This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Side Hustle School listeners, welcome back. My name is Chris Guillebeau. As you know, this show is all about helping you start a side hustle and income generating project without quitting your day job. And here's an interesting scenario. What if your side hustle is actually directly related to what you do for your employer?
Now often it's much better to have a more indirect connection, to use the skills that you've learned in one field or with one career or through whatever training or education you've had, and then apply them in a different way. But today's story will show you how someone did it a bit differently and merely transferred some of his skills from his work with his employer to his own self-employed income. And while a lot of people might prefer to do something a bit different, day job side hustle, for some people this may be just what you need to hear. [Music]
And now our story. In St. Louis, Missouri, Mike Zader works
in the finance department at a medium sized corporation. He does financial reporting and other accounting. After graduating with a master's in accountancy in 2012, he became a licensed CPA the next year. He saw a gap in the knowledge between financial advisors and tax professionals. Mike was familiar with the tax side of things, so he started studying about investments and personal finance.
He read books, he listened to podcasts. He tried to be an active learner and increase his knowledge however he could. To get some direct experience, he began helping friends and family with their tax returns and advising on their savings plans. And after doing a number of consultations for free, he began charging a fee. The first year he did this, he really was just experimenting.
He made about $2,800, which was still great. But the following year he was up to $15,000 all by working on the side. Now Mike made an important decision when he got his first sale. He received a check for $300. He took that check to the bank and opened up a business account, which being a good accountant, he used exclusively for the new hustle.
From that point on, he decided that he wouldn't spend any money on the hustle if he didn't have it in that account. So he called this a net zero strategy and it helped keep him focused even as he was busy with the job and slowly adding to his client base. Now these kinds of professional advice services tend to grow mostly by referral, but Mike also has a practice he calls the three contact pitch process. He says he maintains a master list of clients or potential clients along with a note of when he contacted them last. He forces himself to connect with three people on this list every week.
It may be a client he hasn't spoken to in a while, maybe someone he thinks might be a future client. Sometimes he just reconnects with a friend, but then mentions his business just in case they happen to think of someone who might need his help. He knows that people have a hard time sharing information about their finances to others, which can lead to a lot of denial, some decisions they need to make but have been putting off. And when he's able to help someone plan the next six months to 20 years, the relief and excitement of being on a plan makes him feel fulfilled knowing that he's part of that solution. And as I said, after that initial year of experimentation, Mike's first year paying more attention to the hustle brought in $15,000.
He's hoping to keep growing it until it replaces his full-time income as an employee. Now, as I said, this hustle is a direct extension of a day job. And we often look at hustles that have very little to do with someone's work, or at least what they work on during the day. But here we can see how Mike used the same skills but to focus on a different client base. And in his case, the skill he had gained in getting that graduate degree was directly related to both his employment and the freelance work that he started.
Most people tend to choose one or the other, but he made that interesting choice to pursue both at the same time. And he also identified that gap between accounting and finance professionals. It really is rare for someone to have both those skills because those professionals tend to specialize. I wanted to mention something about his taking that first $300 check and opening a business account, and then having that net zero strategy of not buying anything unless there are funds in that account. I think that's really great.
I also think it won't work for everyone. So if that doesn't work for you, that's okay. But it was definitely a positive motivation for him. Now, Mike also let me know that he and his wife decided not to draw any money from that account. In other words, not to pay himself anything until it grows even further.
So Mike seems like a very disciplined guy. He obviously knows what he's doing. But usually if you're starting out, I think it's actually important to pay yourself something as soon as the hustle begins working. As you know from the different stories you've heard, there's something different about money that comes from something that you made or something you created or have ownership over the whole point of that income coming outside your paycheck. And I think you should enjoy it a little.
I think you should do something fun with at least some of it. And for those of us who aren't as disciplined as Mike, it might motivate us to improve that hustle even further. It may not happen quite like that for you, but if you listen to these stories and you apply them to your own hustle, you will see results over time. Remember, inspiration is good, but inspiration combined with action is so much better. I hope you do one thing today to get you closer to that income generating project to increasing freedom and opportunity and a backup plan, even if you love your job.
You can find the show notes for today's episode at sidehustleschool.com/66. Now today we're talking about personal finance. I realized yesterday I mentioned the unconventional guide to publishing that my literary agent wrote a few years ago. Today I'll also link up a guide called Get Rich Slowly, which is all about how to leave debt behind, master your money and achieve financial independence. That was written by a good friend of mine, J.D. Roth,
also a couple of years ago. And he also had the ambitious goal of creating one lesson a week for an entire year. So if you pick up that guide, you'll have access to those 52 weeks of personal finance lessons. I hope this is helpful to you. I hope you're doing well.
Thank you for listening. I'm Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School, and I'll see you tomorrow. [Music]
