Notes from Chris

Episode 130

Can you start a side hustle within your own company? I don't mean a company you own, I mean your employer's company. More often than not, the answer to that question is probably not, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been done! In today's story, we feature a resourceful college dropout who earns two paychecks from one employer.

Zach Shefska is a proud of being a college dropout. As a matter of fact, that’s the first way he describes himself on his website. And like a lot of college dropouts, he’s self-motivated and has a lot of skills. Before working full-time, Zach was a student at the University of Pittsburgh. He dropped out after three semesters, when his mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. He moved back home to live with his family.

When he was first hired for a job at a company that helps non-profits with fundraising, he had made it clear to his boss—the founder and CEO—that he was entrepreneurial. The boss must have remembered this, because after his first year was up, he approached Zach with the proposal to create an all-new product which would also be an all-new department.

Not only was Zach in charge of it, he would have “ownership” over it and would profit from it, with a portion of sales being added to his regular paycheck. Zach remains a salaried employee in addition to this new source of income. It’s a very unusual dynamic. The parent company is sort of his "investor," it's bankrolling the product development.

They launched in July of 2016, and this year they’re projecting gross income of $150-200,000. Net income is around $40,000 a year (or $5,700 a month).

For this side hustle, he has to work extra hours, but he doesn’t have to go far to change job locations.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Fundraising Report Card: Learn more about what Zach and his team are doing to help non-profit organizations
• MarketSmart: The main company that Zach works for that has allowed him this unique opportunity
• Human Rights Watch, The Smithsonian Institute, University of California Los Angeles: A few of the non-profits that Zach and MarketSmart have been able to help along the way
• LinkedIn: The social media platform for professional networking that was the major driver of traffic and sign ups for Fundraising Report Card

SEE ALSO:

• Real Estate Consultant Fills Apartments with Original Artwork: How a woman in Seattle who works as a real estate project manager during the day started a side hustle that literally appeared in front of her. After making $12,000 from that first year-long hustle, now she’s building it into a mid-sized business that she hopes will replace her day job income
• Accountant Starts Net-Zero Personal Finance Hustle: An accountant finds a way to bridge the gap between financial advisers and tax professionals by transferring some of the skills from his day job to his own self-employed income

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,