Ultimate Ukuleles Tune Up Underrated Side Income

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

[Music]

Let's talk today about ukuleles, mm-hmm. That's right, ukuleles. Did you know, here's a fun fact, well, I guess you knew this first part, but probably not the second, the ukulele originated in Hawaii and closely translates to the Hawaiian word for jumping flea. While the ukulele is experiencing a surge in popularity right now, it's the new thing. All the kids are doing it.

It isn't the first time this instrument has captured our hearts. In 1915 and 1935, ukuleles also grew in popularity directly after times of financial hardship. This is true. As I said, a fun fact that's actually interesting. Now, in today's story, by the way, welcome to Side Hustle School.

I'm your host, Chris Guillebeau. In today's story, when a music store employee becomes concerned about a recession, he hits the right note by selling high-end ukuleles to make extra money. Ultimate ukuleles tune up underrated side income. That story is coming right up. [Music]

In the fall of 2015, Canada was staring down the barrel of a recession and Dave Simpson was concerned.

Money was tight and jobs were being cut, one of which was his wife's. Luckily for Dave, he kept his job throughout the turmoil. This was partly due to a true recession never taking place and partly due to the fact that he was an expert in his field. He'd spent the previous 10 years working in the musical instrument industry and he knew about everything from acoustic guitars to xylophones. That job was safe for now, but he could still hear the beat of the recession drum.

It was hopeful of making some extra money while his wife was out of work. With his eyes open, opportunities presented themselves. One of them came through Dave's employer, a retail chain specializing in high-end guitars sourced from overseas. As part of that job, he had the opportunity to visit China and Japan to source new products. It was there that Dave began tuning up a new idea.

He was convinced his side hustle should be related to his area of expertise and the suppliers he was meeting could make any instrument someone might need. Around the same time, he'd learned of Fulfilled by Amazon, a platform where sellers offer products directly through Amazon and they ship them out on your behalf. Dave figured if he could find the right instrument and couple it with FBA, he'd be well on the way to achieving his goal. The only thing left to decide on was which musical instrument to sell. You'll never guess what he chose.

Well, you probably will if you heard the introduction or you saw the title. Dave landed on the ukulele. He loved the instrument and knew from experience that most ukuleles were poorly made and designed to be more of a toy than a high-end instrument. He envisioned the perfect ukulele, something on par with the high-end guitars he sold at his day job, one that used real wood to project the best sound and quality tuning heads so players could hold perfect melodies. With suppliers at the ready, he invested $7,000.

It was a risk, but one he felt confident taking. He was certain his ukuleles would strike a chord. For a name, he picked Honolulu Ukuleles, a Hawaiian-sounding name in honor of the instrument's birthplace. Soon after, he placed his first order for 60 instruments. By now, a year had passed.

It was 2017 and Dave started to feel a little guilty. Since his side hustle was so closely related to his day job, he decided to tell his employer about it. He loved that job and was worried if the information came out later, it might not look good. What happened next took Dave by surprise. He was fired immediately, thrown out on the street and the police were called.

Wait a second, that's not quite right. That's the wrong story, sorry. It turned out his employer was completely supportive. He immediately offered to stock Honolulu Ukuleles in all four of his retail stores. With that, Dave's Amazon idea was replaced with a wholesale concept.

He had plenty of contacts in the industry, so he knew he had a good shot at other stores stocking his ukes. Soon, his first batch of 60 were accounted for. It was time to take the profits and keep riffing. Around this time, he realized the value of working more closely with his suppliers. The second batch of ukes came with a few mistakes, nothing terrible, but also not the high quality he promised.

Instead of returning them, Dave negotiated a discount, which would help his profit margins when time came to sell. And sell he did. Although wholesale remained his best avenue for sales, he also invested in a website and over the next year worked on building Honolulu Ukuleles into its own brand. He tried all the traditional online marketing channels from AdWords to newsletters to SEO. Building up his online presence is a top priority for the coming year in hopes of increasing his already impressive numbers.

In 2019 alone, Dave sold over $120,000 worth of Ukuleles, 40,000 of which is profit. For now, he's still working his day job, although that may change in the near future. [Music]

Congratulations, Dave. Thank you for allowing us to share your story. Big success there.

I think the ukulele is an underestimated instrument. You really can do a lot with it. Working on this one reminded me of episode 938. Hawaiian native teaches virtual ukulele lessons. I should go check up on that guy because I wonder if he's seen an increase in business in the past couple of months.

Virtual ukulele lessons, that was episode 938. Also, don't you love how Dave was a little bit afraid or feeling guilty about telling his boss, but his boss ended up being very supportive. I hear stories like that all the time. Far more often than not, the employer ends up being supportive of the hustle. To be fair though, there are times when that's not the case.

So I understand why he had that trepidation, but I'm glad it all worked out. All right, listeners, I hope you enjoyed it. Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Today's show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/1221. Thank you so much for listening.

I'll be back again tomorrow. This is Chris Guillebeau for "Side Hustle School." [Music]

From the Onward Project.