598
10 min 15 sec

Crafty Mompreneur Brings in $12,000 in Eight Weeks

A mom in search of a new side hustle creates a profitable after-school enrichment class.
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What It's About

When the need for a side hustle arises, this mother gets real crafty!

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

Words of Wisdom

How can you get started in this type of Side Hustle? The first step would be to approach your local elementary schools, or school district. If they allow private vendors to hold after-school classes, your next step is to find out about background checks and insurance. Once you take care of these prerequisites, all that remains is deciding what class you’d like to teach.

And when it comes to class content, May says that Pinterest has been the source of her best ideas!

Fun Fact

May started to notice at the end of crafts class that some students would sneak craft supplies into their backpacks to take home. She questioned them why they were doing this. They explained they had siblings at home who would love to make the crafts too, and this gave her an idea for yet another side hustle. She decided to create a book of the kids’ most favorite craft projects and included step-by-step instructions complete with large, colorful pictures. Get it on Amazon!

Notes from Chris

Episode 598

Back in 2016, May Najafabadi was a hard working mom looking to start a side hustle. She wasn’t new to the entrepreneurial lifestyle—in the early days of e-commerce, May ran a business reselling phone accessories on eBay and Amazon. But after eight years and a lot of other sellers entering the market, her business was no longer profitable. She and her husband were also flipping security cameras, but this market quickly dried up too.

Because of her experiences with the ups and downs of business, May wanted to diversify. She was reluctant to be totally dependent on one source of income. By this time, her son was in the third grade, and she wanted to start a new business that had a low startup cost and wouldn’t take up too much of her time.

While considering her options, May remembered that her son enjoyed taking after-school enrichment classes. These classes are offered for one hour, immediately after school dismissal. They range from sports like basketball and tennis, to less physical activities like chess or “mad science.” The courses are offered by private vendors who came to the school, and the kids stayed after school to participate because they were fun.

This was also ideal for parents that couldn’t pick their children up right away. They would pay a fee directly to the vendor and could rest assured knowing their kids were safely entertained while having an extra hour in their day before the kids needed to be retrieved.

When May’s son was in preschool and kindergarten, he really enjoyed making crafts. However, the elementary school stopped making crafts with the kids after first grade. This was May’s inspiration—she says starting a crafts after-school enrichment class at her son’s school seemed like the perfect new project! She called it Creative Kidz Crafts.

May kept her expectations low for enrollment in that first class. She thought to herself that she would be happy if 6 students enrolled. Much to her surprise and pleasure, she had 18 kids sign up! She charged $120 per child for a one hour class held one day a week for a total of eight weeks. She made over $2,000 from that first class—working a total of approximately 8 hours (if you do the math, this equals $250 per hour).

After that, she decided to expand and offer her class to other neighborhood elementary schools. May now offers two classes: in addition to her “Crafts” class, she has a “Jewelry Making” class. Each class is one hour, one day a week, for an eight-week session.

At the moment, May holds class at 5-10 schools per week, and she's started experimenting with pricing. She now charges $140 per student - $120 sign-up and $20 for supplies. The price increase didn’t seem to affect enrollment. In eight weeks time, she made $12,000! Pretty impressive profit for working only one hour a day! You could say making money using this model is child’s play.



MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Creative Kidz Crafts: It's not just macaroni necklaces and popscicle stick turkeys—learn more about the side hustle May is crafting over on her website!

SEE ALSO:


Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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Quote of the Day
"Because of my past experiences with ups and downs of business, I did not want to put all my eggs in one basket. I really wanted to diversify and find a second business that will not occupy too much of my time."
—May Najafabadi #SideHustleSchool

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To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau