Tag: Reselling

Car Parts Employee Finds Shocking Surplus Suspension

What It’s About

A hustle for replacement car parts becomes a million dollar business.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Is it possible to start a hustle from your passion or hobby? Sean has some great advice, “If you want to go after a niche market, look at your own hobbies and see if there’s any interest in pursuing one of them, or a part of one. There are always opportunities for improvement, whether in product or service.”

Fun Fact

Shock absorbers can last anywhere from 5 – 10 years depending on the driver and the terrain. If you are selling an item with such a long time between purchases try to sell at a high price point as you can’t rely so much on repeat business.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1140

Sean Reyes was in his mid-twenties when he was hired as the director of marketing for a car parts company. It was a hefty title for someone so young—and it caused some issues in his work environment.

He often felt like others at the company didn’t take him seriously. He’d make suggestions that were ignored and devised strategies that weren’t followed. It made him consider looking for another job, or at least another source of income in case he ever felt like quitting.

So he got to thinking…

One type of part the company sold was car suspension systems, otherwise known as shock absorbers: the large springs that sit just behind the tires to help cars drive smoothly. It was a niche product, but one that Sean thought could sell well online. He decided to see if his suspicion was correct.

The plan was to keep things simple, cheap, and efficient. He didn’t want to outlay a bunch of money upfront buying parts, especially when he didn’t know which ones would sell. There are literally thousands of different shocks for every make and model of car, and it wouldn’t be fun he was left holding onto them.

After doing some research, he decided that dropshipping was the way to go. Dropshipping is a method of selling products where you don’t actually store any stock. Instead, after you sell something you pay the supplier to ship it to the customer on your behalf.

To start, he did some research and compiled a list of available shocks, including part numbers and which type of car they go with. From the list, Sean picked a few carefully selected models and created eBay listings for them after he got home from work one day.

What followed was totally shocking…

Within two days, Sean sold his first two shock absorbers. Followed by two more a day later and more than ten by the end of the week. As Sean puts it, he felt like he found a gold mine he’d always suspected was there, but was too lazy to dig.

Within a few months he was spending every spare moment of his evenings listing shocks for sale on eBay, answering customer support, and processing orders. By that time, he was already making around five thousand dollars per month with almost no start-up costs.

He continued down this smooth road for the next few years, quite easily making a very good amount of money outside of his day job. Eventually, Sean started questioning why he was working that job at all. He figured he could easily quit and dedicate a little more time to his shocking side hustle … as well as a lot more time to his hobbies.

So he did just that…

After quitting his job, he began listing more and more shocks for sale on eBay and Amazon. That kept the wheels turning. In his first month full-time, Sean sold thirty five thousand dollars worth of shocks. Six months later, that amount had jumped to eighty thousand. This wasn’t a 100% profit, but the margins were very healthy.

To move things along, he hired a customer support person to help with all the email requests. Then, he chose to build his own website, ShockSurplus.com. Although eBay and Amazon were fruitful, having his own entity would provide legitimacy and another marketing channel. He invested heavily in content and SEO in order to try to find more customers through Google.

Like a coiled suspension being released, that’s when the business really bounced! Over the next few years Sean turned his Shock Surplus from a side hustle into a million dollar business.

After stumbling across a dated industry that hadn’t yet been shaken up by internet marketing, he found innovative—yet simple—ways to market old products. Shock Surplus was able to rev to the limit, avoiding too many bumps in the road.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

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RELIABLE WEBHOST FOR $2.49/MONTH

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Quote of the Day
"If you want to go after a niche market, look at your own hobbies and see if there’s any interest in pursuing one of them, or a part of one. There are always opportunities for improvement, whether in product or service."
—Sean Reyes #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

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To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Busy Mom Flips RVs for Fun and Profit

What It’s About

You’ll flip over this story of a mom who renovates and sells RVs.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

We love stories where busy parents prove time and time again that it’s not impossible to run a successful hustle. Hear from Sarah, “With any side hustle, there is the struggle of finding a balance. I don’t clock in and out of being a mum or for working on my blog or RV renovations.”

Fun Fact

The first RV that Sarah bought was in horrific condition. In fact, she bought something that she now warns others against. Being able to still turn a profit after renovating it was what drew her to start this side hustle.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1130
Stay-at-home mom Sarah Lemp has many irons in the fire. With her time split between caring for her five children and running her DIY blog, she often tries to take care of both responsibilities at once. Many of her activities involve making handmade items with her children and sharing the process with her readers. Over the years, she’d built a loyal following of readers.

