643: 10 Creative Side Hustles That Make Real Money

0:00:01 (dramatic music)
0:00:03 10 creative side hustles that make real money.
0:00:04 Oh, what’s up?
0:00:05 What’s up, Nick?
0:00:06 Oh, welcome here.
0:00:07 Welcome to The Side Hustle Show
0:00:09 because your nine to five may make you a living,
0:00:11 but your five to nine makes you alive.
0:00:12 It’s that time of year again.
0:00:15 It’s time for our Thanksgiving tradition
0:00:17 of showcasing some of the most interesting
0:00:19 and creative side hustles that have come across
0:00:20 my desk this year,
0:00:23 starting with number one, mobile gift wrapping.
0:00:25 Is this something you could do in your area?
0:00:28 Michelle Hensley is a longtime side hustle show listener
0:00:31 and she’s grown her business Nifty Package.co
0:00:34 to a $300,000 a year business.
0:00:37 I truly started Nifty Package out of a necessity.
0:00:39 I was a pastor’s wife, homeschooling children
0:00:41 and running a nonprofit.
0:00:43 I was in a position to give things away,
0:00:45 not to have to make an income.
0:00:46 What do you do with a pastor’s wife
0:00:49 after her husband passes away when she’s 50 years old?
0:00:53 Now I was on a journey to create an income for myself
0:00:54 at age 51.
0:00:55 After I got home from an interview,
0:00:58 one of my sons said, “Mom, you had a gift basket business.
0:00:59 Why don’t you start that again?”
0:01:02 So ultimately I made an art out of gift giving
0:01:05 in order to bring joy to both the recipient and the giver.
0:01:07 My gift basket and mobile gift wrapping services
0:01:10 is niftypackage.co.
0:01:13 In 2018, while praying, I was looking out my window
0:01:16 and I noticed and realized my van was sitting there empty.
0:01:18 I thought, gosh, I already make gifts.
0:01:20 I wonder if anybody wraps gifts.
0:01:22 And does anyone go around and even do that?
0:01:24 Is there such a thing as a mobile wrapping?
0:01:27 Can I put all my gift wrapping paper in my van
0:01:29 and drive around and serve people?
0:01:30 I put up a webpage that day
0:01:32 and I got a call from a current client within a week
0:01:34 asking if I’d come out and wrap all those gifts.
0:01:36 I was so excited.
0:01:39 I piled everything into the van to take care of that job,
0:01:40 brushing my hands when I was done
0:01:43 and then I realized I forgot to label every gift.
0:01:45 I had to go back and rewrap every gift.
0:01:48 I learned a huge lesson, which blossomed into a business.
0:01:51 In March of 2019, I got a call from Two-Face Cosmetics
0:01:55 asking if I could do a large scale gift design and gift wrap.
0:01:57 I was so excited, this was right up my alley.
0:01:59 Their brand is very similar to mine,
0:02:02 which is a little edgy but still very beautiful.
0:02:04 We got a million hits on that Instagram feed on their site.
0:02:06 And then in August of 2019,
0:02:08 I got a call from the Kardashian estate manager
0:02:11 asking if I’d consider creating a design for Kim and Kanye.
0:02:13 I was not sure who they were
0:02:15 because I didn’t watch TV at all.
0:02:17 This is where I transitioned from pastor’s wife,
0:02:19 grandmother, mom to business owner.
0:02:21 I piled all my paper in the van
0:02:23 and headed out to their home.
0:02:24 My own team was there with me
0:02:26 and everyone was watching me from her team.
0:02:28 She didn’t like any of the five or six ideas
0:02:29 I presented to her.
0:02:32 I walked outside and I’m like, Lord, you brought me here
0:02:34 and I’m not going home without a sale.
0:02:37 So I walked in and I suggested a fear-shoky gift wrap
0:02:40 and created that out of fabric and she loved it.
0:02:42 And that’s what started the celebrity gift wrapping.
0:02:44 We continued to get referrals and the brand
0:02:46 continued to expand across the nation.
0:02:49 I started training on how to gift wrap many women
0:02:50 and teams all over.
0:02:54 So we have several Nifty corporate gift wrap teams everywhere.
0:02:56 Eventually becoming the number one mobile gift wrapping
0:02:57 business in the nation.
0:03:00 So although we do luxury gift baskets,
0:03:02 the mobile gift wrapping is 70% of our business.
0:03:04 I’ve had many reach out to me and ask me
0:03:06 how I ran my program.
0:03:08 So now currently I’m starting to franchise
0:03:09 and license across the nation
0:03:12 because this is absolutely a new opportunity.
0:03:15 It’s a perfect hustle, especially for the holidays.
0:03:16 You can do it with one person.
0:03:17 You can do it with a team.
0:03:21 So typical sales could be well over $200,000 for the season.
0:03:24 In reality, for one person, it could be 30 to 50,000.
0:03:27 So what’s next for Nifty and myself?
0:03:30 Well, I wrote a book so you can go to my personal brand website,
0:03:32 which is MichelleMHensley.com.
0:03:34 And you can read it, put your information in there,
0:03:37 and all that it would be is the cost for shipping
0:03:38 or you can buy it on Amazon.
0:03:41 I’m working to raise funds to start the franchise,
0:03:42 which is already in place,
0:03:43 but it just costs a lot of money
0:03:45 in the state of California to do this.
0:03:47 Also, I license and I teach others how to run
0:03:49 their own profitable mobile gift wrapping business.
0:03:51 You can join my Unwrapping Your Mobile Gift Wrapping
0:03:54 Business Masterclass, and I teach my gift framework there.
0:03:56 Thank you again, Nick, for this opportunity.
0:03:58 I look forward to talking to anybody who has an interest.
0:04:03 They can totally email me, Michelle@niftypackage.co,
0:04:06 or call 714-863-6058.
0:04:07 Happy wrapping.
0:04:08 – Happy wrapping, indeed.
0:04:11 Now, we’ll link up all of Michelle’s resources,
0:04:12 including her book, Master,
0:04:14 The Business of Mobile Gift Wrapping,
0:04:16 where creativity meets convenience.
0:04:19 She sent me a copy, which of course was very nicely wrapped,
0:04:21 in it, she says the average price
0:04:23 for a nicely wrapped gift is $25.
0:04:25 So you can start to see how the revenue
0:04:26 in this business can start to add up,
0:04:29 especially if you land a few corporate customers
0:04:31 who are sending gifts out to their clients
0:04:32 or partners, employees.
0:04:35 And you may not need even a celebrity client like Michelle did
0:04:38 to start to get some pretty serious business there.
0:04:40 Now, next up on this list of creative side hustles
0:04:42 is Print On Demand Candles.
