This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Welcome to another episode of Side Hustle School 2020, question and answer edition. It has been so fun to see all kinds of questions coming in and hear about all sorts of projects that our listeners are working on. So today's listener has a successful furniture repair hustle, but wants to transition to a passive income stream that is less time intensive. Because, you know, the thing about furniture repair is it's kind of a manual process. There's no app for that, at least not yet.
She's also wondering about imposter syndrome, which is something that I hear a lot about. I actually had several questions about this topic come in. When I first asked our community, what's on your mind? You know, open discussion, ask me anything. Several people mentioned something about this.
So I know it's a common struggle and we'll consider it in this context as Angela, our listener, is hoping to make some changes in both her life and work. So here is a sponsor message, then we'll hear it from her. [Music]
Hi there, this is Angela from Toronto. I've been listening to the show since year two and have binge listened to the episodes I originally missed. I currently have a side hustle restoring and refinishing furniture.
It's quite successful, but of course, is reliant upon me sourcing, then finishing, then selling each item. I'm trying to figure out a way to create a passive side to this hustle, but I'm intimidated in feeling the imposter syndrome, as per Melissa Urban, as many of my mentors on Instagram already have videos, e-books, et cetera, available. My question is how to overcome or work through this feeling and how to differentiate myself from a group of established experts. Thanks, Chris, and I'm looking forward to hearing from you. [Music]
All right, thank you, Angela.
And it sounds like we have two different issues here. They're connected, of course, but two distinct issues. The first one is imposter syndrome, okay? And the second one is the business model of creating a passive income stream from this furniture restoration work, which as she points out is by definition time intensive. So for the first one, imposter syndrome, my number one suggestion, at least in this case, is to stop paying attention to what everyone else is doing.
She mentioned that she's got some mentors on Instagram and it can feel intimidating because she looks and not only do they have a lot of followers, but they also have all these courses out. They've been doing it for a while. You know, it seems like they've got everything figured out, or at least they have a good revenue model. That's why my suggestion is to say, don't worry so much about that. You actually go ahead and take a step back.
Like there's a time to follow other experts in your field. And there's also a time to say, you know what? Now it's my turn, okay? And it's not like I'm disagreeing or arguing with anybody necessarily, but I have a message too. Like it's my turn to put something forward.
And so I'm going to focus on that. In a lot of fields, a lot of topics, I don't know the furniture repair world so well, but in a lot of topics, it can be like an echo chamber out there. And you don't necessarily have to differentiate yourself from the established experts because in the long run, you're not really trying to take from their audience, you're trying to build your own. And so like in my case, like I don't read a lot of other business books. I read a lot of books.
I try to read at least one book a week, but I don't read a lot of other business books. I don't listen to any other entrepreneurship focused podcasts. And that's partly because I don't want to be overly influenced like I'm trying to put forward my own message, but also because it might make me feel discouraged. I might look at somebody and this happens sometimes. I look at them and I'm like, wow, they've got it all together.
And they have so many more followers or whatever the metric is, or I can't believe that they can do this. And they've got this really great business as well, whatever it is. So that's the whole comparison thing. I just try to avoid it. So my encouragement is separate yourself from the echo chamber and ask, what is your key message?
If someone came to your shop, your workshop, or your home, or wherever you do the furniture repair and said, hey Angela, show me how to do this, or what is the most important thing I need to know about this particular topic? Maybe it's something really specific, a style, a technique, similar, how would you go about guiding them? And that is key to the second issue, which is basically how to go from where you are now to where you want to be. And so as for that revenue model, it sounds like it's going to be some form of education or instruction. That's just kind of what I take away from Angela's question when she mentions other people's eBooks, courses, et cetera.
It could be something different, but I tend to think if you want to go to a passive income model from something that is manually intensive, it's not going to be a physical product, it's going to be something in that broad world of education. So if it were me, I would spend my time thinking about that. I would think about what is the best method, the best medium, what is the knowledge that I want to transfer? And then what is the best packaging for that? Then what is the best pricing for that?
And then for whatever it is I create, how do I get it out to those people who might be interested in it? And that's what we're going to be spending a lot of time on this year through many different examples. [Music]
All right, thanks again, Angela. Maybe you get a website up and let us know. We can share it with people here.
And listeners, do you have a question? Well, if so, just come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. Pretty simple. You can ask one and you might actually get an answer. We featuring these questions throughout the year, along with updates from people as they launch their projects.
Today's show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/1100. 1-1-0-0. We have turned it up to 1100 in classic Spinal Tap fashion. Hope you enjoyed this episode. Much more is on the way.
My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
from the Onward Project.