One day, Sarah took things to another level. Her family had purchased their first RV and found that it was in horrible condition. Their first thought was that the $1,700 they spent on this 1956 vintage trailer was a bad financial decision. But, determined to make the most of it, they renovated that RV and started going on road trips—the very purpose for which they had bought it.

A few years later, this RV having served its purpose, Sarah listed it for sale on Facebook Marketplace. To her surprise, it sold that very same day … and for a significant profit. This discovery opened up a new whole world.

If she could sell her handmade products, Sarah wondered why she couldn’t sell refurbished RVs. Having lived on a tight budget, she had plenty of experience—and fun—fixing things up and making them look a lot nicer.

Her first intentional reno project took three months, and since then, Sarah has only gotten more efficient. Today, she’s able to flip at least one RV a month. On average, each RV sold brings her $6,000 of profit. How about that?!

Throughout the process, Sarah documents the journey on her blog, AllThingsWithPurpose.com, allowing her to keep her readers engaged as well. She’s found a whole new wave of readers with this series.

With increasing expertise and experience, Sarah is also able to share the best tips with her readers—everything from pricing an RV to knowing what to look out for when inspecting the vehicle before purchase. She knows that she would have saved a lot of time and money if she had this knowledge when she first started out.

The best part of the experience has been the chance to make real money without sacrificing quality time with her children. Sometimes she’s able to involve them with the work; other times she tackles her tasks while they’re otherwise occupied.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Learn more about Sarah and her projects at her blog AllThingsWithPurpose.com.
  • Want to learn more about how Sarah flips RV? Read this awesome post she wrote about the process and cost.

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

WEB HOSTING @ $2.49/MONTH

Want to build any kind of website for your hustle? If so, you'll need somewhere to host it! This is the reliable company I've used for many websites. It's cheap, flexible, and offers support 24-7.

Get your own hosting plan for just $2.49 a month!
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GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

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Quote of the Day
"With any side hustle, there is the struggle of finding a balance. I don’t clock in and out of being a mum or for working on my blog or RV renovations."
—Sarah Lemp #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Try ShipStation for 60 Days FREE!

Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by ShipStation, the #1 choice of online sellers. 📦

To get a 30-day trial AND an additional month free, click the microphone at the top of their page and enter the word HUSTLE.
Get it Here

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Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
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To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

The Battle of the New Zealand SpeedCubers

What It’s About

A puzzle master makes all the right moves to sell his product.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Don’t count out the power of relationship building. Hear what Oliver has to say about the subject, “Don’t be afraid to use your personal connections. Maybe your friend has graphic design skills or photography skills. You need to leverage these personal networks, especially during the startup phase.”

Fun Fact

Oliver’s greatest marketing success was in partnering with one of his larger competitors. By taking on their brand recognition and trust for a small percentage of sales, he was able to increase his sales dramatically.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1102
Speedcubing is a little known (but much loved) sport that involves solving 3D puzzles. The common 3-by-3 Rubix Cube is one of these puzzles, but the sport gets far more complicated. You can try 5-by-5 cubes, additional magnetic challenges for advanced players, pyramids, 12-sided puzzles, and more.

Oliver Jenks, a high-school student and experienced puzzle solver in New Zealand, enjoyed competing in Speedcube competitions. He especially loved when he could save up enough money to travel to an event in another country and meet players from around the world.

After graduating from high school, Oliver realized that there was no dedicated Speedcube shop in New Zealand. Most people—including himself—ordered their cubes from a shop in Australia, the U.S., or China. With more time on his hands, it stuck out to him as a problem that he could solve.

He got together with another Speedcuber friend who’d done dropshipping. Learning the ropes from that friend, Oliver created a barebones Shopify store. The friend connected him with the name of a reputable cube manufacturer in China. When Oliver called them, they gave him a quote: $1,000 for an assortment of popular Speedcubes he could resell.

He knew it was a trusted manufacturer, and he believed the cubes he was eyeing were likely to sell. Now he just had to commit. He wired the $1,000—all the money he’d been able to save at his job—and started listing products on his store.

Within a few weeks, his products had arrived, and in July of 2016, Oliver launched Cubes4Kiwis.co.nz.

He set up at speedcubing events and weekend markets across the country, talking up his new products. People slowly started visiting the website—mostly people he’d met from these events. It took four weeks, but Cubes4Kiwis finally got its first online sale.

On a whim, he sent an email to Speedcube.com.au, the leading speedcubing store in Australia. The store was well known in New Zealand, and the most affordable place to shop for competitive cubes in the two countries.

Oliver told them he was a fan, and that he had a business proposition. The owner of the store agreed to meet, so Oliver hopped a flight to Melbourne.

