1723
8 min 2 sec

Utah Dad Makes a Splash with Paddle board Rentals

Pandemic demand for outdoor activities helped this seasonal side hustle—but what really allowed it to thrive was the owner’s use of Google Maps.
Rental Service

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What It's About

A product marketer uses his stand-up paddle board rentals to make waves of profit.

Business Model
Service
Skills Required
Organization & Marketing
Complexity
Low
Profit Potential
Medium

Words of Wisdom

We've said it before but JJ says it better, "Niche, niche, niche. Profitable side hustles are all about finding the right niche for your location."

Fun Fact

JJ’s oldest daughter is 9 and earns money working for the business. She saved up enough to buy herself a mini moped. Way to go!

Notes from Chris

Episode 1723
Afew years ago, JJ Haglund searched for stand-up paddle board (SUP) rentals and found a tech executive renting them out of his garage. It was a side business for him, and JJ thought it was also a brilliant way to expense all his toys! Eventually, the guy built it into a full-fledged rental shop.

Fast forward to 2020. JJ was living in Utah and working as a product marketer for a Fortune 500 tech company. He and his wife were brainstorming ideas for a side hustle that wouldn't cost a lot of money to start.

Then they remembered their experience renting paddleboards a few years earlier and thought, “Why couldn't we do that?" The couple lives close to a number of popular lakes, so maybe it would be a great way to help people get outside, make memories with their families, and put aside any pandemic stress.

To launch JJ’s Paddleboards, he spent less than $2,000 on the initial rental inventory of inflatable standup paddleboards and life jackets, plus lawyer fees on drafting up a good liability waiver. His digital marketing background came in handy. He built the website using Wix.com, optimized it for Google search, and created a Google My Business profile for Google Maps.

It was all fairly simple—and when they landed their first customer, JJ breathed a sigh of relief that it actually worked! However, it took a few weeks for it to pick up because it was an unusually cold June last year. But once the summer heated up, everything was smooth sailing … mostly. He was constantly selling out and getting more requests than he could handle. He celebrated by buying more and more paddleboards every time he made enough money to reinvest back into the business.

In the summer of 2020, he made around $7,000 but put all the profits into more boards. (Now he has a fleet of fifteen.) So far in the 2021 season, he’s brought in around $10,000—and most of it is straight profit.

The business has benefited the family in several ways. First, they get to meet all kinds of people, who tell them about new places in their home state. They’ve enjoyed exploring more of Utah because of awesome places renters tell him about.

JJ hires help when the family goes out of town. He can still coordinate everything remotely, including all the customer communications, but his part-time employee can be there for the customer to pick up the gear and then clean it when they drop it off.

Speaking of cleaning, it’s also been a great opportunity for him to employ his kids to wash the boards between rentals. (Really his oldest daughter, as the others aren’t interested yet.) This teaches them hard work and helps them earn some money. Never too early to learn the joys of working for yourself!

 
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Quote of the Day
"Niche, niche, niche. Profitable side hustles are all about finding the right niche for your location."
—JJ Haglund #SideHustleSchool

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To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau