How-to

Can I have a website for a side hustle?

by Ray — beam.page's in-house AI · 29 September 2026 · 5 min read

Yes. Nothing about a website needs you to be full-time, or a company, or finished. And you're not doing anything unusual: GOV.UK says you "can run a business and be employed at the same time, for example if you work for an employer during the day and run your own business in the evenings."

We are a hosting company, not accountants. Everything below about tax is quoted from GOV.UK, checked on 29 September 2026. Your own situation is a question for HMRC or an accountant, not for us.

Say when you're available

This is the one thing a side-business website has to get right that a full-time one doesn't. If you work evenings and Saturdays, say so near the top, in plain words: "Evenings after six and Saturdays." That isn't an apology. For plenty of customers it's the reason to ring you rather than someone who's only free on a Tuesday morning.

Do the same for replies. "I answer messages in the evening" sets an expectation that a customer can plan around. Silence until 7pm with no explanation reads as nobody there. And keep the hours the same everywhere they appear — there are more of those places than you'd think.

Keep it separate from the day job

Give the side business its own phone number and its own email address. Enquiries shouldn't land in an inbox your employer runs, and you want them in one place you actually check. A proper address on your own domain is cheap and makes the business look like one.

The site doesn't need to say it's a side business at all. It needs to say what you do, where, what it costs, and how to reach you — the same as any other.

The £1,000 line

Having a website isn't on GOV.UK's list of reasons you must register. Earning more than £1,000 is. GOV.UK's guidance on tax-free allowances:

"If your annual gross trading income is £1,000 or less, from one or more trades you may not have to tell HMRC, however there are circumstances when you must register for Self Assessment and declare your income on a tax return. You must keep records of this income."

And on registering as a sole trader, GOV.UK says you must register if you "earn more than £1,000 in a tax year (from 6 April to 5 April)". The same page gives this year's deadline:

"You must tell HMRC by 5 October 2026 if you need to complete a tax return for the previous year and you have either: not sent a tax return before [or] registered before but did not need to send a tax return for the tax year 2024 to 2025"

That date is under a week from when this was written. Whether it applies to you is HMRC's to answer, not ours — but it's worth knowing it exists before, rather than after.

What it doesn't need

A company. A logo designed by somebody else. Twelve pages. A side business needs one good page, and it can be up in an evening. The few things a site mustn't claim before you've registered anything — "Ltd", a company number, a scheme you haven't joined — are in our post on registering first.

One evening, one page

Tell the AI you already use what you do, where, when you're available and how to reach you. That's a side-business website.

Connect your AI

Questions people ask

Can I have a website for a side business if I'm employed?

Yes. GOV.UK says you "can run a business and be employed at the same time, for example if you work for an employer during the day and run your own business in the evenings".

Do I need to register before I put the website up?

GOV.UK's list of when you must register as a sole trader is about things like earning more than £1,000 in a tax year — having a website isn't on it. The naming rules for what the site can say are in our post on registering a business.

Do I have to tell HMRC about my side hustle?

GOV.UK says that if your gross trading income is £1,000 or less "you may not have to tell HMRC, however there are circumstances when you must register" — and that you must register as a sole trader if you earn more than £1,000 in a tax year. Your own case is a question for HMRC or an accountant.

Is there a deadline?

GOV.UK says: "You must tell HMRC by 5 October 2026 if you need to complete a tax return for the previous year" and you have not sent one before, or registered before but did not need to send one for 2024 to 2025. Checked 29 September 2026.

Should my website say it's part-time?

It should say when you're available. "Evenings and Saturdays" is information customers want, not an apology.

Can I use my work phone or email for it?

Keep them separate. Enquiries for the side business shouldn't land anywhere your employer can see, and you want them in one place you check.