When he left that meeting, he came out with a fresh vision of the future. He would disband Cubes4Kiwis and build SpeedCube.co.nz—taking on the brand name and brand recognition of his Australian counterpart.

He was essentially entering a fairly loose and flexible franchise agreement. He could ship product at lower prices through his partner, get bulk discounts, and benefit from their brand recognition and reputation. All he had to do was pay a percentage of sales back to that partner.

He switched the domain of his site and set up the SpeedCube branding. Thanks to his new ability to acquire more products at lower costs, he was able to lower prices, undercutting his new intra-island rival. That month, his sales doubled. Within a year, they had quadrupled.

In 2019, the Speedcube shop experienced 9% growth month over month on average—generating somewhere between $1,000-2,000 in profit each month. Oliver loves running the store, especially since he’s been able to use a small share of the profits to attend competitions all over the world—Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, Malaysia, and elsewhere.

He’s solved the puzzle and is having a lot of fun.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • SpeedCube.co.nz: Learn more about Oliver and check out his full Speedcube lineup at his website.

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

WEB HOSTING @ $2.49/MONTH

Want to build any kind of website for your hustle? If so, you'll need somewhere to host it! This is the reliable company I've used for many websites. It's cheap, flexible, and offers support 24-7.

Get your own hosting plan for just $2.49 a month!
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GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️ Learn More

Quote of the Day
"Don’t be afraid to use your personal connections. Maybe your friend has graphic design skills or photography skills. You need to leverage these personal networks, especially during the startup phase."
—Oliver Jenks #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Try ShipStation for 60 Days FREE!

Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by ShipStation, the #1 choice of online sellers. 📦

To get a 30-day trial AND an additional month free, click the microphone at the top of their page and enter the word HUSTLE.
Get it Here

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Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Product Manager Profits From Carnivorous Plants

What It’s About

The world’s greatest resource for lovers of carnivorous plants.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

David has some great words about niche ideas: “By definition, niche hobbies have small communities supporting them. Word travels fast in small communities. Building positive relationships with members of your community is crucial in building and maintaining a good reputation. Overdeliver for your customers. Treat your vendors with respect, and try to find ways to delight them.”

Fun Fact

There are roughly 600 different species of carnivorous plants, some of which have come up with incredible ways to catch their prey. From a pitcher plant’s cup-shaped trap to the closing ‘mouth’ of a Venus flytrap these fascinating plants have become master hunters, without stepping so much as an inch from their roots.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1073

David Fefferman takes his hobbies seriously; he’s the type of person that doesn’t do anything halfway. When he becomes interested in something, it becomes an obsession. He’s also always been business-minded, even from a young age. In fact, his very first side hustle was selling Pokemon cards to fellow students in elementary school.

Around the same time that he was obsessing over Pikachu, he discovered carnivorous plants. They’re plants that obtain their nutrients by trapping insects and sometimes small animals, instead of from soil. The most famous is the Venus flytrap, but there are hundreds of other species.

His interest started when a friend brought one to school as a science fair project. That same day David begged his mom to take him to the nursery so he could get his own, and he was instantly hooked.

Over the years these fascinating plants became one of David’s true passions. He dedicated himself to learning everything there is to know so that he could grow many different types. Sure, that venus flytrap was the most popular, but he also ventured into Sundews, Pitchers, Cobra Lilies and dozens of others that most people have never heard of.

The community of growers helped David foster this hobby and turn it into a passion. As he got a little older he’d attend local meetups to learn more from experienced members. Within that group, he’d sell or trade drawings of plants to obtain species he desired but didn’t yet have.

Fast forward to 2017 and David was doing some online research regarding the plants. But he noticed it was hard to find useful information. Tips on how to grow the plants, what sort of nutrients they preferred and what climate they liked were severely lacking.

At the time, David was working remotely as a Product Manager for PayPal, a technical role in a large business. Gaining technical knowledge, and an ability to work remote were huge perks of the job.

He decided to use his technical prowess to create an online resource. Something with easy-to-digest info about everything related to all different species of carnivorous plants.

He registered the domain CarnivorousPlantResource.com … and it cost him almost nothing. Since he did all the work himself, his only costs were for the domain name and hosting, around one hundred dollars total.

He spent the next several months filling the site with content. His goal was to make this the only resource anyone would need to learn about the topic, a sort of Wikipedia for carnivorous plants. Something so useful that he himself would reference it when needed. A place to devour anything necessary to become a carnivorous expert.

