Let us guess: you use your bike to get around the city but never considered using it to make extra cash.
No problem with that; it’s normal to think bikes are nothing more than a convenient means of transportation. Most people overlook the possibilities they hold for generating income.
While others save money worrying about their full-time jobs, you have a tool that can open up a world of opportunities for you and help you unleash your earnings.
Our article will show you how to make money with your bike. Whether you want to deliver food or become a bike messenger, our guide covers everything about this side hustle. Get ready to start riding!
- Can You Make Money With Your Bike?
- What You’ll Need to Make Money With Your Bike
- Where to Make Money With Your Bike
- Why You Should Consider Making Money With Your Bike As a Side Hustle
- Problems With Riding Your Bike for Money
- How to Make Money With Your Bike: Step-By-Step Instructions
- Things to Consider When Riding Your Bike for Money
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Similar Ways to Get Paid
- Wrapping Up
Can You Make Money With Your Bike?
Absolutely.
There are several ways to make money with your bike and other means of transport like a car, and how much you’ll get paid will depend on what you do.
Joining a delivery service, becoming a bike courier, or offering bike tours can be excellent sources of extra income.
But selling ad space on your bike is an effortless way to make money if you’re looking for a passive approach.
Other options include launching an ad-supported bike blog, setting up a bike shop for renting to tourists, and more—your options are unlimited.
Let’s delve into some numbers.
How Much Can You Make With Your Bike?
Applications like Uber Eats and DoorDash are popular among Gen Z and Millenials, meaning there’s a high demand for reliable delivery drivers.
The gist of this hustle is that you deliver food to clients from local restaurants, and the dedicated delivery apps help you keep track of your earnings.
You can earn up to $20.96 an hour with Uber Eats and an average of $15.96 hourly with DoorDash.
As a bike tour guide, you can make around $30,991 annually. Still, location, tips, group size, and duration are factors. You can earn even more by starting a bike tour business.
Your earnings will vary when self-employed or if you sell ads, so giving you an exact estimate is difficult. The options are limitless, too.
What You’ll Need to Make Money With Your Bike
Here’s what you need—other than a bike—to make money with your bike.
Don’t be intimidated; this list covers all the gigs recommended below. We’ll be more specific later.
- Driver’s License: Even if you plan on delivering food with a bike, services such as DoorDash and Uber Eats require a valid driver’s license.
- Vehicle Registration: Bike taxi service, for example, requires you to register your vehicle commercially to comply with local transportation laws.
- Internet Connection: You need a device with an internet connection to launch a blog and earn ad money.
- Insurance: Depending on what you deliver or what you do, you may need to insure your bike, yourself, or the goods as protection from liabilities.
- Background Check: Most delivery services will conduct a background check to ensure you meet their criteria before hiring you.
- Food Handler’s Permit: This depends on your jurisdiction, but some states require all food workers (including food delivery drivers) to have a food handler’s permit.
- Interpersonal Skills: You must be an excellent communicator and public speaker to excel in some bike jobs.
- Professional Skills: Marketing, business, customer service, and first aid skills are critical for tour guides and business owners.
- Local Permits and Licenses: These will vary depending on your jurisdiction and job, so checking with your local authorities or tourism organizations will help. You need some licenses to become a tour guide or bike taxi. To start a bike repair shop, you need a business license.
- Knowledge or Safety Training: You may need extensive knowledge of your city, historical monuments, a background in law enforcement, etc., to earn effectively with some bike jobs.
Where to Make Money With Your Bike
Thanks to the gig economy, there are many ways to make cash with your bike. Let’s outline some options.
- Uber Eats
- DoorDash
- Bike Patrol Officer
- Tour Guide
- Bike Blogging
- Sell Ads
- Bike Taxi
- Bike Mechanic
- Bike Rental
1. Uber Eats
Uber Eats is a food delivery service. Your job is to deliver food from restaurants to clients all over the city.
To become an Uber Eats Driver, you only need to be 18 and have a clean background. However, you must have a valid driver’s license, insurance, registration, and a smartphone.
This makes this job excellent for teenagers looking for an extra income source.
How Much You Can Make
There’s good income in Uber Eats; you can make up to $1,000 weekly with enough free time. The dedicated app tracks your earnings, and you get paid by deposit weekly.
What Makes This Option Great
It offers generous, seamless payments for a part-time job, primarily due to customers’ tips and fair requirements.
