This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hey friends, what's up? Welcome to Side Hustle School. Welcome to Throwback Thursday. It's a weekly segment we do every Thursday. Just seemed kind of like the right day to do it.
And in this segment, we take an in-depth look at someone whose story has evolved since we first featured them. And we've been making this podcast every day since January 1, 2017. We have this full wealth of archives to go back through. Also lots of submissions from you, our listeners. And you can do that on the website actually.
You can go and submit your own story to be featured, which we'd love to hear about. That's sidehustleschool.com. So last week we heard from the founder of Little Princess Parties, a children's party hosting business. Today in our latest feature, we'll hear from a Chicago Car Parts reseller. A little bit of a different business.
After his first couple of years scouring junkyards for deals, he now sources most of his goods online. So like many of us, he has adapted. He has learned to be flexible to keep his business going. What's happened since we last heard from Jack? Let's hand the microphone over to him.
I'll come back at the end with a quick wrap up. Here's Jack. [Music]
Hey, my name is Jack and I'm a car part reseller based in Chicago. I've always had a passion for cars and a talent for finding great deals. So when I stumbled upon the world of part reselling, I knew it was a perfect fit for me.
I started small scouring, you know, local junkyards and online marketplaces for used parts that I could refurbish and sell for a profit. My first big break came when I stumbled upon a guy who was getting rid of a bunch of parts from his auto repair shop. I jumped at the opportunity and ended up buying a whole bunch of parts that I was able to sell for a pretty nice profit. So as my business grew, I started to realize the importance of inventory management. I quickly learned that if I wanted to be successful, I needed to have a good understanding of what parts were in demand and where I could get them at a good price.
I also realized that I needed to have a good system for keeping track of my inventory and for managing my orders. So for a while, I ended up buying and stocking way too many items that didn't sell often enough. So to help me with this, I started using a software program that allowed me to keep track of all my inventory and orders in one place. So this allowed me to focus on finding new parts that were more desirable, as well as connect them with the right customers. One of the biggest highlights of my business was when I was able to secure a contract with a local auto repair shop.
So the shop was in need of a steady supply of parts and I was able to provide them with high quality refurbished parts at a fraction of the cost. So this was a huge win for me, obviously, and it helped me to establish my business as a reliable source of parts for businesses as well as consumers. Since I was last featured, I do way more sourcing online. There are just so many places to find items. So I look for the lesser known ones.
I buy some stuff from eBay Motors, but I'm more likely to look up random Craigslist ads or use offer up since there's less competition there. If someone else wanted to start this kind of business, there are a few things they should know. So first, it's important to have a good understanding of the market and what parts are in demand. You should also have a good system for keeping track of your inventory and for managing your orders. Don't wait to figure it out like I did.
And finally, it's really important to establish good relationships with your suppliers and customers. Ideally, you want people to keep coming back and recommending you. Overall, you know, being a car part reseller has been a wild ride. I've learned a lot, but I've had a lot of fun along the way. I'm excited to see where this business takes me next.
[Music]
All right, big thanks to Jack for sharing his updates with us. Listeners, let me know what you think, who you'd like to see featured from our archives of more than a thousand stories. If you've got a question and update for us about your hustle, as mentioned, you can send that to us. We'd love to feature you on the podcast, sidehustleschool.com/questions. And today has been episode 2259.
Tomorrow, 2,260 coming up. It's all completely free. Subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcasts. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