0:04:45 Oh, sure, we’ve covered Print On Demand on the show before.
0:04:47 We’ve even made some money doing it ourselves.
0:04:47 My wife and I.
0:04:50 It’s always been T-shirts, stickers, mugs.
0:04:53 Never knew there was such a thing as Print On Demand Candles.
0:04:56 Francisco Rivera started his candle-focused Etsy shop
0:04:59 in early 2023, and according to CNBC,
0:05:02 sold over $450,000 worth of product last year
0:05:06 at an estimated 30 to 50% profit margin,
0:05:08 which is actually a really strong margin
0:05:09 for a physical product business
0:05:11 where he doesn’t have any inventory risk.
0:05:14 That was enough for him to leave his tutoring job
0:05:15 and pursue the business full-time.
0:05:18 Full-time in air quotes because the CNBC article
0:05:20 also has him saying he only spends around 20 minutes a day
0:05:21 on his shop.
0:05:24 And that’s one of the advantages of a model like this
0:05:27 in that you can make sales even when you’re not working,
0:05:29 but there obviously is work involved in product research
0:05:31 and creating and uploading new designs.
0:05:35 Francisco uses Printify as his fulfillment partner
0:05:37 and mentioned that neutral-colored organic candles
0:05:40 performed well with his witty and eye-catching labels
0:05:42 and that he uses Canva to create those.
0:05:44 Now, this made me super curious.
0:05:47 What other random products could you do print on demand with?
0:05:48 In Printify’s catalog,
0:05:50 I found some interesting options,
0:05:52 including pickleball sets that can make a good gift, right?
0:05:55 Baby onesies, kids’ shoes that look like crocs,
0:05:57 but aren’t officially crocs, of course,
0:05:58 and some Christmas ornaments.
0:06:01 Then you figure out what niche you wanna play in
0:06:05 and what kind of clever design that might make a good gift.
0:06:07 And it’s a pretty low-risk business.
0:06:10 All it costs is 20 cents to create an Etsy listing,
0:06:13 and you can see if anybody wants to buy your thing.
0:06:16 The Etsy sales system integrates directly with Printify,
0:06:18 which handles the production
0:06:20 and the shipping to the end customer.
0:06:23 Now, one downside to this and to other print-on-demand businesses
0:06:25 is the issue of copycats.
0:06:28 Pretty much as soon as you find something that sells,
0:06:31 other sellers and research tools can see that
0:06:35 and are often going to blatantly rip off or copy your work,
0:06:36 which can dilute the listings
0:06:38 and push your products down in the search results.
0:06:41 And still, Francisco says it’s best to focus
0:06:43 on creating new candle ideas rather than spending
0:06:45 too much time trying to fight with copycats.
0:06:47 Now, what’s the next big thing for Print-on-Demand?
0:06:49 If t-shirts are too saturated,
0:06:51 maybe there’s an up-and-coming product category
0:06:52 that could be a blue ocean for you.
0:06:54 Creative side hustle number three
0:06:56 is pay what you want poetry.
0:06:58 – Hi, my name is John McCollum.
0:06:59 I’m 22 years old.
0:07:01 I live in Nashville, Tennessee,
0:07:03 where I am currently a full-time poet.
0:07:06 My business is JM Street Poetry,
0:07:09 and my website is jmstreetpoetry.com.
0:07:11 My business basically consists of me
0:07:14 sitting at a table with a vintage typewriter.
0:07:15 Strangers come up to me,
0:07:16 tell me what they want a poem about.
0:07:18 I write it, they pay however much they want for it,
0:07:19 and that’s it.
0:07:23 I first was inspired to do this when I was an English teacher
0:07:25 and I was talking to one of my friends
0:07:28 and they saw a guy doing something similar in New York.
0:07:29 And I had an old typewriter
0:07:31 that someone had given me when they moved away.
0:07:33 And I was so inspired by the story of a man
0:07:36 sitting outside writing poems for strangers all day.
0:07:38 I thought it was beautiful and creative
0:07:41 and sounded like a great way to spend a Saturday.
0:07:42 So I bought a folding table,
0:07:45 went to a busy street in Nashville,
0:07:46 where there’s a lot of shopping,
0:07:50 and I wrote a sign on the back of a Manila envelope
0:07:53 that said poems for sale, your topic, your price.
0:07:55 I was expecting to maybe write a handful,
0:07:58 but the entire day I had a line,
0:08:01 people were paying anywhere from one to $100 for a poem.
0:08:03 I was writing about everything
0:08:05 and just having these wonderful interactions with strangers.
0:08:08 It was the most creative day that I had had thus far
0:08:10 and it was incredible.
0:08:13 So I started going out every weekend I could.
0:08:15 And if school ever wrapped up earlier,
0:08:17 I would be out there writing poems for people.
0:08:20 I bought a nicer chair and a tablecloth
0:08:22 and it was incredible.
0:08:26 Saturdays I’d make anywhere from $400 to $800.
0:08:29 Weekdays were quite a bit slower, but still fun.
0:08:31 And so when my school year ended
0:08:32 and I had a summer to figure out
0:08:34 what I was gonna do next,
0:08:36 I decided to try and take it full time.
0:08:39 So I’d go out during all of the busy hours
0:08:41 and figure out the scheduling,
0:08:44 figure out when people were out, when they weren’t out.
0:08:46 And all of a sudden, people started trying to book me
0:08:46 for events.
0:08:50 So we made business cards, designed a website,
0:08:53 made an Instagram and started trying to book
0:08:55 more corporate events and weddings
0:08:56 where I would just sit there with a typewriter
0:08:58 and people could come up to me.
0:09:00 It’s been an incredible journey of now
0:09:01 being a full-time poet.
0:09:04 I just can’t explain the joy of working for myself
0:09:06 and doing this thing that I care about so much.
0:09:11 My average week, I make anywhere from $9 to $1,200,
0:09:14 working 15 to 18 hours a week, which is incredible
0:09:17 ’cause it gives me time to work on my personal writing
0:09:18 and my personal poetry.
0:09:20 As far as next steps go for the business,
0:09:23 I really want to build more of an online presence.
0:09:25 And I hope to be able to publish
0:09:27 a poetry collection eventually.
0:09:30 You can follow along, find out more on Instagram
0:09:34 and JM Street Poetry or by checking out my website.
0:09:35 Thank you so much for having me on.
0:09:37 Huge fan, love what you do here.
0:09:40 – JM Street Poetry, give John a follow over there.
0:09:41 How cool is that?
0:09:43 What a fun and random business.
0:09:44 I’ve got more creative side hustles
0:09:46 coming right up right after this.
