigger market.

1. Snout and Shell: Gourmet Hermit Crab Food

Steve’s friend Meg wanted to get into pet products. Dogs and cats felt crowded, so she started a hermit crab food product called Snout and Shell. It’s mostly low-cost ingredients like seafood, seaweed, and flowers. As Steve said, “It’s all how you frame it.”

To market it, Meg dresses up as a hermit crab and pitches her product on TikTok. She sells through her own site, Amazon, and Chewy. Her bags sell for about $15 to $16 on Amazon, and some listings show 400+ bought last month.

She has about 500 reviews. Since only 1% to 2% of buyers usually leave a review, total sales are likely much higher.

One opportunity I noticed is that her site has no subscribe-and-save option, even though hermit crabs need food on an ongoing basis.

2. Doggles: Sunglasses for Dogs

Doggles sells protective sunglasses for dogs, including prescription versions. Steve called it a multimillion-dollar business.

The site cites veterinarians on the benefits, and photos of dogs wearing them often take off on Instagram.

3. Cuddle Clones: Custom Plush Pets

Cuddle Clones makes custom plush copies of your pet, starting around $250.

They’ve been in business since 2009, have thousands of 5-star reviews, and over 500,000 Instagram followers.

They report tens of millions of dollars in sales.

4. Rent the Chicken: Backyard Hens for a Season

Rent the Chicken lets you try backyard chickens for a season for $500 to $700. More than half of renters end up adopting the hens.

It reportedly brings in $17 million a year, though I wasn’t sure that number adds up.

I also brought up some past examples from the show, including:

• a dog birthday party planner charging $4,000 a party.
• a better hamster wheel
• a chicken-sitting service 
• custom pet headstones on Etsy

Novelty Gifts and Pranks That Sell

5. Ship Your Enemies Glitter

Ship Your Enemies Glitter went viral years ago. The original owner couldn’t keep up with orders, so he sold the business for a reported $80,000+. The new owners kept it going, and the site says they’ve delivered 275,000 pranks.

The main selling point is that the glitter bomb is sent anonymously.

The checkout is full of upsells, like double or triple glitter or a $3 message inside. Steve guessed the margins could be 90% to 95%.

6. Potato Parcel: Messages on a Potato

Potato Parcel, which appeared on Shark Tank, mails a potato with your message or face printed on it. Orders run $20 to $40.

Add-ons like cards and candy can push a $30 order up to around $45.

There’s B2B opportunity here. Sending unusual “lumpy mail” to sales prospects is hard to ignore. For example, I covered a business owner who drop-shipped custom cakes with sales messages on them through local bakers, keeping about a 30% margin.

7. Personalized Letters from Santa

One company has been selling letters from Santa since the 1950s for $13. Could the same idea work for the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny?

8. Beard Head: Beanies with Built-In Beards

Beard Head sells knit beanies with a built-in beard. Steve guessed their margins are around 90%.

Knockoffs exist, but Steve noticed their reviews often complain about quality.

Being on Shark Tank and putting out new designs helps the brand stay ahead.

How to Turn Waste Into a Product

9. Poo-Poo Paper: Stationery Made from Dung

Poo-Poo Paper makes stationery out of elephant and cow dung, based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. A set of 3 notepads sells for about $25.

Steve said it’s really just a stationery company with a twist, and the twist gives people something to talk about.

I like using waste products because you might even get paid to haul the waste away. Steve added that showing how a product is made, like a factory tour video, can raise conversion rates.

Similar examples:

• Collecting shed deer antlers for decor and dog chews
• Turning food scraps from grocery stores and restaurants into compost
• Upcycling old handbags and baseball gloves into Apple Watch straps
• Selling tumbleweeds to Hollywood producers as props
• Selling driftwood, possibly to high-end aquarium shops

10. Unclaimed Baggage: Reselling Lost Luggage

Unclaimed Baggage is the nation’s only retailer for lost luggage.

It has multi-year contracts with airlines, trains, and buses. It runs a retail store in Alabama and sells online. About a third of items get sold, a third donated, and a third recycled.

I once lost my Kindle at FinCon. The hotel sent me to ileftmystuff.com, but I never got the Kindle back.

Other ways to get inventory cheaply:

• Angie’s e-waste business started by collecting used tech from homeowners and local tech companies for free. It’s now one of the biggest stores on eBay.
• Office furniture liquidators in the Bay Area took off after offices closed during COVID.
• Liquidation pallets. Shannon Jean showed a Costco return pallet selling for $12,000 with a retail value of $95,000.

Simple Products for Outdoor and Travel Niches

11. Kula Cloth: A Reusable Pee Cloth

Kula Cloth is a reusable pee cloth for women who hike and camp. It’s basically a square of fabric that sells for $20 to $24. It has 275 reviews and 4.7 stars on REI.

One estimate says it has sold over 400,000 units.

