They say a recession is the best time to start a business, and many businesses have been started during or shortly after recessions. It offers a rare economic reset that levels the playing field and allows newcomers to climbing a few rungs up the ladder.

I don't make it a secret that the Hive blockchain is technically one of the best blockchains to build on top of. The costs required upfront to build on Hive are pretty much non-existent. All you need is an account and some Hive Power to make transactions.

So, I got to thinking. If someone wanted to build a dApp on Hive to make a little extra side income, what could they build? This post assumes that you're a developer or you know someone willing to do the development for you.

Sometimes the best ideas for blockchain dApps are ideas that already exist. The whole gambling game thing has been overdone, especially on Hive. You won't find dice or gambling games here.

Some of these ideas range from achievable to slightly more ambitious but not impossible. Nothing is impossible. This post inspires your next Hive dApp idea, especially as we enter a long dark crypto winter where buying and trading might not be an option.

1. Hive Crowdfunding

Here is the thing. Hive already has a successful crowdfunding feature in a proposal system. You submit a proposal, and if people like it, they vote it up. If it's successful, your requested payout amount will be paid daily.

But I am not talking about the proposal system. I am talking about a Kickstarter-type platform where users can submit ideas, and pledges can be made with Hive/HBD or even Hive Engine tokens. You could also start a GoFundMe-type product on Hive where users can donate crypto to other Hiveans that plead their cases.

The downside with a product like this, given the current state of crypto, is scams. How do you know someone is being truthful? How do you hold them accountable? If it's a Kickstarter-type product, how do you retain the core principles of the blockchain (privacy being the main one) but also not allow it to be an open slather for people to create fake products to get a few tokens?

For inspiration, there are some platforms on other blockchains, notably Pledgecamp.

2. Hivebay

You've heard of eBay; say hello to Hivebay. A place to buy and sell products using Hive currency. Once again, you could also leverage Hive Engine tokens for this idea.

Because a bidding system might be a bit involved, the first version of Hivebay could be a buy-and-sell platform with an Escrow component. The Escrow part would be the most difficult to implement because it would be a layer-two solution and not live in a contract on the chain itself like other blockchains.

3. Hive Wills

Who will get your money and possessions when you die? Maybe not a concern for younger people, but as you get older, a will is more of a concern. If you don't have a will, it could go to a public trustee or result in a messy legal family dispute.

Don't leave things to chance. Create a will and store it somewhere where it cannot be altered or destroyed, somewhere immutable like a blockchain. The Hive blockchain is made for storing content, and a will is no exception. It's a document with some headings and legal wording.

This would be incredibly easy to build on Hive as it natively supports storing content and would not require anything custom. For a small fee using Hive tokens, users can create blockchain wills. Create a custom UI, and away you go.

4. Hive Backstage

There are numerous platforms where you can support artists and content creators. We have Patreon, Only Fans, and a few other platforms where you can subscribe to content creators.

Instead of just copying those abovementioned platforms, take it further and create a fan club experience platform. Instead of artists creating content and pay-walling it, offer a means for artists and fans to interact with one another like a fan club. Unique access to content experiences, tickets, events, merch and more.

5. Hive Votes

One of the most obvious choices for blockchain is voting. There have been pilots using the blockchain for voting purposes with a high success and integrity rate. While Hive doesn't have smart contracts, it's possible that a secure voting system could be built on Hive using custom JSON operations.

I am not saying we should use Hive for election voting, but voting can be useful in many different areas, from voting on where to eat for lunch to employees voting for a raise via a union.

6. Hive Pinterest

My wife loves Pinterest. She uses it for planning events, renovations, DIY projects, and everything in between. Imagine a Pinterest platform built on Hive that rewarded you for doing something you did for free on Pinterest.

Hive already offers the needed functionality too. It's images, links and captions. Things are organised into collections. It's quite a simple concept and one that Hive lends itself to.

7. Hive Bug Bounty

Software development isn't perfect. There are always bugs, and bugs can come in many different forms. Popular open-source projects are always improving, looking to find and fix bugs in their code. Similarly, companies realise they need to take cybersecurity more seriously.

This is where Hive Bug Bounty comes in. A simplistic bug bounty platform where project maintainers and companies can place bounties on existing bugs or find new ones (exploits and bugs alike).

The logistics around this would be tasks with values assigned to them (Hive and possibly other tokens). Users complete a task and get awarded the bounty amount (either manually or via escrow).

8. Hiverr

You have probably heard of Fiverr, a well-known platform where people can request the services of others to complete one-off tasks. It might be to write a song or create a logo. It seems so obvious something like this on Hive would be a hit.

Imagine completing tasks for other Hive users and being paid in Hive tokens or paying others to complete a task for you.

9. Hive Dex

There are a couple of decentralised exchanges on Hive already. We have the obvious Hive Engine DEX in the form of Tribal Dex or Leo Dex.

Your point of difference for making this a revenue-generating endeavour will be fees. The amount you take in fees will determine how much you make and whether people consider using your DEX. Leo Dex has some of the lowest fees. Maybe you could go lower?

The running costs for a DEX are quite low. Hosting is cheap, the Hive blockchain does the integrity checks in the form of Hive transactions, and all you have to do is create a pretty UI.

10. An alternative Hive UI

It might not be the most profitable or even unique endeavour, but it could be rewarding. The Hive blockchain allows anyone to build their custom UI. I am writing this on Peakd, but there are many others. Thanks to its robust APIs and open nature, Hive makes it easy to build your own Hive blockchain clients.

You will learn invaluable skills to build other dApps on Hive by building a Hive client. How to perform signed transactions, authentication and read-only calls to get comments, posts, wallet balances and more.