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0:12:24 All right, three down, seven creative side hustles to go,
0:12:26 including a couple honorable mentions we’ll sneak in.
0:12:29 Number four on this list is virtual mechanic.
0:12:31 In fact, the six-figure virtual mechanic.
0:12:33 And when I think about jobs that can be done remotely
0:12:36 versus jobs that really need to be done in person,
0:12:38 car mechanic is one that fits pretty squarely
0:12:41 in the gotta be there hands-on category, right?
0:12:43 Well, Chris Pyle is provenly wrong,
0:12:46 earning an average of $14,000 a month
0:12:51 as a virtual mechanic through the Q&A site, justanswer.com.
0:12:53 Now, the site’s been around for a long time
0:12:56 and Chris has been on it for a long time too, since 2006.
0:12:59 It is a place where you can connect with experts
0:13:01 and those experts get paid for their advice.
0:13:03 On the customer side,
0:13:06 just answer charges a monthly membership fee
0:13:10 ranging from around $30 to $125 per month,
0:13:13 depending on what kind of experts you’d like help from.
0:13:15 It’s interesting to me that it’s packaged as a membership
0:13:18 when I imagine most people coming to the site
0:13:20 for the first time just have one specific problem
0:13:21 that they want solved.
0:13:23 And the complaints about just answer online
0:13:25 seem to mirror that apparent disconnect
0:13:26 with customers saying,
0:13:28 “Hey, I didn’t expect to get charged for the next month.”
0:13:29 But on the expert side,
0:13:32 you can earn 20 to 50% of what the customer paid
0:13:33 to answer their question.
0:13:35 And there are over 100 different categories
0:13:37 in which you can join as an expert.
0:13:39 Compared to other marketplaces,
0:13:41 that fee is actually really steep.
0:13:44 Normally you would see the platform taking 20 to 30%
0:13:47 as a fulfillment or matchmaking fee for new members,
0:13:49 not 80%, but each question individually
0:13:51 might only be worth $2 to $20
0:13:54 depending on the category and complexity.
0:13:56 But still, if you enjoy answering questions,
0:13:57 you can knock them out quickly,
0:13:58 you can make good money
0:14:00 as Chris’s virtual mechanic example proves.
0:14:04 Chris originally trained as a transmission tech with Ford
0:14:07 and stumbled upon this online side hustle,
0:14:08 turned full-time income,
0:14:10 while he was researching how to fix a transmission
0:14:11 he was working on.
0:14:14 It didn’t take long before he signed himself up
0:14:15 as an expert on just answer
0:14:18 and started answering questions after work.
0:14:20 He told CNBC that he liked the challenge
0:14:23 of diagnosing a motor that he couldn’t see, touch, or smell
0:14:25 and realized he had a knack
0:14:28 for virtually helping people solve their mechanical problems.
0:14:30 Chris made $500 in his first month
0:14:33 and $1,000 in his second
0:14:36 and eventually eclipsed his day job salary
0:14:38 and now far exceeding what he used to make
0:14:39 at that old day job.
0:14:41 And one drawback here is that Chris
0:14:45 is really putting in the hours in this CNBC article.
0:14:47 He says he managed to take this side hustle full-time
0:14:50 in 2012 and that it fits really well with his lifestyle
0:14:52 and pays better than his old job,
0:14:54 but that he still works every single day
0:14:57 and an average of 40 to 60 hours a week.
0:15:00 It looks like there’s a pretty extensive vetting process
0:15:02 to get accepted as a just answer expert.
0:15:05 And there are all the career categories
0:15:07 that you might expect like law and medicine
0:15:09 and finance and technology and home repair.
0:15:12 But there are also some expert slots
0:15:14 in academic tutoring and homework help
0:15:19 in veterinary care, in antiques, in dream interpretation
0:15:20 and even in etiquette.
0:15:23 So maybe there’s some less competitive categories
0:15:24 on there too.
0:15:28 So that’s just answer a wide ranging pay for advice site
0:15:29 that might make sense to test out
0:15:32 as a potential new source of side hustle income
0:15:34 even in industries that are traditionally
0:15:36 pretty hands-on like car repair.
0:15:38 I was surprised when I saw that headline
0:15:40 about the six figure virtual mechanic.
0:15:42 Creative side hustle number five
0:15:45 is the high-end dorm room designer.
0:15:47 This year I came across Shelly Gates,
0:15:49 a fourth grade teacher in Mississippi
0:15:51 who turned her eye for design
0:15:54 into a really lucrative side hustle
0:15:56 designing college dorm rooms.
0:15:58 Constraint breeds creativity, right here.
0:15:59 You got a small space to work with
0:16:01 and kind of a tight window in which to do the work.
0:16:03 Now Shelly’s rates vary based on a number
0:16:04 of different factors,
0:16:07 but can go as high as 20 to $30,000.
0:16:08 How crazy is that?
0:16:10 And you’ll hear her explain in the upcoming clip.
0:16:11 She’s got a wait list of clients
0:16:14 and has already surpassed her teaching salary.
0:16:16 Here’s Shelly explaining how the business got
0:16:17 its super fast start.
0:16:20 – Hey guys, my name is Shelly Gates
0:16:23 and I own a company called Mary Margaret Designs
0:16:26 where I focus on custom dorm room design.
0:16:30 My website is marymargaretdesigns.com.
0:16:33 However, TikTok has become quite the platform
0:16:36 for seeing my rooms and getting updated
0:16:38 on dorm trends for 2025.
0:16:41 My TikTok is also Mary Margaret Designs.
0:16:44 The idea for my dorm design business
0:16:46 really started by accident.
0:16:49 I’ve always loved design and beautiful surroundings
0:16:50 and of course shopping.
0:16:51 So when my daughter was a freshman
0:16:53 at Mississippi State University,
0:16:55 I had the most fun creating her room.
0:16:58 I put the pictures of her room on social media
0:17:00 for friends and family to see
0:17:02 and it gained a ton of attention.
0:17:05 The following year, her sophomore dorm
0:17:08 was featured on TikTok by an influencer
0:17:09 and it really took off.
0:17:13 Here in the South, especially SEC schools,
0:17:14 beautiful dorms are the norm
0:17:16 and people love to see all the rooms.
0:17:18 So this gave me the idea for my business.
0:17:20 Also, since I’m a fourth grade teacher
0:17:22 with my summers free,
0:17:26 I thought this was perfect for a little summer side hustle.
0:17:28 Little did I know that this side hustle
0:17:32 would turn into 12 to 18 hour days in the summer
0:17:33 to get everything done.
0:17:36 The TikTok exposure was really great
0:17:40 because it helped me book clients for my first year
0:17:44 and because I was advertising exclusively on social media,
0:17:48 that free advertisement made my startup cost nonexistent.
