Mega TV Installer Mounts Extra $1,000/Month

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

In today's story, a home security systems installer mounts a profitable side hustle, hiding wires and hanging TVs, using the profits for a family vacation to his home country of Senegal. This is a day job that leads directly to a side hustle, in other words, the guy noticed something through his regular work that led to him earning a substantial side income later. You might want to think about if there's a way that you can do that, or if at least there's some kind of connection. Also, I love what he does when customers begin asking for a service he doesn't know how to perform. One thing kind of leads to another and people are like, "Hey, can you do this as well?" And he's like, "Well, no, I can't." But actually, he doesn't say that.

So there's a real lesson here for someone, pay attention to this one, you might learn something. Mega TV installer mounts an extra $1,000 a month. That story is coming right up. Several years ago, Abu Toray was working as a cable installer. He would go into people's homes and get their TV services set up.

On numerous occasions, he would be asked by his customers if he could mount their TV or hide all of the wires so they weren't visible. Abu hated the look of those loose unkempt wires, but it wasn't his job to fix them. So time after time, he would respond and tell the customer that he unfortunately couldn't do it. After seven years of working for that cable company, Abu transferred his skills and began working for a security company, Installing Systems. Being in security allowed him to learn new skills such as fishing wires through walls and ceilings so that they're not visible.

Once he gained this knowledge, he thought back to all those missed opportunities of not being able to mount TVs and hide wires. Once he had the knowledge and the skill, what if he could offer it as a service? The only thing left to do was mount his skills into action. Luckily, he didn't have to buy a lot of equipment. He was able to use tools he already had for his job.

He spent about $100 getting some extra supplies like screws, electrical tape, and junction boxes. He also spent $200 getting a business license. But that was it. Just like a quick install, Mega TV installations was in business. Except, how would he find his customers?

He knew there was a big need out there, but he didn't want to spend money on advertising. It turned out he didn't have to look far, because his day job of installing security systems put him inside people's homes on a regular basis. So he started with those visits. At the end of an installation, he would gently pitch his side hustle to the homeowner. Or just mention, "Hey, I happen to do this thing with TVs, take care of wires, etc." He always ensured that he went above and beyond on his security installation so potential customers for him could see first-hand his attention to detail.

In response, customers would often ask for his contact information. Abu didn't have any business cards at first, so he would just write his number on a piece of paper. That worked in the moment, but in the long term he knew something more professional was in order. So after a week of handwriting his number, he went on to Vistaprint and placed an order of business cards. And slowly from there, Abu began to get customers.

He now averages about 7 to 10 jobs a month, and once he had his first handful, he asked his customers to write reviews on Yelp. Business increased further, and he found himself gaining more confidence. He used that momentum to create a website using Wix, then upgrade his business card design with someone he found through Fiverr. As his list of reviews and completed jobs piled up, so did the money in his bank account. Installations range in price, but start at $175 and go up from there.

In 2018, he earned around $4,000 in profit and is on track to more than double that number in 2019. He's also begun offering additional services including home automation, soundbar installation, and light fixture installation. This came to be because customers started asking him for it. And rather than saying no upfront, Abu said he would get back to them. He then went home, got onto YouTube, and learned the new skills he'd need for that job.

He recommends this approach to anyone doing a service-based side hustle. Rather than telling your customer or client that you can't do something, learn what you need and go finish the job. Of course, you have to make sure you can do it well, but in his case, it was just a matter of applying one installation skill to something different. Abu has always dreamed of owning a business, and Megatv's has been the perfect entry point. The extra $1,000 a month has allowed him and his family the opportunity to take a trip to their native country, Senegal.

He hopes to expand in 2020 and hire a couple of other installers to support the workload. And that way, he can focus on launching an all-new project. Well, this story, especially the part about, you know, watching YouTube to gain a new skill, going back to your customer and saying, "Oh, I can do that." It reminds me a little bit of Mark Gaskins, who I've talked about a few times, wrote about him in the 100 Side Hustles book. He's actually the first story in that book. If you open the book, he's on the first page.

He learned how to make candles by watching YouTube. Basically, he got inspired by visiting an upscale men's shop, and it's like, "Wow, these candles are expensive," but they probably don't cost that much to make. So he learned how to do it, and he's built this pretty significant business out of it. I mean, how hard can it be, right? It's probably not simple.

Like, I don't know how to install TVs, I don't know how to make candles, but the point is, there is a path. There is a pathway to that learning. It is accessible. Now, you have one suggestion for Abu. I was taking a look at his website, totally cool to start with the basic website, but I do suggest that he works on his pricing a bit, because I looked there, and he has a couple of packages, which is absolutely the right approach, but there's very little differentiation between the packages.

So there's something called a basic install, and there's something called a premium install, but there's also something called an ultimate service, which is also not totally clear why it's so much better than the basic or the premium one. So I would just suggest some more differentiation there. Maybe it's almost that people should just book one service on the website, but then when he shows up, it's like, oh, here's the service that you booked, you know, I can also do this premium package or the ultimate package, depending on whatever your needs are. Not sure exactly how to do that, but I think some differentiation is needed. But good work, you know, $1,000 a month, direct connection from his day job, spots an opportunity and takes it, which is what I encourage you to do as well.

Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Today's show notes, including links to, of course, mega TV installations, are at sidehustleschool.com/1048. Thanks so much for listening, I hope you do one thing today to get closer to a goal you believe in. I'll be back tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School.