This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Software engineer crafts balloon sculptures. Well, this is a fun one. Welcome back to the podcast. Welcome to Side Hustle School, everybody. My name is Chris Guillebeau, your host.
Today's episode is part of a feature we call your first thousand dollars. Your first thousand dollars. How does somebody have a side hustle idea, turn that idea into reality, create a product or a service and make a thousand dollars? And then they often go on to make much more. But we are interested in the point of origin because so many of our listeners out there are trying to get going with their first side hustle or maybe their next one, but it's so important to get initial revenue.
I really disagree with this idea of like waiting six months and building out comprehensive business plan and doing all this market validation. I think you're gonna validate your idea by getting some revenue. And then of course you might want to tweak or adjust or make some changes as you go along. But enough of my soapbox because we want to give you a story. Today's feature comes from Steve Chandler in St. Paul, Minnesota.
By day, he works as a software engineer. By night, he blows up balloons. That's right. Let's hear the story from him. I'll come back at the end with a few words of wrap up.
[Music]
Hi there, this is Steve. I'm a software engineer by day and a balloon artist by night. Or you could say I bring a whole new level of creativity to my nine to five. It all started when I was asked to create some decorations for a friend's birthday party. Always been a bit of a DIYer, so I figured I can give it a shot.
I started by watching some tutorials online. And before I knew it, I was creating all sorts of balloon creatures, dogs, cats, even a balloon Darth Vader. My friends were impressed and that's when I realized I could turn this into a side hustle. To be honest, I was a bit of a balloonatic about pricing at first, but then I thought, why not let the balloons do the talking? I did some research, checked out what other balloon artists were charging and came up with a price that I felt was fair.
It was a bit of a floater sink moment, but I was ready to inflate my prices and see what happened. My first paid gig was at a kid's birthday party and I was a bit nervous. I mean, who wants to be the dead air when it comes to a child's birthday? But I took a deep breath, twisted my way into the party and got to work. The kids were so excited to see me making all sorts of balloon animals.
And before I knew it, I'd made my first $200. I was over the moon. At the party, one of the moms asked me if I could make a special creation for her husband's 40th birthday. I agreed and that's when the real fun began. I spent the next few days practicing and perfecting the creation.
And on the day of the party, I showed up with a life-size replica of a classic muscle car made entirely out of balloons. That job paid $400. And I did two other events. And before I knew it, I had earned my first $1,000 from my side hustle as a balloon artist. It was a fun and creative outlet and it was a great way to supplement my income as a software engineer.
The key to my success was that I took my time and perfected my craft. I practice every day and I make sure to deliver the highest quality work. I also made sure to invest in the best equipment and materials so I could create the best balloon creations possible. So if you're thinking about starting a side hustle as a balloon artist, my advice is to go for it. Just make sure to do your research and let the balloons do the talking.
And of course, always be ready with a good pun or two. Thanks for letting me share my story. This has been fun. [Music]
All right, big thanks to Steve for telling us about his first $1,000. Listeners, I hope you found it interesting, encouraging.
Perhaps you don't want to blow up balloons, create sculptures, become a balloon entertainer. I definitely do not have that skill. But I know there's something everybody can do. You have a skill that can be adapted, changed, transformed, whatever the case may be. You have some knowledge.
There's something you know that can become an income-generating project. And that's what we're all about here on the podcast, giving you case studies, ideas, examples to get you going, basically to give you the right direction or give you some encouragement, or even just to let you know that there's a global community of people out there trying to do the same kind of thing, but in their own way, which I just think is so beautiful, right? It's just a wonderful model. Everybody's trying to accomplish a similar goal, but in their own way or practice or method or so on. So thank you for being out there.
All that to say, if you have a question or an update about your hustle, sidehustleschool.com, 3,400 plus episodes now, three, four, 3,400 episodes that you can access all for free, sidehustleschool.com. Download or stream there. The new episodes out every day, seven days a week. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