0:17:50 But that first year was rough and I learned a lot.
0:17:53 I took on far too many clients
0:17:55 and I realized that I was stretched a mile wide
0:17:56 and an inch deep.
0:17:58 So I realized I had to limit my clients
0:17:59 for the following year.
0:18:01 I’m so proud to say that my business
0:18:02 has become quite lucrative
0:18:05 and I’ve already exceeded my current salary.
0:18:07 Even though I love my fourth graders,
0:18:09 I eventually plan to stop teaching
0:18:10 and focus on this full-time.
0:18:13 I have such exciting plans for 2025.
0:18:16 I’m hiring additional designers to expand the business,
0:18:20 especially since I have such a long wait list.
0:18:23 I really want each room to be unique.
0:18:26 So I spend months interpreting the girl’s vision
0:18:27 into the perfect dorm room.
0:18:29 I really wanna provide a turnkey room.
0:18:32 So I order absolutely everything
0:18:35 from the custom pieces to the practical items,
0:18:37 like organization, even down to the light bulbs
0:18:39 and cleaning supplies.
0:18:41 But surprisingly, a big part of my service
0:18:43 is coordinating move-in day.
0:18:45 People always find it funny
0:18:47 because I hire movers for the room.
0:18:49 But once you’ve carried heavy furniture
0:18:52 up 15 flights of stairs in the 100 degree heat,
0:18:56 you quickly realize that is money well spent.
0:19:00 I also do a lot of consulting for rooms across the country.
0:19:05 So I’m planning to expand that part of my business as well.
0:19:06 After three years in business though,
0:19:09 I can really just tell everybody
0:19:12 that my favorite part is the relationship that I form,
0:19:14 especially with the moms.
0:19:16 Sending your child off to college is so hard.
0:19:17 I think how hard it is
0:19:19 to send your child to kindergarten.
0:19:21 Now multiply that, it times a million.
0:19:23 I can really empathize with the moms too
0:19:26 because I’ve sent two girls off to college
0:19:28 and my son will be starting college next fall.
0:19:30 It is a huge life change.
0:19:32 Letting your little baby bird leave the nest.
0:19:34 So with that in mind,
0:19:36 I really limit my clients
0:19:38 because I want to invest in my families
0:19:43 and encourage love and offer support during this time.
0:19:47 I am so proud of what Mary Margaret Designs has become
0:19:49 and all the exciting opportunities
0:19:51 that await in the future.
0:19:53 – And of course, when I look at some of Shelley’s designs,
0:19:56 you can check them out at Mary Margaret Designs underscore
0:19:59 on Instagram, Mary Margaret Designs on TikTok.
0:20:02 I can’t help but think back to my own dorm room experience
0:20:05 where we just thought we were geniuses
0:20:06 when we figured out how to loft my bed
0:20:09 and stack up some cinder blocks at old newspapers
0:20:11 to support a couch underneath it.
0:20:14 What a wild business and just a fun example
0:20:16 of doing something she was gonna do anyway,
0:20:19 sharing about it and getting such a positive reaction.
0:20:20 Do you ever have those moments
0:20:24 when you do something that is second nature to you
0:20:25 but other people are like, “Whoa, whoa, wait,
0:20:27 how did you do that?”
0:20:30 Or they ask, “Can I hire you to do that for me?”
0:20:31 That’s a good sign.
0:20:31 Pay attention to that.
0:20:33 Pay attention to what wants to happen.
0:20:35 That’s creative side hustle number five,
0:20:37 the dorm room design side hustle.
0:20:39 Number six is somewhat similar.
0:20:42 This is the virtual home studio design service.
0:20:44 I wanna introduce you to Kevin Shen
0:20:48 who has found a unique niche side hustle helping people,
0:20:49 I assume full-time business at this time,
0:20:52 helping people set up professional home studios.
0:20:56 And unlike Shelley, his work has done 100% virtual,
0:20:57 100% online.
0:21:00 So this is one that taps into the rise of remote work
0:21:02 and virtual content creation.
0:21:04 Kevin recognized there’s this growing need
0:21:07 for people to have high quality home offices,
0:21:09 podcast studios, video setups.
0:21:11 I mean, if you wanna impress people on Zoom calls
0:21:13 or step up your YouTube game,
0:21:14 his is the service you need.
0:21:17 And he now charges $8,000 per client
0:21:19 to do this studio design consulting.
0:21:21 And if you go through his testimonials,
0:21:23 it’s like a who’s who of online business.
0:21:26 He’s got Sam and Sean from My First Million.
0:21:28 He’s got Steph Smith, Jay Klaus, Ryan Dice,
0:21:31 Justin Jackson, Neville Madora, lots more.
0:21:33 And looking at all their setups,
0:21:34 they all look kind of similar.
0:21:36 Like there’s a consistent vibe going on,
0:21:38 but you can’t argue they look good
0:21:40 and kind of makes me wanna step up my own studio game.
0:21:44 So how it works, Kevin offers these consultations over Zoom
0:21:46 where he walks clients through everything they’re gonna need
0:21:48 to create this polished professional look
0:21:49 that they’re going for.
0:21:52 And then he provides this detailed list
0:21:54 of the recommended gear and equipment and supplies
0:21:57 based on the client’s goals and budget.
0:22:01 Obviously paying attention to lighting, decor, sound quality
0:22:03 and even we’ll help you troubleshoot any issues
0:22:05 as you go along.
0:22:06 And since it’s all remote,
0:22:07 he can serve clients all over the world.
0:22:11 Now Kevin’s customer base includes YouTubers and podcasters
0:22:13 and course creators like you might expect,
0:22:16 but also remote employees and even executives
0:22:20 who need or want more polished setups for virtual meetings.
0:22:24 Now he also sells his design expertise as an online course.
0:22:26 There’s like the high end consulting price, right?
0:22:30 The $8,000, you know, done with you type of service.
0:22:31 But there’s also the more DIY version
0:22:36 at dreamstudiocourse.com where for $500,
0:22:38 you can get the self-serve on demand version.
0:22:39 We’ll teach you how to do this.
0:22:41 And it looks like YouTube and Twitter
0:22:43 are his primary traffic drivers
0:22:46 and they appear to be working quite well.
0:22:49 Now Kevin’s business is an example of a niche business
0:22:52 that taps into a few common themes on the show.
0:22:55 First, it piggybacks on the broader trend
0:22:56 of remote work and video creation
0:22:58 and even video podcasting now.
0:23:01 And it’s got some level of built-in virality
0:23:04 because when other creators see you’ve upgraded your space,
0:23:07 they’re naturally gonna ask how you did it.