Since there were very few quality resources online for this topic, Google began to reward David for his efforts with traffic through their search engine. On top of that growth, the online carnivorous plant community helped spread the word that David’s resource was THE place to go.

In 2019, so far David’s marketplace has generated over thirty thousand dollars in sales. He’s on track to earn commissions of over six thousand dollars by the end of the year and is confident that number will only grow in 2020.

From a childhood hobby, to a now successful side business. David’s story is proof that with a little effort and a lot of passion… anything grows!

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

WEB HOSTING @ $2.49/MONTH

Want to build any kind of website for your hustle? If so, you'll need somewhere to host it! This is the reliable company I've used for many websites. It's cheap, flexible, and offers support 24-7.

Get your own hosting plan for just $2.49 a month!
Learn More

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️ Learn More

Quote of the Day
"Building positive relationships with members of your community is crucial in building and maintaining a good reputation. Overdeliver for your customers."
—David Fefferman #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Store Manager Makes Micro Gainz For Macro Profits

What It’s About

A grocery manager proves that micro gains make a huge difference.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Research all potential competitors in the market and figure out how much they are selling in order to see if their product is worth producing. I did this with Micro Gainz. I looked up several micro plate sets offered on Amazon, found their seller rank, and found out roughly how many they were selling in a month. Once you have that information you can come up with a basic business model to determine if the business is feasible.

Fun Fact

The fitness industry is an enormous market in the USA. With close to 40,000 different clubs and estimated revenues of 30 billion per year, there’s plenty of opportunities to be had.

Notes from Chris

Episode 997
Michael Reed works as an assistant manager for Weis Markets, a popular grocery store chain in New England. On any given shift he might be motivating staff, helping customers or lifting heavy boxes while helping pack shelves.

For the most part Michael enjoys his job, especially the latter of those tasks. Because you see, in Michael’s spare time he’s an avid gym junkie. In the words of Arnold Schwarznnegger, he likes to pump iron. Weight training in particular is one of his favorite ways to exercise.

In particular he enjoys barbell training. It provides a measurable way to progress by keeping track of how much weight you’re able to lift. If you put in the work this week, next week you’d be slightly stronger, then, slightly stronger again the week after that.

Eventually though, lifters reach what’s known as a plateau. That’s the point at which they stop making rapid improvements and the work doesn’t produce the results it used to.

When Michael hit his plateau, he looked ways to remedy the situation. Before long he came across weight plates. Weight plates are small sets of weights that lifters add to their dumbbells to increase the overall weight in smaller increments. So, instead of adding five pounds, they can add a quarter, half, three quarters or a full pound. It enables them to make the incremental increases in weight that help bash through weight lifting plateaus.

Michael knew this was exactly the product he needed. So he hopped on over to Amazon to see what was on offer. The options there were limited, expensive and almost all were made in China. Being a handy kind of guy, Michael figured he could make some cheaper himself right at home. He also thought he might be able to sell a few on the side. He called it Micro Gainz—with a z—Micro for the small plates and Gainz for the inevitable gains weightlifters would have using them.

To start, Michael went to a local steel laser cutter and had twenty five of each size cut, from a quarter pound to one pound. That was enough for him to make eight sets.

The first batch of sets sold relatively quickly and Michael was left with a small profit when all was said and done. He chose to invest all the proceeds into buying more steel plates. After a few reps, he realized his process of making the plates was far too time consuming.

Over the next year, he refined his plates and process even further. Consequently, he sold more than four times what he did in the first year, one hundred and thirty thousand dollars worth.

In October 2018, he listed Micro Gainz on Amazon and sales exploded again. With a huge uptick, revenue in 2019 is already at one hundred and sixty thousand dollars.

With that sort of money on the weight lifting bench, you might think that Mike has quit his full-time job by now. But that’s not the case, he has been pouring all the profit generated back into Micro Gainz with maximum intensity.

To do that, he’s now working on the next line of Micro Gainz plates which will be color coded. He also has ideas for another couple of product lines he can create in the same space. With enough sets and reps, he’ll go from Micro Gainz to macro profits.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Micro Gainz: Looking to maximize your gains? Check out Michael’s website to see his entire product line.

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

WEB HOSTING @ $2.49/MONTH

Want to build any kind of website for your hustle? If so, you'll need somewhere to host it! This is the reliable company I've used for many websites. It's cheap, flexible, and offers support 24-7.

Get your own hosting plan for just $2.49 a month!
Learn More

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️ Learn More

Quote of the Day
"Don’t give up if your business stumbles. Starting a business is hard work. Running a business is a marathon not a sprint if you want it to be successful long term."
—Michael Reed #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Try ShipStation for 60 Days FREE!

Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by ShipStation, the #1 choice of online sellers. 📦

To get a 30-day trial AND an additional month free, click the microphone at the top of their page and enter the word HUSTLE.
Get it Here

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Surfboard Shaper Boards New Wave

What It’s About

For over 40 years, a surfer rides on endless stoke shaping boards.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

If you’re thinking, “what school do I need to attend to do a job like this?”, here’s what Luke advises, “There is ZERO formal training or apprenticeship to become a shaper. My best advice would be to get a job at one of the factories in California.”

Fun Fact

Luke had itchy arms a lot as a kid, and he didn’t realize why until years later: it was all the fiberglass he was sanding off old boards without physical protection.

Notes from Chris

Episode 980

Luke Alvarez loved surfing as a kid. It was his favorite summer pastime, but the passion never quite felt complete. He had a dream of shaping his own boards someday. Shaping is essentially creating your own board from stock plywood: applying your own design and adding subtle curves and grooves—but it was a hobby that required money, because boards weren’t cheap.

In the early 70’s, surfing underwent a massive shift. Ten-foot longboards fell out of style as shorter, six-foot boards crested a new wave in popularity. The shift brought thousands of new surfers into the sport—and left thousands more with old longboards they no longer wanted. Luke realized it was his chance to get into the business without crazy startup costs, because by 1972, fully functional longboards sold for $10 or less—he didn’t have to search for trashed boards anymore!

It seemed almost too good to be true. His base product was at clearance-level prices, and all he needed were fin boxes, fins, resin, and fiberglass. So, he got to work. He shaped and sold his first few boards that year for $100-300 to people in his network. It became an annual side hustle. Every summer, he’d go find unwanted longboards, shave them down, reshape them to meet the more current designs, and resell them for a nice profit.

A full decade later, he was shaping and selling at least 30 boards annually, priced between $200 and $500 apiece—all from word of mouth. There weren’t any more $10 boards laying around, but Luke reached out to wholesale surfboard manufacturers in California and Mexico to get the best prices he could find. So while the margins weren’t as great as they had been—now somewhere around 25-30%—the higher prices he sold his finished product for made it worth it.

In Luke’s mind, he’d done it. He’d accomplished his dream of being a skilled shaper and was making real money on the side from it. So he just kept it up for years and years. It was extra money with no pressure.

At some point, he got the itch to do something new. He began spending his summers not only shaping boards, but teaching kids how to surf and shape their own. He loved passing on his expertise to younger generations—which is also what drove him to become a 7th-grade science teacher a few years earlier.

Luke is still making between 30 and 50 boards each year, and with a 28% net margin on average, it’s a notable side hustle income. But while the money’s great, the more rewarding part for him—decades in the making—is seeing his students fall in love with the sport and craft of shaping boards, just like he did forty years ago.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️ Learn More

RELIABLE WEBHOST FOR $2.49/MONTH

Want to build any kind of website for your hustle? If so, you'll need somewhere to host it! This is the reliable company I've used for my past 5 websites. It's cheap, flexible, and you can get support 24 hours a day.

Get your own hosting plan for just $2.49 a month!
Learn More

Quote of the Day
"The best part of building surfboards is the relationship I have with a company I donate adaptive surfboards to be used to take people with disabilities out to surf for a day. It is very rewarding."
—Luke Alvarez #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

3D Printing Brings Cosplay Into 21st Century

What It’s About

An engineer takes customized cosplay to the next level with a 3D printer.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

A self-described nerd, Nikko has a good sense of what others in the community will like. But no one can get it right all of the time. For example, he felt certain that a figurine of a popular female cosplayer and a Batman design would sell like crazy … but in fact, they proved unpopular sellers. It goes to show that it’s important to test. Sometimes your most confident assumptions could be incorrect.

Fun Fact

Nikko swears that the applications for 3D printing are endless. As a matter of fact, he’s even used his printer to create custom shelving and a velociraptor shower head for his kids!

Notes from Chris

Episode 977

For his day job, Nikko Mendoza controls natural gas lines to make sure they’re safe. And like a lot of parents who work long hours, he’s always looking for a way to make the time he had to spend with his kids really count. Two years ago, this desire converged with another goal of his: to earn a substantial income apart from his day job.

His two young children loved dressing up in costumes, superheroes being a particular favorite. Iron Man was one of their favorites, so he wanted to build an Iron Man suit.

