This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
What's up friends? Chris Guillebeau here, your host of Side Hustle School. I'm really excited because today's episode 2,799, we have almost reached, well, 2,800. That comes after this episode. So that's tomorrow, but I'm excited that we have made it thus far, the penultimate episode before 2,800.
And it is bouncing back after two years of discouragement. That's what we're gonna call it. No relation to the episode number. This does take place on Friday. Every Friday we do a segment called Failure Friday, where we hear from an aspiring small business owner or a side hustler or successful entrepreneur.
Could be any range of folks. And we hear something that doesn't go well. We hear about a mistake, a misstep, a disaster or a downright failure. And not only do we hear what went wrong, where their assumption was faulty or in some cases it's not their fault in any way. It just kind of comes at them and they have to figure out what to do next.
How does one regroup and respond? Well, today it's a little bit different. I mean, it's well within that category, but basically someone kind of just gives up, like tries something, it doesn't work out. And then instead of trying something else, they just kind of get discouraged. So eventually they do bounce back, thus the title, Bouncing Back After Two Years of Discouragement.
But I want to dedicate this to anybody out there who has been discouraged or who has tried doing a side hustle and it hasn't worked out. And this is kind of a common experience. Like I've tried a lot of ideas and they haven't worked and then I just try a new idea. So you have to kind of get that mindset somehow. And maybe it'll be helpful for you to hear from somebody else who went through that.
This short story features Leo. And as you might guess, he had some challenges, but he has managed to bounce back. Let's hear the whole story from him. He'll tell it better than I could, but I'll be back at the end with a quick wrap up. [Music]
Hi, I'm Leo.
A few years ago, I had an early side hustle idea that didn't pan out and the failure hit me hard. I was mad at myself and discouraged, which led to me essentially giving up on trying new ventures for two years. But when I finally decided to give it another shot, the very first idea I had turned out to be life-changing. That initial idea was to start a subscription box service for fitness enthusiasts. I spent months researching, sourcing products and developing a marketing plan.
When I launched, however, the response was lukewarm at best. Despite my efforts, I struggled to attract subscribers and manage the logistics of shipping and inventory. After a few months of minimal progress and mounting costs, I decided to shut it down. The failure felt personal and I was incredibly hard on myself. I questioned my abilities and the feasibility of my ideas.
This self-doubt lingered and for the next two years, I avoided taking risks or pursuing any new side hustles. After two years of feeling stuck, I had a conversation with a friend who encouraged me to try again. They reminded me that failure is part of many entrepreneurs' experiences and that giving up entirely wasn't the answer. Thinking it over, I decided to take another shot at starting a side hustle. This time, I decided to create a simple, minimalist budgeting template for personal finance.
I'd always been good at managing my own finances and knew there was a market for straightforward, easy-to-use budgeting tools. The project required minimal investment and leveraged my existing skills with spreadsheet software. I spent a weekend designing a clean, easy-to-use budgeting template in Google Sheets. The template included sections for income, expenses, savings goals, and debt tracking. To make it even more user-friendly, I recorded a short tutorial video on how to use it.
I listed the budgeting template on a popular digital marketplace and shared it on social media, including personal finance forums and groups. The response was immediate and positive. People appreciated the simplicity and practicality of the tool, and I sold over 100 copies within the first month, earning around 500 bucks. It wasn't a huge amount of money, but it was enough to boost my confidence and remind me that I had valuable skills to offer. The positive feedback and steady sales proved that my idea had merit and that there was a demand for straightforward financial tools.
The experience taught me several important lessons. One, leverage existing skills. Using my knowledge of personal finance and spreadsheet software made the project manageable and aligned with my strengths. Two, start small. A simple, low-cost project like a budgeting template allowed me to test the market without significant risk.
Three, engage with communities. Sharing my templates in relevant forums and groups helped me reach my target audience quickly and effectively. Today, I continue to create and sell digital products aimed at improving personal finance. I've expanded my offerings to include more detailed budgeting tools, financial planners, and even a few online workshops. This experience has taught me to trust my abilities and to keep moving forward, even when things don't go as planned.
[Music]
My friends, thank you for being out there. Thank you for listening to the podcast. I want to remind you, never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. If you have tried something and it hasn't worked, you need to try something different. I mean, feel free to take a break, do what you need.
Rest is good, but I don't want you to be overly discouraged. It's okay to kind of mourn or grieve an idea that doesn't work, but then you have to think, okay, what do I do next? And I try to live that way myself. So it's not just something I'm admonishing you about. It's something that I think is universal or important for all of us at least who want to advance our lives through the form of a, some kind of financial independence goal.
Thanks to Leo for sharing this story. If you have a question or comment, www.sidehustleschool.com. As mentioned, this was 2,799. New episodes come out every single day, seven days a week, always completely free. My name's Chris Guillebeau.
This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
- From the Onward Project.