- Fees/Commission: Personal expenses only
- Payment Methods: Direct deposit
2. DoorDash
Consider learning how to become a DoorDasher if Uber Eats doesn’t suit you.
DoorDash is another food delivery service. You may earn more money delivering for it instead of the alternatives.
You must be 18 or older, have a vehicle and a smartphone, and pass a background check.
How Much You Can Make
How much you’ll make depends on several factors: location, hours worked, tips, etc. Pennsylvania residents earn around $14.65 per hour, while door dashers in some cities in Georgia earn over $20 hourly.
DoorDash also has a dedicated application that tracks your earnings and pays you weekly.
What Makes This Option Great
It’s profitable in some U.S. states, with fair requirements, customer tips, and a fussless payment system. There are also incentives and promotions to increase your pay.
- Fees/Commission: Personal expenses only
- Payment Methods: Direct deposit
3. Bike Patrol Officer
Becoming a bike patrol officer and making a decent income while serving your community is an option. But depending on your location and agency, you may need to be a sworn police officer—check with your local agencies.
Bike patrol officers respond to calls for service and interact closely with the community, so good interpersonal skills are necessary. You may also collaborate with other people, like security guards, to protect an area.
You must also pass a physical fitness test and complete a bike patrol training course for this job.
How Much You Can Make
As a bike patrol officer, you’ll make around $19.06 per hour—even more, depending on your agency and position.
What Makes This Option Great
You connect with and serve your community, improve physical health, and enhance public relations and community policing while earning!
- Fees/Commission: Personal expenses only
- Payment Methods: Direct deposit
4. Tour Guide
Countries that attract tourists are the best places to work as a tour guide.
Tour guides earn money riding around their country and providing their group with an informative and enjoyable experience. Essentially, you’re getting paid to travel!
It’s a job that requires excellent interpersonal, professional, and planning skills and knowledge.
You must plan interesting routes, ensure the visitors’ safety, and address their customer service-related concerns.
Taking communication, business, and bike safety classes is a good idea if you want to work as one. Here’s a place to start: Trek Travel.
How Much You Can Make
Earnings depend on experience, location, and tourism agency, but guides make extra through tips. The average base salary is $21.65 per hour, though.
What Makes This Option Great
You connect with strangers, develop intercultural communication and management skills, and earn while doing something you love.
- Fees/Commission: Personal expenses plus agency-dependent commissions
- Payment Methods: Direct deposit
5. Bike Blogging
If you own a bike, chances are, you love biking and would enjoy sharing your passion with those who love to ride bikes. You can launch a bicycling blog and earn ad and affiliate income.
This gig is harder than others since you must know how to build and drive traffic to a website. Fortunately, we can teach you how to become a blogger.
If you can manage these two steps, the rest is doable: create engaging content and stay consistent. Consider writing about mountain biking, your favorite mountain bike trails, etc.
Here’s the gist: you put ads on your blog and get paid depending on how many people are exposed to it or click it.
To take it a step further, learn how to become an affiliate marketer and promote bike/cycling equipment on your website to earn from your visitors’ purchases. Competitive Cyclist is a great place to start.
How Much You Can Make
You can earn $500 to $2,000 a month if your blog is optimized, popular, and filled with ads. If your blog is new, you’ll have to work your way up to those figures.
What Makes This Option Great
Opportunity to make, depending on your website’s traffic, up to tens of thousands monthly passively by sharing your passion.
- Fees/Commission: Website upkeep
- Payment Methods: Wire transfer, direct deposit
6. Sell Ads
Some companies like Ads on Bikes and Ridevert are offering you a passive way to make money.
You can sell ad space on your bike and turn it into a mobile advertising platform, supporting businesses and earning income passively.
This gig isn’t widely available, and there’s a lot of room for improvisation. For example, if Ridevert isn’t available in your locale, you can negotiate with local small businesses and find a mutually-beneficial solution.
Ridevert will send you a lightweight banner from the ad campaign you chose, while other businesses may ask you to haul a board or attach a decal or an accessory to your bike.
How Much You Can Make
Expect to get paid depending on exposure and mileage. Ridevert pays up to $280 monthly, while your negotiation-borne earnings will vary depending on what you agreed upon.
What Makes This Option Great
You earn passively just by cycling around.
- Fees/Commission: Personal expenses, possibly design and installation fees
- Payment Methods: Direct deposit, possibly cash
7. Bike Taxi
Becoming a pedicab driver is a viable option in urban areas with high tourism. You must meet some requirements (driver’s license, legal age, etc.) and acquire a pedicab operator license before becoming one.
