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What It's About
What kind of a side hustle has a low startup cost and brings in passive income for a man in Poland? Trivia quizzes!
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
John went to local bars with a simple pitch: he’d take one of their quietest weeknights and bring more people to the bar, starting with 40 regulars from his current slot. He would keep the entry fee for the quiz, and the bar would keep whatever was spent in drink. Because this was such a plus for the bar, it was just a few days before he found a location.
There’s a lesson in pitching there for all of you side hustlers out there. When you pitch, be sure to come with a high-value proposition—like John’s offer of increased patrons—and try to keep the downside minimal. In this case, the bar didn’t have anything to lose and everything to gain.
Fun Fact
John’s quiz night is paid for in cash, and instead of depositing them in the bank, they go into a big change jar in his house to pay for groceries or random daily outgoings.
Notes from Chris
Episode 388
Over the last ten years, pub quizzes have become a staple of expat life for a guy named John also known as Mr. Know It All. In his adopted Polish home of Krakow, John and a few of his fellow expat friends took it upon themselves to help write questions and host a trivia night at their new local bar. For them it wasn’t just some trivia-l task, it was a labor of love. As the years went by, John’s friends slowly began to move away from the job of writing the weekly quiz fell to him. But this wasn’t a problem. He felt his years of experience had given him a knack for writing questions, and the work was enjoyable. Over time, however, John began to feel the strain of not having his friends to help out. He could write the questions easily enough, but he was beginning to feel the strain financially. Although he’d receive free beer whilst hosting, this wasn’t enough to cover the six hours he spent preparing and hosting. The contestants paid to participate in the quiz, but that money went directly to the bar. John saw this as unfair, but also an opportunity. If he could take his quiz night elsewhere, he could charge the entry fee and get paid for his time, while helping another bar to grow its custom. A win/win … as it’s known in side hustle circles. He’s not sure how the idea came to him, but John decided that he would try and sell the questions on Amazon. He had more than enough content to fill multiple books of questions, and he knew that most of the quiz-based books out there weren’t that great. This was his opportunity to do create something unique. Taking 500 of his favorite questions, he uploaded them to Kindle Direct Publishing and formatted them through their own in-house tools. John wanted to do this without spending any money at all, so he created a cover in Canva that looked acceptable. In order to keep his privacy, John published his books under the nom-de-plume Mr. Know It All and priced them at $9.75, which he felt was competitive with other books in his market. With the combined income of his book and his in-person quiz night, John makes between $800 and $900 per month from his side hustle, for about seven hours of work each week. This level of income even prompted John to write and publish a second book of 500 more questions.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing: The self-publishing platform that John used to create his quiz books
- Canva: The online design platform that John used to create his book covers
- How to Make a Trivia Quiz: If you're interested in creating a pub quiz of your own, here are some things to consider
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