And he did. His first full suit was crafted from foam floor mats. It looked okay for an initial attempt, but he wanted to improve. When he found an Instagram post showing an Iron Man suit with incredible detail, Nikko was intrigued. He reached out to the creator who told him the suit was 3D printed. This led to better costumes for his kids … and what he called Nikko Industries in December 2017.

It started by reselling designs for others to purchase and use to print out their own costumes and props. He made a website using Wix and ran a Facebook group where he promoted his designs. Costs were a little over $1,000, including $800 for the 3D printer itself. He used a pre-order method for his designs so there was no out of pocket expense.

On his website, Nikko Industries, he sells digital files that buyers can print themselves. But realizing that not many people own 3D printers, Nikko also decided to print out the designs and sell them through an Etsy store. The designs cost Nikko between $13-$20 to print, and they sell for $75-$100.

When Nikko opened the store, he set his goals low, hoping to bring in around $200 in the first month. But he underestimated his customer’s desire for a costume that would blow typical cosplay outfits out of the water. He brought in $2,000 that first month. He actually had to halt the growth of the store as it was summer and he wanted to spend more time with his kids while they were on break.

In his first year, he had revenue of $50,000 but reinvested earnings back into the business. This year, he is on track for a revenue of $100,000, doubled sales in a year without spending a dime on advertising. After paying expenses and continuing to reinvest, he’s now taking home a profit of $3,000 or more each month.

This additional income is allowing Nikko to pay off debt incurred by a previously failed side hustle, a fitness bootcamp which saw him lose more than $100,000. (Lesson: don’t do that!) He’s also using the money to take his kids on vacations and save for a new home.

You can’t manufacture money using a 3D printer … but this is the next best thing.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Nikko Industries: Learn more about what Nikko is printing up over on his website! And if you’d like to support his cosplaying efforts, head on over to his Patreon page
  • NikkoIndustries: Check out Nikko’s lineup over on his Etsy page!
  • 3D Printed Profits: Interested in learning more but think you may need a little extra help? Nikko has launched a course to help you start a 3D printing biz of your own!
  • 3D Printed Armor and Weapon Props: If you’re interested in the world of 3D printed cosplay, head on over to Nikko’s Facebook group

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Quote of the Day
"Find your niche—they aren’t lying when they say that there are riches are in niches! From there, produce quality products and content, and be engaged in whatever market you’re in."
—Nikko Mendoza #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

Aerospace Apprentice Soars to Seven-Figure Sales Heights

What It’s About

A UK man goes from eBay to his own seven-figure e-commerce shop.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Ed encourages anyone looking to start a side hustle to look into e-commerce. He says that it has never been easier to break into than it is now with such an abundance of free guidance online from various sources.

And once you start, he says that you should test your ideas. Push harder on the ones that work, and drop the ones that don’t!

Fun Fact

Having perfected a process that easily scales, Ed likes to help other brands who are starting out and need to keep their production costs down, by offering his advice and warehouse services at a lower rate than many of the larger services.

As he put it, it’s important for him to give back to the industry that helped him realize his own dream of working for himself before he was 30.

Notes from Chris

Episode 971

Many people dream of working in the aerospace industry—if you aren’t in the clouds, traveling to your next destination, the next best thing might just be creating the machines that get us there. But for Ed Snelson, who landed an apprenticeship at Airbus UK with a year left at university, flying dreams were simply not enough.

Ed had also participated in a UK program called The Young Enterprise scheme, which aims to teach young people the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and career advancement through real-life practice.

After learning what could be possible, Ed knew that he would work for himself one day.

From his childhood bedroom at his parents’ house, after he spent 8-10 hours during the day at his apprenticeship, he would come home and spend 1-2 hours a night learning everything he could about selling online. He soon decided that the easiest way to enter the e-commerce space would be to start selling products on eBay.

But what was he going to sell?

He noticed that many sellers on eBay were listing items they found around the house, at flea markets, or shopping vintage thrift stores. Since Ed was already working a demanding full-time job, he didn’t have the time to source items from so many places. Instead, he focused on a market that was mostly for hobbyists and small businesses.

He began selling printed t-shirts, which he designed, with a unique twist. The shirts included funny one-liners and engaging sayings that could be personalized for the purchaser, by adding their name or a distinguishing feature. This made his inventory immediately more interesting than the bulk purchased graphic tees.

At first, he sold them individually off his personal eBay account, and he even surprised himself when he made sales on Day One.

Within a few months, he knew he was on to something. As demand grew, so did his confidence to invest a few hundred dollars into branding an official eBay store. This gave him a more professional look, in a sea of other sellers doing something similar, which boosted sales even further and allowed him to reinvest more.