0:23:10 And I think it illustrates the power of niching down.
0:23:13 It’s not a virtual interior design service.
0:23:14 That’ll be too broad.
0:23:16 It’s specific for video studio spaces
0:23:19 and that apparently was a wide open blue ocean
0:23:20 to stake a claim to.
0:23:21 It’s kind of like Shelly.
0:23:25 It’s tough to compete as a generic interior designer,
0:23:28 but when you niche down to interior design for dorm rooms,
0:23:30 all of a sudden you’re the only game in town.
0:23:33 So the question is, is there a similar niche within a niche
0:23:36 where you could become the undisputed market leader in?
0:23:38 Remember, if you can’t be first, be different.
0:23:39 Where can you play?
0:23:41 Where you can be a market of one.
0:23:43 You can check out Kevin on all the socials
0:23:46 at the Kevin Shen S-H-E-N.
0:23:49 The one honorable mention to throw in here on the list
0:23:52 is a listener sent me this story
0:23:54 of basically being a professional tattletale,
0:23:56 which maybe makes it sound a little bit negative.
0:24:00 I guess there’s a law in New York against idling vehicles.
0:24:02 Hey, this burns unnecessary gas.
0:24:04 It creates unnecessary pollution.
0:24:05 So the city says, we’re gonna find you
0:24:07 if we catch you idling for too long.
0:24:09 And where the side hustle comes in
0:24:12 is you as the do good citizen
0:24:14 catch the idling vehicle in the act
0:24:16 and you record the video evidence,
0:24:18 New York will pay you 25% of the fine
0:24:19 that they eventually collect,
0:24:22 which could end up being several hundred dollars
0:24:24 or even more if it’s a repeat offender.
0:24:26 Like it goes up the more and more times you get caught.
0:24:30 And so naturally this has sprung up a little micro economy
0:24:32 of people going out to do this intentionally,
0:24:35 spending a few hours a day, in some cases,
0:24:36 walking or biking the city.
0:24:39 And at least in one case, hiring virtual assistants
0:24:41 to support with some of the administrative paperwork
0:24:43 required to file the cases.
0:24:45 Like it’s turned into like a legitimate business
0:24:46 for some people.
0:24:49 Now, because it is the city and bureaucracy and all that,
0:24:50 it can take several months to get paid
0:24:52 from the time you find your offender.
0:24:54 But I thought it was a super interesting example
0:24:57 of taking advantage of a local rule
0:24:59 and turning it into an extra income stream.
0:25:01 I’ll be right back with more creative side hustles
0:25:02 right after this.
0:25:05 Creative side hustle number seven
0:25:07 is a furniture repair service.
0:25:10 So here’s a cool example of taking a skill you already have
0:25:11 and putting a slight pivot on it
0:25:13 to turn it into a viable business.
0:25:15 In this case, the pivot was making it mobile.
0:25:17 As in, all come to you.
0:25:19 You don’t have to carry your bulky couch.
0:25:21 You can figure out how to transport it to our store.
0:25:23 And it reminds me of a bike mechanic
0:25:24 that I hired recently.
0:25:26 Like I called up the local bike shop in town
0:25:28 and they were booking appointments three weeks out.
0:25:29 I wanted it done faster.
0:25:32 I remembered seeing this mobile bike repair van around town.
0:25:35 So I went to their website, booked an online appointment.
0:25:35 Didn’t even have to call.
0:25:37 And instead of three weeks out, it was like,
0:25:39 hey, next day or next couple of days,
0:25:41 we can come and pick up your bike
0:25:43 and didn’t have to put the rack on the car.
0:25:44 Didn’t have to drive to the shop.
0:25:46 Much more convenient customer experience.
0:25:50 So here’s side hustle show listener Nathan Velz
0:25:52 on how he got his freelance furniture repair business
0:25:54 off the ground and turned it into a full-time income.
0:25:56 – My name is Nathan Velz
0:25:59 and my business is fresh furniture in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
0:26:01 The website is fresh furniture MKE
0:26:02 if you’d like to take a look.
0:26:04 What I do is in-home furniture repair,
0:26:06 which can go in lots of different directions
0:26:08 from repairing a small dent in the table
0:26:10 to tearing a sofa apart to fix a frame issue.
0:26:13 What I found is that there are some furniture finishing
0:26:16 and reupholstery shops that offer the same service,
0:26:17 but they always want the customer to bring in
0:26:19 their heavy and bulky pieces to their shop.
0:26:21 Number one, I don’t wanna pay for a workspace
0:26:23 and most of my repairs can be done
0:26:25 in the customer’s living room in under an hour.
0:26:27 Many of my customers are really surprised
0:26:28 I even offered to do this with them.
0:26:31 I’ve been working in furniture repair for quite a while now,
0:26:33 but always working for a large retailer
0:26:35 or a national repair company.
0:26:38 What I’ve seen over and over is that if parts are needed,
0:26:40 the large companies would always source them
0:26:43 directly for the manufacturer, which is typically overseas.
0:26:45 This involves wait times for customers
0:26:47 for weeks and sometimes even months.
0:26:50 Telling this to a customer with a broken lift chair
0:26:53 that they use to help to get to a standing position
0:26:55 was heartbreaking and quite frustrating.
0:26:57 What I realized is that a lot of these parts
0:26:59 could be sourced locally or purchased online
0:27:01 and received in days, not weeks.
0:27:04 I established a relationship with a small family-owned
0:27:08 local foam company for all the seat cushion replacements.
0:27:09 Not only the great people,
0:27:12 but now they go other ways to get my foam cut quickly
0:27:15 since I’m ordering from them usually multiple times a week.
0:27:17 This company also allows me to pick up from them
0:27:19 so I occur no shipping costs.
0:27:21 That became the start of fresh furniture,
0:27:22 knowing that I could complete a repair
0:27:25 for a customer quickly and usually at a lower cost
0:27:27 than a national extended warranty company.
0:27:29 Start-up costs were low for me
0:27:31 as I had most of the tools and supplies.
0:27:34 I did purchase a van for transporting pieces
0:27:37 that were bigger projects and couldn’t be repaired at home.
0:27:39 I did spend money on making sure my logo
0:27:40 was on all my work shirts.
0:27:42 You definitely want to look professional
0:27:44 when you’re going into a customer’s home.
0:27:47 Having a great looking embroidered shirt makes you stand out.
0:27:49 I also took Nick’s advice,
0:27:52 spent money on getting high quality business cards.
0:27:53 This I found gives you an edge
0:27:55 and makes you seem way more credible.
0:27:57 My friend and I created the website.
0:27:59 I’ll be honest, mostly my friend.
