This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Side Hustle School listeners, welcome to a new episode. My name is Chris Guillebeau, so glad you're tuning in from wherever you are in the world. Hopefully I'll get a chance to meet many of our listeners this year as I will be touring again in August and September. More details on that as we get closer. But for now, today's episode is part of a feature we've been doing called Your First Thousand Dollars.
Now, as you might guess or you might know if you've been around for a while, it's all about how someone makes their first $1,000. How did they get to that point? Not their first $100,000 or their first million dollars, their first $1,000. In fact, today we're gonna go to the UK, so I should say pounds, first 1,000 pounds. Wow, I have to relabel the whole segment.
Let's not do that, let's go with $1,000, okay? But, you know, same difference. How do you make money for the first time? And this feature comes to us from Ben. Ben is in London, he is a walking tour guide.
Well, he is a tour guide. Well, he's a guide leading walking tours. I gotta figure these things out before I tell you. He's a tour guide leading walking tours in London. He leads these tours only on weekends, brings in an extra 2,500 pounds.
That's about $3,000. So I guess pounds are better in this way. An extra $3,000 a month leading these tours only on weekends. But of course, how did he get going? How did he make it happen?
How did he start London walking tours? Let's hear it from Ben. I'll have a quick wrap up at the end. [Music]
Hi there, this is Ben. I've always loved exploring new cities and learning about their history and culture.
So when I moved to London for work, I was excited to dive in and discover all that the city had to offer. I spent my weekends visiting museums, walking through neighborhoods and chatting with locals to learn more about the city's rich history. One day a friend mentioned that she was helping a friend with a walking tour company in the city. She knew that I was passionate about London and had a knack for telling stories. So she asked if I would be interested in leading one of the tours.
I was a bit hesitant at first, but didn't have any experience and wasn't sure if I would be able to keep a group of strangers entertained for an entire afternoon. But I decided to give it a shot and signed up to lead my first tour on a sunny Saturday morning. I spent the week leading up to the tour, researching and preparing, trying to come up with interesting tidbits and facts about the city's history. On the day of the tour, I met my group of 10 tourists at the designated starting spot and set off on our journey. To my surprise, the tour went off without a hitch.
The group was engaged and asked lots of questions. And I was able to keep them entertained with my stories and insights about the city. At the end of the tour, several members of the group thanked me and said they had a great time. Encouraged by the success of my first tour, I decided to try offering my own. I began to build up a small but loyal group of customers who enjoyed them and recommended them to their friends and family.
I even started to receive positive reviews online, which helped attract new customers. As my tour business grew, I started to learn more about the city and its history. I discovered new neighborhoods and landmarks that I had never explored before. And I learned a lot about the city's heritage. One of my favorite stories from the early days leading tours was about the time I took a group to see the Tower of London.
As we were walking through the castle, I started to tell the group about the famous prisoners who had been held there over the years. Just as I was getting to the part about Sir Walter Raleigh, one of the tourists interrupted me and asked, "Wait, wasn't he the guy who brought potatoes to Ireland?" I was a bit taken aback by the question. I had never heard that Sir Walter Raleigh was responsible for introducing potatoes to Ireland. But after a quick Google search, I discovered that the tourist was actually right. Sir Walter Raleigh had indeed brought potatoes to Ireland in the late 16th century.
I was so embarrassed. I hadn't known this key fact, but the tourist just laughed and said, "Hey, no worries, I'm still enjoying the tour." In the end, leading walking tours in London ended up being a great part-time gig for me. It allowed me to share my love of the city with others, and it's brought in a steady stream of extra income, about two and a half thousand pounds per month on average. I've made a few new friends along the way, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to share my passion for London with so many people. [Music]
Ben, thanks so much.
Really appreciate you telling us about your first thousand pounds. Listeners, I hope you found it encouraging. Check out London walking tours the next time you're in the city, as long as you're there on a weekend, of course, 'cause Ben's busy during the week. If you've got a question or an update for us about your hustle, let me know what's going on, sidehustleschool.com/questions. You can also follow me on social media.
Or as I said, hopefully I'll be able to see many listeners and readers in person later this year. Looking forward to that. For now, take care of yourself. Do something to get closer to a goal you believe in. And subscribe, follow, come back tomorrow.
My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
- From The Onward Project.