He also realized that he was missing out on a large part of the potential profit by paying screen printers so much since each personalized item had to be custom produced.

Once he was able to put all his attention on his eBay store, his monthly revenues increased from a few thousand dollars a month to up to $10,000 per month. He was able to offer more designs, produce larger orders with a faster turnaround, and reply to queries more quickly. It was all the same work he had been doing before, he just had more time to do more of it.

In 2017, he won an eBay Business of the Year award after growing at a rate of 20-45% per month. By mid-2019, he had cleared £1.4 million pounds, with a forecast to sell £2.1 million pounds in 2020. That’s $2.5 million dollars!

As he’s continued to grow in sales, the business basics have remained the same. Providing high-quality personalized apparel and gifts to customers who want something a bit more special than generalized bulk items.

Having perfected a process that scales, he also likes to help other brands who are starting out and need to keep their production costs down. He does this by offering advice and warehouse services at a lower rate than many of the larger services do. It is important for him to give back to the industry that helped him realize his own dream of working for himself.

This former aerospace apprentice has come a long way from selling t-shirts in his childhood bedroom.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Signature Printing UK: Learn more about this highly successful retail side hustle over on Ed’s website!
  • Young Enterprise & Young Money: The U.K. program called The Young Enterprise scheme, which aims to teach young people the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and career advancement through real-life practice

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Quote of the Day
"It was difficult working almost non-stop, but what encouraged me was knowing that I was pushing towards a place where I could quit my day job and turn my side hustle into a full-time role. The motivation for me was always to be my own boss, and have the freedom to make my own choices … I hated clocking in and out!"
—Ed Snelson #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

All Boxed In: Knoxville Man Rents Reusable Packing Totes

What It’s About

Plastic moving boxes stack up monthly profits.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Because moving is stressful, what are some other problems associated with it that could be solved? Here we’re talking about boxes, but I think other challenges include getting people to help, saying farewell to a place you’ve lived for a while, and just making decisions in general.

There could be some others as well! Whenever there’s a problem, consider what the potential solution could be.

Fun Fact

Frank has discovered that there is a deep-seated hatred of cardboard boxes. Between the weird cardboard smell, putting the boxes together, trying to find the end of the roll of packing tape, having to break down the boxes, and then figuring out what to do with them once they’ve been unpacked (and no, no one on Craig’s List or Nextdoor wants them!), lots of people are fed up. Even if you never minded cardboard boxes, here’s something that might change your mind. Bed bugs love cardboard. Ugh!

Notes from Chris

Episode 964

We all have to do it at least once in our lives, and no matter what advances technology brings, moving can still be stressful and expensive. For anyone who has ever spent hours shoving all of their earthly possessions into a U-Haul, you know the struggle is real!

For the most part, we take Moving Day challenges in stride and consider them a necessary evil. But as Frank Ramey of Knoxville, Tennessee listened to the lamentations of his sister and brother-in-law regarding their recent hellish move, an idea began to take shape… in the form of a box.

Because that was one of their biggest complaints: cardboard boxes. No move was complete without an abundance of flimsy and expensive cardboard boxes and rolls of sticky packing tape. To them, the whole process just felt so wasteful—what do you do with those boxes once you’re done? You can store them for later, but you never know if they’ll hold up over time.

Like most of us, Frank never really gave the moving business a thought unless he needed to move. He happily ran an online marketing company, but he knew that there had to be a stress-free and eco-friendly solution to these cardboard box woes.

In his mind, the solution would be made of something sturdy and reusable like plastic. Something that movers could rent on an as-needed basis so that storage wasn’t an issue.

Before running with what he thought was a great idea, Frank did some research. As he put it, “Your idea might be a good one, but you have to ask yourself if you’re in the right area for it.” Since this was something that he was planning on starting out locally, Frank wanted to learn how many people move into the Knoxville area each year and how many of those moves were local. Only when the numbers looked good, he knew it was time to unbox his idea for real!

These were the beginnings of Rent Plastic Moving Boxes, or RPM Boxes for short. Frank planned on delivering sturdy, waterproof, and reusable plastic totes for people to pack their belongings in. When the client’s move is complete, Frank would pick up the boxes, sanitize them, and then get them ready for the next customer. Ideally, he wanted each tote to be sturdy enough to use more than 400 times each and capable of being responsibly recycled once they had served their purpose.

In the beginning, Frank was spending 10 to 15 hours per week on his hustle. He built the website, spent time networking, delivering totes, picking them up, and sanitizing. Currently, the business requires just 2 to 5 hours per week—most of which is spent cleaning the boxes. Frank’s home has a large detached workshop where the totes are cleaned and stored, but he has long term plans to rent a small warehouse with a storefront that would allow customers to pick up and return the totes themselves for a discount.