The brand charges $7 for shipping on its own site and leans on outdoor influencers. 

12. Instant Underwear Tablets

This product is a small tablet that expands into disposable underwear when you put it in water. It’s part gag gift, part real product for camping and packing light.

Riding Viral Trends and Creative Combinations

13. The Snorkel Ice Bowl

You fill this bowl with ice water and dunk your face in it to reduce puffiness, breathing through an attached snorkel.

It sold for about $100 and made around $150,000 a month. It took off through a TikTok challenge, with creators earning through TikTok Shop affiliate links.

This reminds me of a creative exercise from Stephen Key: combine two random things, like a bowl and a snorkel, until you find something that works.

14. Michael Satterlee’s 3D-Printed Can Holder

Teen creator Michael Satterlee went viral with a 3D-printed can holder that lets you slam a fresh can into place.

His video got 50 million views on Instagram. Per Entrepreneur, his company makes up to $300,000 a month. Before that, he was making $10,000 a month selling 3D-printed Croc charms.

My family has a Bambu Lab A1 3D printer, which runs about $400. My oldest son prints fidget toys and team necklaces and has sold them at a neighborhood vendor fair, making $75 to $100 on a good weekend.

15. Chairigami: Cardboard Furniture for Events

Chairigami makes cardboard furniture for trade shows and events. It’s sturdy enough for a 2 or 3 day event and can be recycled afterward.

The site says regular orders are on pause, though custom design work continues.

Bulky products bring shipping headaches. Steve’s student behind The Cat Is in the Box had to raise shipping prices to almost the cost of the product. She now makes most of her money from a wool cat toy.

Why Emotion Sells: Fear, Humor and Grief

I noticed that many of these products tap into a strong emotion:

• Fear (the air purifier)
• Revenge and humor (glitter bombs)
• Novelty (potatoes, beard hats, instant underwear)
• Grief (Cuddle Clones)

People are less price sensitive when they’re gifting, grieving, or going through an emotional time.

16. The Wearable Air Purifier

This ionic air purifier hangs around your neck and sells for $150.

It was an Amazon bestseller earlier this year and has 825 reviews. Steve doubts it can clean the air that far from your nose, but its marketing plays on fear of infection and wildfire smoke.

17. The Smart Toilet Paper Dispenser

A “smart” dispenser tracks toilet paper usage and can limit how much comes out. Knockoffs have flooded the market.

Steve’s point was that almost anything can be copied, so brand, quality, and new designs help you stay ahead.

What’s Next for Steve? (How He Is Using AI to Automate His Business)

Steve is automating his businesses with Claude Code and some Codex.

He dictates his YouTube ideas, and AI trained on his writing turns them into a script that’s about 85% done.

That transcript then gets split into TikToks, LinkedIn posts, Facebook posts and Twitter threads in his voice.

AI now edits his Shorts too, using Claude Code and Hyperframes to add captions. He found Opus Clip didn’t work well for his content, so he trained Claude Code to make clips to his own specs.

I’ve also been automating parts of my podcast production over the past year, and it has re-energized me for the business.

Steve’s #1 Tip for Side Hustle Nation

Look for problems nobody else wants to solve, whether that’s a niche pet market, somebody else’s waste, or a product idea that sounds almost too weird to work.

As Steve put it about one particularly offbeat product, “the fact that I don’t understand it makes it an even better product… that means there’s very little competition in this area.”

Episode Links

• My Wife Quit Her Job (check out Steve’s free 6-day mini course on starting an online store)
• The Family First Entrepreneur by Steve Chou
• Snout and Shell
• TikTok
• Snout and Shell Chewy
• Doggles
• Cuddle Clones
• Rent the Chicken
• $4k Pet Birthday Party Planner Episode
• Hamster Ball Business Episode
• Chicken-Sitting Service Episode
• Custom Pet Headstones Episode 
• Ship Your Enemies Glitter
• Potato Parcel
• Beard Head
• Poo-Poo Paper
• Unclaimed Baggage
• ileftmystuff.com
• Kula Cloth
• Bambu Lab
• Chairigami
• The Cat Is in the Box
• Claude Code
• Codex
• Opus Clip
• How to Turn Your Ideas Into Recurring Revenue, with Stephen Key
• Episode 735: Meet the Master Reseller Who Gets Literally Tons of Inventory for Free
• Episode 731: Shannon Jean episode on liquidation pallets
• Episode 657: business idea donation episode with Steve
• Episode 563: business idea donation episode with Steve
• Episode 530: business idea donation episode with Steve
• Side Hustle Nation Deals

Looking for More Side Hustle Help?

• Start Your Free $500 Challenge. My free 5-day email course shows you how to add $500 to your bottom line.
• Join the free Side Hustle Nation Community. The free Facebook group is the best place to connect with other side hustlers and get your questions answered.
• Download The Side Hustle Show. My free podcast shares how to make extra money with actionable weekly episodes.