A website for a side business that runs on one evening a month
A side business competes with a job, a family and sleep for your time, so its website has to ask for almost none. One page that says what you sell and to whom, a contact form that emails you, a payment link to a provider that handles the money, and nothing that goes stale if you're busy for a month. Add more only when a real customer question demands it.
The rule: nothing that needs daily care
Features that look useful on day one often become chores. Before you add anything, ask what happens if you don't touch the site for six weeks because work is busy.
| Addition | What it costs you later | Lower-maintenance option |
|---|---|---|
| A blog or news section | Looks abandoned after the second month | Leave it out; post on social media instead |
| Live chat | Expectation of instant replies | A contact form with a stated reply time |
| Stock levels | Wrong the moment you sell elsewhere | "Made to order" or "message to check" |
| Opening hours | Out of date when your availability changes | "Replies within two working days" |
| A full shop | Inventory, shipping rules, tax settings | One payment link to a short product list at your provider |
| Social feeds | Look empty when you're quiet | Links to your profiles |
What the one page needs
- What you offer, to whom, where. "Hand-thrown mugs and bowls, made in Bristol, posted UK-wide."
- Three to six products or services with a photo, a price and a buy or enquire button each.
- How it works: lead times, delivery, what happens after someone pays.
- Who you are, in a short paragraph. Customers like knowing it's one person's evenings.
- A contact form and a reply time you can keep while working a day job.
- Your policies: returns, cancellations and the legal pages, written once.
Be honest about capacity. "I make a small batch each month; orders ship within three weeks" sets expectations you can meet. Customers of side businesses are usually forgiving about speed when they're told in advance.
Taking money without running a shop
Payment links are the side business's friend. An Anticode account has one payment link, from Stripe Payment Links, PayPal, Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy, Shopify or Whop, and every buy button opens it; with several products, point it at a product list at your provider. The provider handles the card form, receipts and payouts. If something sells out, remove it from the provider's list if it allows that, and mark it "sold out" on the page. For custom work, take enquiries through the contact form and send a link for the agreed amount. The accept payments on a website guide compares the options.
Building it with Anticode
Describe the business in a sentence or two: "a one-page site for my evening pottery business, with six products, prices, buy buttons, how ordering works and a contact form". The Architect may ask a question, such as which look you want, and shows the plan before building. For photos of your work, keep products in a CMS collection whose image field holds hosted image addresses, or upload them to an app build. The contact form asks for a name, email and message, saves each one sealed at rest and can email it to you, so enquiries reach your phone. The site also gets a Privacy Policy and Terms written from what it actually does, which you should read and adjust; they're a starting point, not legal advice.
Monthly upkeep then takes minutes: change a price or a sentence in the visual editor, or ask for a change in words. Page views per day, by source, show in the dashboard, which tells you whether that market stall or that post sent anyone. Publish free on an anticode.dev address with a small badge, or on your own domain on a paid plan; see pricing. For a fuller site once the business grows, see small business website.
Limits
- No cart or checkout on the site; every buy button opens the same payment link, so any multi-item checkout happens at your provider.
- No inventory, shipping or tax handling. Set shipping in your payment provider where it supports it.
- No automatic sold-out state. Update the page yourself.
- Free plan submissions have a monthly allowance; enquiries past it are held until you upgrade, never lost.
Questions people ask
Does a side hustle need a website at all?
Not always. If all your sales come through one marketplace, a website may add little. It helps when people search for you by name, when you want your own customer relationships, or when a marketplace's fees bite.
Should I use my own name or a business name?
Whichever you'll keep if the business changes direction. Check the domain is available before deciding.
Can I keep my employer from seeing it?
No. Published pages are public. Check your employment contract about outside work.