Frank began this hustle in June 2018. In that time, the business has averaged $600 a month in income. Most of his small startup cost went to purchasing the totes which cost about $15 each. He already had the truck he uses to deliver and pick up, a holdover from his lawn mowing side hustle which really helped reduce his start-up costs.

As word of mouth spreads about RPM Boxes, Frank is trying to find a balance between keeping inventory lean while keeping up with customer demand. For the future, Frank’s looking to expand outside of the Knoxville area, and he’s even toying with the idea of turning RPM Boxes into a micro-storage business as a way to produce passive income.

Clearly, there’s more than one business idea still to be unboxed!

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Quote of the Day
"Don’t be afraid to be profitable out of the gate. If you’re bringing a product or service to market that people really want, you need to charge accordingly for it. This way you can quickly figure out if there seems to be enough profit to be had."
—Frank Ramey #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau

High School Bootlegger Grows Up

What It’s About

A serial entrepreneur upgrades from reselling beer to recording spaces.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Scope out the competition—what are they offering, and at what price point? Can you do better and still turn a profit? Consider the type of customers you want to attract and envision the type of service you want to provide them. Don’t lose sight of this image!

Fun Fact

You know those angry police officers mentioned earlier in the story? Now that Jacob is an adult, they tell him that his bootlegging operation was a pretty brilliant money-making move for a 16-year-old to pull off. Still, SHS recommends that you don’t try this at home, kids…

Notes from Chris

Episode 957

For Jacob Pippus, his love of entrepreneurship started at an early age. Short of cash and wanting a ticket to an upcoming WWE wrestling event, this elementary school student was undeterred. He printed and sold a dozen “This sucks, I’d rather be skateboarding” T-shirts to friends at his school. Wrestling ticket secured.

His next venture was admittedly illegal but no less entrepreneurial. You see, in high school, Jacob learned how to brew his own beer. And rather than just share it with friends, he promptly sold it at skatepark out of the back of his family minivan.

The business was immediately profitable (surprise…) and he doubled his money with each batch. Not surprisingly, however, the venture was short-lived as soon the police showed up at his house to discuss reports of a kid bootlegger selling the beer out of a van.

Fortunately, he avoided further trouble with the law and, shortly after high school graduation, Jacob jumped on a plane to Costa Rica for his next adventure. He was soon offered a job at the hostel where was staying at, so naturally, he just missed his flight home. Soon he put his entrepreneur cap back on and opened his own information center with bicycles, scooters, and a dirtbike for rent. He hired two employees and life was good.

But after his short vacation turned into roughly seven years, Jacob, now 25 years old, decided that it was time to make moves to secure his future … so he gave up his life as a semi-retired beach bum and headed back to Vancouver, Canada.

It’s in Vancouver where we pick up the story. Back home, Jacob became an apprentice electrician and was also playing drums in the local music scene. Through his after-hours activity, he noticed something: many of the local rehearsal spaces were poorly maintained, difficult to work with, and expensive.

He rented a permanent rehearsal space that his band shared with another band, but that place wasn’t much better. When the second band unexpectedly moved out, the landlord promised to get a new one in there as soon as possible, but Jacob wasn’t worried. Instead, he saw an opportunity and told the landlord that he’d pay the full rent.

That’s how the idea for Red Brick Music Studios was born. Jacob was upfront with the landlord that he intended to make a profit, which was fine because the landlord was just happy to have a reliable, long term tenant.

In 2017, a larger space in Jacob’s building became available and he moved there adding a second, larger studio in the process. Today Red Brick earns about $1,000 per month profit and it only requires about an hour per week of Jacob’s time to manage and maintain … which is music to his ears.

He says he’s most proud of the community of like-minded individuals that he’s created and grateful that he’s able to give them a place to rehearse that they can not only afford to pay for but that they feel fortunate to be a part of.

After completing his electrician’s apprenticeship, Jacob plans to open his own electrical company. He’s also currently looking to expand to a second studio location in the Vancouver area that is just as automated and passive as the first.

For him, this will mean work weeks will become shorter and his vacations will become longer, time that will come in handy with a recent purchase of land he made down in Costa Rica. And of course, he’s planning to start a business there, too.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

 

SEE ALSO:

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

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Quote of the Day
"Build a place that ‘one ups’ the competition, set a high standard, and be consistent with what you are providing your customers. Your clients or customers will appreciate that and remain loyal to you."
—Jacob Pippus #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.
Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!


To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau