Roughly one out of three Americans has a **side hustle**—and that number is expected to increase in 2026, something that’s **driving a shift** in the modern working world.

Many of those with a side business are just looking for a little extra income, but roughly one in five are hoping to make their side hustle into a **full-time business**. Those who are entrepreneurially-minded will want to choose a side business that has the potential to **scale**. Here are some fields that are showing a lot of promise for 2026.

## Consulting Business
No matter what field you’ve worked in, your wisdom could be lucrative via a **consulting business**. Firm up your resume, highlighting achievements, such as successful campaigns or large-scale product launches to help as you pitch potential clients. Have some former co-workers you worked well with? Consider recruiting them and launching an agency. “Companies want seasoned counsel without the overhead, and senior talent wants more control over how they work,” Brooke Kruger, founder and CEO of top communications search firm, KC Partners, told *Inc* earlier this month.

You can also turn your expertise into **online educational content**. The e-learning market reached $314 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow to $615 billion by 2029.

## Skilled Trade Business
**AI** is threatening millions of white-collar jobs in the coming years—and some of those displaced people won’t be able to quickly find work. But AI can’t fix a sink. Nor can it build a deck or install an air conditioning unit. Rates for this specialized work can run as high as $300 per hour.

Skilled trade businesses are a hot field right now for **entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA)**. ETA involves buying an established business (usually from Baby Boomers looking to retire), which gives the new owners existing revenue, customers and infrastructure. New owners then streamline, scale and modernize the business, boosting profits.

## Dropshipping
E-commerce had one of the largest revenue growth rates of any industry in recent years, according to a **study by McKinsey**, jumping from $15 billion in 2005 to more than $1 trillion in 2023. **Dropshipping** is a side business that can act as an onramp into that field. You set up an online store, find a third-party supplier to manufacture and ship the product to the customer, freeing you from having to worry about things like storage, fulfillment, or upfront production costs. Your focus will be on creative and **marketing**.

In the past year, tariffs and the **end of the *de minimis* exemption** have made business more challenging for dropshippers who worked with manufacturers and warehouses overseas, but there are many U.S.-based dropshippers.

## Mobile Car Washing
The service industry has shown resilience amid the economic volatility of the past year—and a growing number of people are looking to have the carwash come to them. A **forecast** by Future Market Insights predicts the global market for mobile car wash service businesses will grow to just under $283 billion by 2035. That’s more than double the $126 billion the businesses are expected to bring in this year.

It’s a **low-barrier, high-demand opportunity** with flexible hours and low overhead. The density of competition in your local market will help you decide the appropriate rate to charge customers, but **national averages** range from $40 for a basic wash to more than $350 for a full detail.

## Localize Businesses
The past several years have illustrated the fragility of global supply chains. Tariffs have disrupted some shipments and made many products much more expensive. That could be an opportunity for the right entrepreneur. If you’re dialed into local suppliers in your area, consider starting a side business as a facilitator.

It’s a **matchmaker-like role**. You help connect suppliers with retailers and other businesses, localizing their inventory and lowering the risk they face from shipping or manufacturing hiccups, collecting a commission on each deal. You’ll need strong communication, listening, and **networking** skills. You’ll also have to have or quickly learn marketing skills to promote the benefits of your services.

![How Small Businesses Can Use Travel as a Growth Catalyst](https://img-cdn.inc.com/image/upload/f_webp,c_fit,w_3840,q_auto/vip/2025/11/inc5000_day3_final-59-1920x1080-1.jpg)

If you're looking for a side hustle with the potential to scale into a full-time business, consider these fast-growing industries.

Unlock Your Future: 5 Scalable Side Hustles Poised to Explode in 2026

Right now, millions of high school seniors are finalizing their college applications and deciding which path to take. But an increasing number of people from this generation are starting to ask if college is actually worth it. Fifteen years ago, at 18, I made what many considered a bold bet: I skipped college and moved from Naperville, Illinois, to Silicon Valley with my childhood friend, the person who’d become my startup co-founder.

At the time, I felt strongly that paying $100,000 or more for college made less sense than getting real-world experience. It was pretty unheard of, especially in a town where even today, about 90% of people from my high school go to college. Back then, I was an outlier. We had the famous examples of Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates dropping out of college to work on their companies, but very few about people who skipped college altogether.

These days, an increasing number of Gen Zers are making the same calculation I did. A recent [Indeed/Harris Poll survey](https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/news/college-degree-value-generational-divide) found that **51% of Gen Z feel that their college degree was a waste of money**, compared to 20% of Baby Boomers. In the same survey, **68% of Gen Z respondents said they could do their jobs without a degree**.

I’m not here to tell every student to skip college. But the taboo around questioning college is holding an entire generation back from making the decision that’s actually right for them. Too many students default to college because it’s expected and “everyone does it.” Meanwhile, those who skip college often do so reactively, driven by financial necessity or frustration with traditional education, rather than a clear vision of what they want.

When I decided to move to Silicon Valley, I was running toward the opportunity to learn by doing, to build products that people actually used, and to surround myself with people who were already doing what I wanted to do. For many considering college right now, that may be the right choice.

## The Skills That Matter Either Way

My own path to success was far from linear. I’ve built three startups since moving to Silicon Valley. With my most recent company, StackBlitz, we were building for seven years before we found product-market fit.

In 2024, our runway was tightening and so we decided to make one final effort in launching **Bolt.New, a vibe coding tool that allows users to build apps and websites through conversational prompts**. The product went viral, and our ARR grew from $0 to $4 million in only four weeks. Today our company is worth **$700 million** and is used by millions, including Fortune 500 teams.

First, **learn how to learn**. The specific knowledge you acquire at 18 will be obsolete by 28 (unless you go into a field like law or medicine). For most careers like designers, developers, or entrepreneurs, what matters is whether you’ve developed the ability to teach yourself new skills, to identify what you don’t know, and to seek out the resources and people who can help you grow.

If you skip college, you need to be even more intentional about moving toward opportunity, not waiting for it to come to you. For me in 2010, that meant moving to Silicon Valley and surrounding myself with people who were smarter and more experienced than I was, and saying yes to every opportunity to learn, even when it didn’t immediately advance my career.

Second, **build resilience**. There will be hardships and challenges along the way, whether that’s a failed sales partnership or a product launch gone wrong. There will also be pushback – when I told people I was skipping college, reactions ranged from concern to outright hostility. Learn how to lean into that discomfort and find a viable path.

Third, **create leverage**. Whether you’re in a classroom or a startup, always be thinking: How can I create disproportionate impact? How can I build something that scales beyond my individual effort? This mindset, more than any specific path, is what separates those who thrive.

Finally, developing judgment by making decisions, seeing the consequences, and adjusting. If you can’t articulate a clear reason for the choices you’re making, that’s a signal to slow down. But if you’ve done the work to understand what you want and why a particular path makes sense, you need to trust yourself. The sooner you start making meaningful decisions and owning their outcomes, the faster you’ll develop this skill.

Fifteen years later, I don’t regret skipping college, but I also don’t think everyone should follow my path. What I do think is that Gen Z deserves better than the false binary we’ve created where college is considered the superior option by default.

As you face college decisions in the coming weeks and months, ask yourself: What do I want to learn? How do I learn best? What environment will challenge me to grow? And am I making this choice because it’s right for me, or because it’s what’s expected? You may be surprised by the answer.

*The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.*

This story was originally featured on [Fortune.com](https://fortune.com/2026/01/02/advice-to-gen-z-from-startup-founder-vibe-coding-college-taboo-worth-it/)

​My own path to a $700 million startup was far from linear. My current firm was building for seven years before product-market fit.

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