0:28:00 This worked for about the first year
0:28:03 until I did hire a local firm to update it and unify
0:28:05 the website to my logo on business colors.
0:28:07 The designer used the same hosting platform
0:28:09 and that definitely cut down the costs
0:28:11 instead of creating a new one from scratch.
0:28:14 I know it’s been said on the show multiple times before,
0:28:16 but getting the Google business page
0:28:18 has been my biggest source of customers.
0:28:20 Having the business page up to date
0:28:22 and responding to customer reviews has been key.
0:28:24 I will say as well that nice jobs
0:28:26 for a review service has been fantastic.
0:28:28 The fact that they blast our reviews
0:28:30 to multiple social sites and your own website
0:28:32 is a great time saver.
0:28:33 And if you are a small business like me,
0:28:35 they charge me a lower than advertised fee
0:28:38 since I don’t have hundreds of reviews a month.
0:28:39 In price to my repairs,
0:28:41 I have standard pricing on certain pieces
0:28:43 and adjust it traveling further
0:28:44 than my normal service area.
0:28:47 I’ve already had to increase my pricing due to demand.
0:28:49 Just recently, I’ve taken the side house the full time
0:28:51 and it’s been completely overwhelming.
0:28:53 My first year I plan on making my old salary
0:28:54 and hoping for more.
0:28:56 What I’m hoping to do in the future
0:28:59 is to approach companies to offer a touch up service
0:29:01 to keep their lobbies looking great year round.
0:29:03 Also, I’m looking to send out a mailing to all the senior
0:29:06 facilities in the area to become their go-to contact
0:29:09 for any lift chair repairs for the residents.
0:29:11 I find this job extremely rewarding
0:29:13 since most of my repairs are short term
0:29:16 and fixing something that people thought irreparable,
0:29:19 especially family heirlooms, just feels great.
0:29:21 – Thanks Nathan for sharing that.
0:29:23 That is Creative Side Hustle number seven,
0:29:26 furniture repair, freshfurnituremke.com.
0:29:28 If you wanna go check Nathan out over there.
0:29:32 – Creative Side Hustle number eight is a trailer rental
0:29:34 business and so earlier in the year,
0:29:37 Justin Martin of Jacksonville, Florida reported earning
0:29:39 between $2,000 and $3,000 per month,
0:29:42 renting out this kind of flatbed trailer.
0:29:45 It could be used for hauling furniture, vehicles,
0:29:47 heavy equipment, pallets, that kind of thing.
0:29:49 Now since then, he’s added several more products
0:29:52 to his inventory, all in that same broad category
0:29:54 of equipment hauling trailers.
0:29:56 Like big picture like the wooden slats on top,
0:29:58 you’re towing behind a truck with rates ranging
0:30:01 from $300 to $750 per week.
0:30:05 You can check out his site at rcrjacks.com,
0:30:09 like rippercityrentalsjaxenville.com, rcrjacks.com.
0:30:12 I’m finding these trails tend to cost
0:30:14 between $2,000 and $5,000 a piece,
0:30:17 maybe a little bit less if you can find them used.
0:30:19 So you’re looking at seven to 10 rentals perhaps
0:30:22 to break even and then everything after that is profit.
0:30:24 I wasn’t able to get a voicemail for this one
0:30:27 but Justin said he normally spends or otherwise budgets
0:30:30 around $100 a month per trailer for maintenance.
0:30:31 You know, there’s tires on them.
0:30:34 You gotta replace straps and things get damaged.
0:30:35 Now as far as marketing, it looks like
0:30:39 Justin has focused on SEO and Google reviews.
0:30:41 He’s got over 205 star reviews at this point.
0:30:43 So he does a good job of marketing the service
0:30:45 on the trailers themselves as well
0:30:47 with his phone number and a sign that says,
0:30:49 you know, rent me or rent this trailer.
0:30:51 And even though it’s a lot of one-off customers,
0:30:54 okay, I just need to move something from point A to point B
0:30:56 Justin also generates quite a bit of repeat business
0:30:58 by providing a good service
0:31:00 and positive customer interactions.
0:31:02 The other considerations for this type of business
0:31:05 are obviously a place to store your inventory
0:31:06 when it’s not in use.
0:31:08 It looks like Justin has a good sized property
0:31:10 where he can park these things
0:31:12 and then insurance to protect yourself
0:31:13 if something goes wrong.
0:31:15 And whenever you’re dealing with physical products,
0:31:16 especially big, heavy things,
0:31:18 driving down the highway at 70 miles an hour,
0:31:19 things can go wrong.
0:31:21 In fact, Justin sent me a picture of one of his trailers
0:31:23 with a tire blown out on the side of the road
0:31:25 as the business owner, he’s got to deal with that.
0:31:27 So it’s not all rainbows and unicorns
0:31:28 and passive income all the time,
0:31:30 but as far as a rental asset,
0:31:31 it’s not a ton of moving parts
0:31:34 on these relatively simple, low maintenance products
0:31:37 and ones that probably have a pretty long, useful life
0:31:39 if they’re well taken care of.
0:31:41 You can follow along with what Justin is doing
0:31:44 at trailerhustle on the TikTok trailerhustle.com
0:31:46 where he’s starting to help other people
0:31:47 get involved in this business,
0:31:49 one that I’ll be paying attention to.
0:31:51 Hopefully you can follow along with his journey as well.
0:31:53 So naturally the next question is,
0:31:55 well, what else could you rent out for a profit?
0:31:58 We’ve done episodes on party inflatables
0:32:00 like bouncy houses for kids parties.
0:32:03 We’ve done mobility scooters, photo booths,
0:32:05 portable hot tubs, a favorite of mine.
0:32:10 Even most recently, we did moving boxes in episode 635.
0:32:13 Like here, here’s a low, relatively low overhead type
0:32:15 of product, it’s just a plastic bin.
0:32:17 Now, you might not even have to own the thing
0:32:19 you’re renting out because we talked to Gar Russell
0:32:22 from Fireside RV about renting out other people’s RVs.
0:32:24 Basically acting as a property manager
0:32:27 and splitting the income from those rentals.
0:32:28 So that is number eight on this list,
0:32:32 the trailer rental business and maybe as an illustration
0:32:35 of a broader equipment rental type of side hustle.
0:32:38 Creative side hustle number nine is TV mounting.
0:32:40 Now, I’m blown away by this story
0:32:43 because I never imagined that you could make $30,000
0:32:45 a month mounting TVs for people.
0:32:47 I mean, how many TVs are out there that need mounting?
0:32:49 But that’s exactly what Sina Omosawan has done
0:32:52 with his TV mounting business operating mostly
0:32:55 in the Washington, DC area under the brand Shine.