The process of acquiring a license differs by city, so check with your city’s laws and regulations. Here are the instructions for New York, Las Vegas, and San Francisco (This is a company!).
How Much You Can Make
Location, demand, tips, and work hours influence your earnings as a pedicab driver. The national average is $41,427 per year.
The San Francisco Pedicab company promises earnings of $150 to $300 daily, though.
What Makes This Option Great
It pays decently, you get in touch with tourists, and you have flexible work hours. It’s also a viable business idea.
- Fees/Commission: Personal expenses and licensing fees
- Payment Methods: Direct deposit, cash
8. Bike Mechanic
Working as a bike mechanic is profitable if you’re good with bikes.
While you can work in someone else’s shop or with a company, launching your business to manage your clients, workflow, expenses, and fees is best.
Of course, starting a business isn’t easy. Aside from having an adequate budget and business plan, you must get several licenses and permits and register it to operate.
How Much You Can Make
Bicycle mechanics earn $45,458 yearly in the U.S. The best part is that once your business is up and running, you’ll have total control over your earnings, which can help you move past the worries of 9-5 jobs.
What Makes This Option Great
It’s rewarding if you launch a successful business and stable if you work with a company.
- Fees/Commission: Varies, usually personal and business expenses
- Payment Methods: Varies, usually deposit, debit, and cash
9. Bike Rental
Bike rental shops can be profitable in areas with high tourism, but you’ll usually need to open your shop in scenic, less urban areas to attract clients.
As with any business, you’ll need to complete several steps to get your business up and running, from coming up with a plan to renting a place and acquiring several bikes. Once again, you’ll have complete control over your expenses and fees.
We recommend bike rental shops to anyone with the budget and desire to escape the shackles of everyday jobs.
How Much You Can Make
Considering the rent cost ($25-$75 per day) and other expenses (maintenance, permits, marketing, etc.), you can expect to make between $10,000 and $25,000 monthly.
What Makes This Option Great
It has reasonable start-up fees and can be profitable if successful.
- Fees/Commission: Personal and business expenses
- Payment Methods: Debit or cash
Why You Should Consider Making Money With Your Bike As a Side Hustle
There are some reasons to capitalize on your hobby if you love cycling. Let’s outline some for you.
- Countless Earning Opportunities: You can become a food deliverer, bike courier, patrol officer, blogger, tour guide, and more. There’s something for everyone, even passive earning means.
- Often Lucrative: Completing delivery jobs for companies such as Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Postmates can earn you upwards of $40,000 yearly. You can forget about your 9-5 job as a successful advertiser or affiliate marketer.
- Minimum Requirements: Often, you only need readily-available permits and licenses. Unless you plan on becoming a patrol officer or a tour guide, you can start making money with your bike tomorrow!
- Healthy and Eco-Friendly: Riding your bike will keep you fit and healthy. You’re also saving money, fighting pollution, and sightseeing.
Problems With Riding Your Bike for Money
Making money biking isn’t for everyone. You should be aware of a few problems with this gig to prevent frustrations. They are:
- Physically Challenging: It’s exhausting. Most biking jobs will have you cycling around for hours, leaving you too tired to do anything else for the rest of the day.
- Potentially Risky: Bikers are much more vulnerable to traffic hazards and weather conditions. You may hurt yourself if you’re not careful or a skilled cyclist.
- Inconsistent Income: Some side hustles are significantly influenced by demand, competition, customers, and your location, making them unreliable income sources. For example, delivering food or leading tours isn’t viable in small cities.
- Loss of Passion: Sometimes, it’s not a good idea to capitalize on your passion—you may end up hating what you love.
If you’d rather make money from home, consider learning how to make money with a laptop.
How to Make Money With Your Bike: Step-By-Step Instructions
There are countless gigs available, so we’ll provide you with the general steps to start earning with your bike.
Step 1: Get One or More Bikes
You need a bike to earn money with one. You might need several for starting a rental or repair shop or a blog. Consider your budget and needs.
Step 2: Become Experienced With Bikes
Most jobs require you to be good at riding bikes, so practice often to develop your stamina and maneuvering skills.
Learn the workings of bikes in and out. That’ll help you save on maintenance and repairs and give you the knowledge to run a successful repair shop or cycling blog.
Step 3: Consider Your Budget
Mind that expenses will be significantly higher if you want to become self-employed. Owning a business comes with many fees, including insurance, rent, upkeep, etc.