0:32:58 Back in 2019, Sina is, he’s working on his PhD
0:33:01 when a friend introduces him to his side hustle,
0:33:02 his world of TV mounting.
0:33:06 So he shadows the friend for a few jobs, learns the basics
0:33:09 and consumes what he called hours of YouTube tutorials
0:33:10 to really master the skills.
0:33:12 And starting out, he priced pretty low
0:33:14 to build trust and attract his first clients.
0:33:16 Sina then started using thumbtack
0:33:18 and built his own client base using the platform
0:33:22 to showcase reviews and pictures of the job
0:33:24 that he completed and client feedback.
0:33:25 And that approach definitely worked
0:33:28 and it continues to work almost as a virtuous cycle
0:33:30 because now he’s got over 1,005 star reviews
0:33:32 and that reputation makes it easier
0:33:34 and easier to book more work, right?
0:33:36 He told entrepreneur that he would initially book
0:33:37 two or three jobs in a day.
0:33:40 Each one would take way longer than he wanted them to
0:33:42 as he kind of worked through this learning curve
0:33:43 of how to do the job.
0:33:45 But as his confidence and efficiency grew,
0:33:47 now he’s able to serve more customers every day.
0:33:49 He can mount the TV in just 15 minutes.
0:33:51 Like he’s done hundreds and hundreds of these things.
0:33:53 It becomes really quick, lather, rinse and repeat.
0:33:55 And he also learned the importance
0:33:57 of being really responsive to inquiries
0:33:59 because thumbtack, like a lot of these other platforms
0:34:01 is one where speed really counts.
0:34:04 So keeping his phone on hand, answer customer questions,
0:34:05 schedule those appointments right away.
0:34:08 It is a business with relatively low startup costs,
0:34:10 really just a handful of tools,
0:34:11 some of which you might already own,
0:34:12 but fast forward a few months
0:34:14 and now Sina’s got a decision to make.
0:34:17 So he finishes up his PhD.
0:34:20 He’s got offer letters in his chosen field
0:34:22 of plant evolution and food crop production.
0:34:25 This is what he spent years studying, going to school to do.
0:34:26 But over here, he’s got this side hustle
0:34:27 that’s working really well.
0:34:30 So he makes the hard decision to go all in on the business
0:34:32 instead of this traditional career
0:34:33 that he’s been going to school for.
0:34:35 And he says, you know what?
0:34:37 I’m gonna go be my own boss instead.
0:34:39 Today the business earns around $30,000 each month
0:34:42 and appears to have expanded geographically
0:34:45 sort of customers in Chicago and Indiana as well.
0:34:46 Sina told entrepreneur that he loves
0:34:49 the control and flexibility the business gives him.
0:34:51 He schedules jobs around family commitments
0:34:53 and loves putting a smile on customers’ faces
0:34:54 with a job well done.
0:34:57 He highlighted the importance of prioritizing customer
0:34:59 satisfaction over profits in the beginning.
0:35:01 Remember he said, I got a price low
0:35:04 to attract clients to start to build a portfolio
0:35:05 and build some momentum of positive reviews.
0:35:08 He said that was really the key to growth early on.
0:35:10 I think this is another really interesting example
0:35:12 of owning a niche.
0:35:14 Of course a general handy person service
0:35:16 could handle mounting your TV
0:35:19 but as a customer given the choice between the generalist
0:35:21 and the specialist who’s done it a thousand times
0:35:22 who are you gonna pick?
0:35:24 Is there a similar niche that you could own?
0:35:26 Maybe it’s a piece of what you’re already doing.
0:35:29 You could carve out and really choose to focus on just that.
0:35:32 That’s number nine, 30 grand a month mounting TVs.
0:35:35 Number 10 is guinea pig cages.
0:35:39 This is 17 year old Bella Lynn of California
0:35:41 who is running a not so little side business
0:35:44 called guinea loft which specializes in these
0:35:47 see-through customizable pet enclosures for guinea pigs,
0:35:50 chinchillas, rabbits, hamsters, ferrets, hedgehogs.
0:35:53 She told CNBC she spends around 20 hours a week
0:35:55 on the business on the side from her responsibilities
0:35:56 as a high school student.
0:35:57 Oh yeah, we still gotta go to school.
0:36:01 Last year she averaged $34,000 a month in sales
0:36:04 at roughly a 25% profit margin.
0:36:06 Now as is often the case in e-commerce
0:36:09 she’s heavily reinvesting those profits
0:36:13 into marketing, audience research, developing new products.
0:36:14 This is common where you’re not able to really
0:36:16 take a ton of cash off the table.
0:36:18 You wanna continue to reinvest in inventory
0:36:19 and grow the thing.
0:36:21 Now guinea loft launched on Amazon two years ago
0:36:24 with a startup cost of around $2,000 in prototypes.
0:36:26 Bella sold out of her first production run
0:36:27 of a hundred units in a couple weeks
0:36:29 with quote unquote no marketing
0:36:32 which I assume that meant just relying
0:36:34 on Amazon’s internal search and discovery features
0:36:35 like not paying for additional exposure.
0:36:37 And that’s interesting to me in itself
0:36:39 because I would have assumed that Amazon
0:36:42 to be probably pretty crowded in the pet product space
0:36:44 at that time but goes to show you.
0:36:46 If you can come at a problem from a unique angle
0:36:48 or perspective you can still carve out some market share.
0:36:51 Bella had had guinea pigs as pets for years
0:36:53 and didn’t love the traditional cage options
0:36:55 so she set out to create something better.
0:36:56 I love that.
0:36:59 Is there a hobby niche that you’re really into
0:37:02 but frustrated with what’s available on the market?
0:37:04 I mean this was Chris and Julia Tunstall
0:37:05 from A Bar Above.
0:37:07 They had this content business in the craft cocktail space
0:37:09 but had a hard time recommending
0:37:12 any really high quality bar equipment on Amazon
0:37:14 so they ended up creating their own
0:37:16 which turned into a multi-million dollar business.
0:37:18 One possible example from our own house.
0:37:21 The kids got a Nintendo Switch a couple years ago.
0:37:22 The controllers that come with it
0:37:25 are painfully small for adult hands
0:37:26 and since I like to play too
0:37:28 I order these larger controllers from Amazon.
0:37:30 They’re definitely better
0:37:31 but if there wasn’t even bigger version
0:37:33 I would probably go for that.
0:37:35 It’s the kind of product ideas you come up with
0:37:39 as a hobbyist or a user in a certain field
0:37:40 and that gives you an advantage
0:37:41 over people approaching product research
0:37:45 purely from a software driven or analytical point of view.
0:37:48 Well this one has a higher percentage of three star reviews
0:37:49 so there must be some opportunity
0:37:50 to improve upon the product
0:37:52 and you should absolutely do that level
0:37:54 of competitive research too
0:37:56 but you gotta know the niche.
0:37:58 I don’t think, I don’t know if this is just coming
0:38:00 into something completely blind and agnostic
0:38:02 as to what product is is really gonna work.
0:38:03 You gotta have a story behind it
0:38:05 and maybe what’s even more impressive about Bella
0:38:08 is that Guinea Loft wasn’t even her first e-commerce business.
0:38:10 She started a leggings brand in 2019
0:38:14 that brought in around $300,000 in revenue in 2020.
0:38:16 This girl knows how to move some inventory
0:38:18 but despite that revenue,
0:38:20 the leggings business had a hard time generating profit
0:38:23 so she decided to pivot her attention
0:38:24 to the guinea pig market.
0:38:27 She told CNBC I had a weird epiphany
0:38:28 where I kind of realized there were a lot
0:38:30 of other companies trying to make leggings.
0:38:31 There was no innovation there
0:38:33 whereas with Guinea Loft,
0:38:35 I could feel a really big gap in the market.
0:38:38 So one pain point or an area of innovation for her
0:38:40 was in the floor area of the enclosures
0:38:43 which not to get too nerdy on guinea pig cages
0:38:45 but these I guess apparently were traditionally made
0:38:46 with plastic bottoms and she said,
0:38:49 “Hey, they smell really bad, they’re really hard to clean.”
0:38:52 So ultimately Guinea Loft created a replaceable bottom
0:38:55 for the enclosures with biodegradable wax coated paper
0:38:58 which actually led to repeat business.
0:39:00 ‘Cause I’m like, well, okay, you sell a guinea pig cage
0:39:02 and then that’s it, you never see that customer again
0:39:04 but because of this replaceable bottom,
0:39:05 now they’ve got repeat customers,
0:39:08 customers come back in order refills of those.
0:39:10 Pretty savvy, pretty inspiring stuff.
0:39:12 Couple other honorable mentions before we wrap.
0:39:15 The first one here is turning a regular bedtime activity
0:39:16 into a side hustle.
0:39:19 This is Sam Ramsden of Australia
0:39:21 who began making up and telling silly stories
0:39:25 to his eldest daughter and eventually turned those stories
0:39:28 into a podcast called Silly Stories for Kids.
0:39:29 There’s a marketing lesson there.
0:39:31 Sometimes you don’t need a clever name,
0:39:33 you can just call it exactly what it is.
0:39:35 Sam told kidspot.com.au.
0:39:36 I’ve always loved storytelling.
0:39:38 When my eldest daughter was two,
0:39:39 I would lay on her bedroom floor
0:39:41 and make up a bedtime story.
0:39:43 He says one day my father-in-law pulled me aside
0:39:45 and said, “Hey, you ought to turn these stories
0:39:46 “into a podcast.”
0:39:48 It wasn’t something that Sam had ever considered
0:39:51 but with that level of support and encouragement,
0:39:53 he figured out how to make it happen.
0:39:56 The first episodes of Silly Stories for Kids
0:39:57 were only released a year ago
0:40:01 and the show has already generated over 700,000 downloads.
0:40:02 For the sake of reference,
0:40:05 the side hustle show took years to reach 700,000 downloads.
0:40:06 So he’s off to the races.
0:40:09 I didn’t hear any ads on the episode that I listened to
0:40:12 but Sam did make a plug to join his listener membership
0:40:14 ranging from $20 to $50 per year
0:40:16 and powered by Buy Me a Coffee
0:40:19 on the SillyStoriesForKids.com website.
0:40:22 There’s also a store with some merch for sale.
0:40:23 Here’s an example of selling your sawdust, right?
0:40:24 Hey, I’m already telling these stories.
0:40:26 I enjoy making them up.
0:40:27 Why not record them?
0:40:28 Why not put them out to the world?
0:40:29 Pretty cool idea.
0:40:30 Another one I thought was interesting
0:40:33 was Lina Pettigrew’s houseplant business.
0:40:35 I’d never heard of this site before
0:40:36 but it’s called Palm Street,
0:40:39 the number one live shopping app for plants,
0:40:40 crafts and crystals.
0:40:41 Did not know this was a thing
0:40:45 but Lina sold almost $150,000 worth of plants
0:40:45 in her first year.
0:40:48 It seems kind of like Twitch but for plants
0:40:50 like a live streaming marketplace
0:40:52 where you can follow your favorite growers,
0:40:54 gardeners and support them by buying their stuff.
0:40:58 Lina said she can sell 1,000 plants in a single session
0:41:01 and ships them out to customers all across the country.
0:41:03 Now I’m not sure how often you can do that.
0:41:05 Volume of sales because these are living things.
0:41:06 They take some time to grow
0:41:09 but I’ve also got to imagine the cost of goods sold
0:41:12 is pretty low especially if you can start to propagate them
0:41:15 from clippings from plants you’ve already got
0:41:17 even if you’re sourcing them from your local nursery
0:41:20 but now all of a sudden people want to buy from you
0:41:21 because of the brand you’ve created.
0:41:23 Maybe you can command premium pricing because of that.
0:41:26 It’s an example of riding that houseplant wave
0:41:28 looking for those trends to piggyback on,
0:41:30 filling demand instead of creating demand.
0:41:33 Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate.
0:41:35 Hope you take a pause for gratitude today
0:41:38 and really every day to start to build that muscle
0:41:40 to be a little more grateful and a little less hateful
0:41:42 and you’re gonna start to notice these little moments
0:41:45 of happiness and bring awareness to those.
0:41:47 I think it’s a really powerful and positive habit.
0:41:50 If you like this type of roundup style show
0:41:51 we’ve been doing it every Thanksgiving
0:41:52 for the last several years.
0:41:54 There’s a Spotify playlist for you
0:41:56 called Creative Sign Hustles
0:41:58 where you can find all the episodes in this series.
0:41:59 I think this is our seventh.
0:42:01 I have a blast putting them together
0:42:05 and I wanna invite you to send me ideas for the next edition.
0:42:07 Maybe we don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving to do it
0:42:08 if we get enough that come in.
0:42:10 But if you do come across an interesting,
0:42:13 surprising, creative, inspiring way to make extra money
0:42:15 I would love to hear about it.
0:42:16 That is it for me.
0:42:18 Thank you so much for tuning in
0:42:20 with gratitude each and every week.
0:42:23 Until next time, let’s go out there and make something happen
0:42:24 and I’ll catch you in the next edition
0:42:25 of The Side Hustle Show.
0:42:26 Hustle on.