Similarly, hosting a website and managing its traffic can cost several hundred per month. Such gigs are not easily accessible to individuals in need of extra income.
Step 4: Choose a Side Hustle
We outlined several side hustles above, so pick what suits you and works in your locale.
Note we may have overlooked many other earnings opportunities (usually due to their exclusivity or categorization).
For example, the bicycle commuter act is a bill that modifies the tax exclusion for employer-provided fringe benefits for bicycle commuting. You can get paid to ride your bike to work, but it’s not a gig.
Step 5: Prepare Necessary Permits, Licenses, and Skills
Depending on your hustle of choice, you may need anything from multiple licenses to professional skills to excel.
To start a business, you must have a solid business plan, register your business, and acquire a business license, insurance, and other necessary paperwork. It’s complex and varies by state, so double-check local laws and regulations.
Bike delivery gigs are much simpler to get into. You usually only need a valid driver’s license, a clean background, and a smartphone with the company’s respective application. Sometimes, a food handler’s permit is necessary.
To become a tour guide, you must have excellent interpersonal and professional skills and, depending on your agency and location, specific skills such as first aid.
To be a successful blogger, you should learn how to become an author and develop your writing skills. Then, you can focus on marketing and driving traffic to your blog.
Step 6: Get Employed
The employment procedures vary depending on your gig of choice. If you’re self-employed (blogging, owning a business), you’re responsible for building your career.
Every other business will have an employment procedure you must get acquainted with. Uber Eats has an online application, and so does DoorDash.
For everything else, you have to consult local agencies and businesses. It’s a good idea to consult Indeed and ZipRecruiter or ask in person (Especially when selling ads!).
Step 7: Get Paid
Bike couriers (food, groceries, etc.) usually get paid via deposit automatically, usually weekly. Other jobs, such as bike patrol officers and tour guides, may have different payment schedules; ask your agency to be sure.
As a pedicab driver, you’ll most likely be paid cash upon completing fares (Unless you have a different contract with your company).
The point is to review your employer’s payment system and have a bank account ready!
Things to Consider When Riding Your Bike for Money
There are a few things to consider while riding your bike for money. Let’s tell you about them.
- Availability and Profitability: Depending on your location, you may have better luck with some bike gigs than others. For example, delivery services aren’t viable in small, less-populated cities or towns. Several factors, like demand and tips, also influence your income. Bike gigs can be inconsistent, so they may not be your best option if you’re looking for stability.
- Customer Service: Whether you’re delivering goods or providing bike taxi services, most bike gigs will put you in contact with other people. In other words, you must be able to interact with your clients professionally and be friendly and expect to come across frustrating individuals now and then.
- Physical Fitness: As a bike rider, you must ride efficiently and safely in different weather and traffic conditions. In other words, you must be physically fit to keep up with this side hustle’s pace.
- Legal Obligations: Many gigs will require several licenses and permits that’ll vary depending on your location, so double-check with your employer and local laws to avoid legal trouble. You also must keep track of your income and expenses to report them to the IRS.
Frequently Asked Questions
These are some of the most commonly asked questions regarding biking for money.
Can I Make Money With My Bike?
You totally can. Today’s gig economy is incredible, and only your imagination limits you!
What’s the Best Easy Way to Make Money With My Bike?
We recommend delivering food with Uber Eats or DoorDash if you live in an area with enough demand.
Otherwise, assess your location’s market and find what works best.
What’s the Most Profitable Way to Make Money With My Bike?
Launch a successful website about bikes and make money from ads and affiliate marketing.
Similar Ways to Get Paid
We have several other helpful guides you might want to check out!
- Make Money With a Truck: Discover the best ways to make money with your truck.
- Get Paid to Review Movies: Evoke the cinephile in you and make money off your passion for cinema through movie reviews!
- Make Money From Spare Room: Got room to spare? We’ll show you several ways to make money renting it.
Wrapping Up
You’re only limited by your creativity when it comes to side hustles, and bike gigs are proof of that.
They enable you to bypass most jobs’ strict requirements and earn a decent income without investing much. Usually, you only need a bike and readily-available permits and licenses.
They’re also widely accessible, and there’s something for everyone, whether you’re a teenager fresh from high school or a blogging fanatic.
You must be physically fit and careful, though; bike riders are subject to taxing conditions and dangerous weather and traffic hazards.
We hope you found our guide helpful. Your feedback matters to us, so leave a comment and share it with your friends if you learned something!
