Tag: Service

Busy Mom Cleans Up Debt by Cleaning Car Seats

What It’s About

An occupational therapist cleans up with a new income stream.

Words of Wisdom

Brittany says, “It’s important to not feel pressured to say yes to every job if it’s taking up too much of your time, and keep in mind that all the money you’re earning with your side hustle is extra income, so any amount you earn is significant.”

Fun Fact

BabyQuip was featured on the hit entrepreneurial show Shark Tank on season 11, episode 14 and featured a mother and son team.

Notes from Chris

Episode 2047
From New York City, Brittany Springer is the mom of two toddlers and works part-time as an Occupational Therapist for elementary school students with autism and learning disabilities.

She’s also a certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST), which means she does child seat installations in vehicles. In short, Brittany is the definition of busy.

Still, Brittany found herself in need of something else to earn extra money, in particular to pay off some expensive student loans. Whatever it was had to pair well with her complicated schedule.

That’s when she found the BabyQuip website.

BabyQuip is a children’s equipment cleaning and rental business. They specialize in cleaning infant and child car seats—which as any parent knows can get pretty dirty.

Brittany already knew a lot about car seat safety as a technician but wondered how a baby gear cleaning company was getting the dramatic results she saw online. Were their methods safe? Car seats need to be treated with extra caution to ensure they remain structurally intact. Many cleaning ingredients can’t be used on them because they could alter the materials and affect the safety and integrity of the car seat.

Brittany decided to sign up as a BabyQuip cleaning provider so she could get the inside scoop of their cleaning products and techniques. After learning more about the company, she knew the business would be a good fit for her. She already had the advantage of being a CPST and was active in several Facebook parenting groups.

She found it easy to get up and running with the BabyQuip business because she gets all the leads she wants or needs directly from the BabyQuip platform. She’s been receiving the perfect amount of business without spending time or money on advertising.

She averages about $2,000 per month between cleanings and equipment rentals.

Brittany says the best part of the business is watching her student loans quickly disappear without her having to be spend additional time away from her children, outside of her regular part-time job.

Brittany’s baby gear cleaning side hustle is helping her get ahead financially, with a schedule that works for her.

 

 

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
"It’s important to not feel pressured to say yes to every job if it’s taking up too much of your time, and keep in mind that all the money you’re earning with your side hustle is extra income, so any amount you earn is significant."
—Brittany Springer #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

Shine Bright Like a Diamond (and Sell Them)

What It’s About

A jewelry store manager sees the diamond in the rough.

Words of Wisdom

Lauren shares some important words regarding whether or not to keep your main hustle, “Not every side hustle needs to become your main job. Full-time entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone, so don’t get caught up in the idea that you have to quit your job.”

Fun Fact

In 1477, Archduke Maximillian of Austria gave the very first diamond engagement ring on record to Mary of Burgundy. This began a trend for diamond rings among European aristocracy and nobility.

Notes from Chris

Episode 2040
At age 28, Lauren Priori was working as a manager for an antique jewelry company in Philadelphia. While she loved her job, she also yearned for something more. Luckily, her bosses—she had four of them—were cool with her having an entrepreneurial spirit and making some extra cash on the side. But the quartet of bosses had no idea she’d be leaving her day job so soon.

You see, Lauren had a lot of good ideas. Her execution, however, wasn’t so great at first.

She started out buying antique jewelry and selling it on Etsy, the online craft marketplace…but her photography skills weren’t up to par, and the business never took off. She also started a line of silver jewelry but didn’t know how to price it properly and sell it to retailers.

But in 2015, Lauren’s friend Megan was ready to get engaged and asked Lauren if she’d help her with the engagement ring. Lauren had never sold an engagement ring before…even though she was a gemologist and knew plenty about diamonds and jewelry manufacturing from her day job. So Lauren asked her favorite diamond dealers to loan her some diamonds to show Megan.

Here’s where Lauren’s day job and her connections came in handy…those dealers would never have loaned out $50,000 worth of diamonds to a stranger. Lauren brought the diamonds home and walked Megan through the diamond selection process, and they settled on a ring design. After paying a deposit, Megan mentioned how much better this was than going to a jewelry store and picking an “off the rack” ring from a glass case. And she told Lauren that she should do this as a business.

Lauren was pretty sure it wasn’t a business—but she was happily wrong. After posting the ring on her personal Instagram, Lauren soon got another order from a friend, and then more friends of friends. A year later, she rented office space and quit her day job to pursue L. Priori Jewelry full-time.

Lauren now has twelve employees in three locations and did more than $1M in sales in 2019. She still trains her sales team to recreate that same personal one-on-one design experience she had with her friend Megan.

Going forward, Lauren plans to keep growing the company with a goal of hitting $50M in revenue. She is also an investor, providing capital and guidance to small businesses that can benefit from her knowledge and experience.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Learn more about Lauren and checkout her beautiful jewelry collection at her website, Lpriorijewelry.com.

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
"Not every side hustle needs to become your main job. Full-time entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone, so don’t get caught up in the idea that you have to quit your job."
—Lauren Priori #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

This Canadian Cleaning Service Earns $2 Million/Year

What It’s About

A lab technician cleans up by becoming the “Starbucks of cleaning services” in Canada.

Words of Wisdom

Ahmed knows that when you’re starting out in business you have to wear many hats, but there comes a time when you need to delegate and hire the right people to join your team even if this cuts into your profits. It’s really a win-win arrangement because these people will help your business scale and reach greater heights than you could achieve on your own.

Fun Fact

Ahmed is onto something. Cleaning is not just dirty work – it brings in lots of money. In the US alone Airbnb estimates that from July 2020 – July 2021 generated over $830 million dollars in income for cleaners. This is during the pandemic with travel demand exploding the following year. [Source]

Notes from Chris

Episode 2026
Ahmed Mezil always wanted to start a business, but felt discouraged because society taught him that businesses had to solve a big world problem. He also heard you needed to have millions of dollars in investment money to make a go of it.

But like so many of our listeners, Ahmed learned that it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.

One day in 2017, a friend sent him a Reddit article about earning money through “local services.” You know, things like yard care, tree cutting, and taking away unwanted items. This article contained a 30-day plan he could use to get his first customers.

Ahmed decided to go with cleaning. He figured it was a big market, and almost anybody could be a customer. He chose the name Hellamaid for his business because the domain was available for only $4 on GoDaddy. And it worked. That $4 domain name has helped Ahmed gross over $2 million.

He started cleaning houses on the side during his lunch breaks while balancing his full-time job as a research lab technician at the local university in Guelph, Ontario—a small city of 150,000 people about an hour south of Toronto. When he wasn’t cleaning, Ahmed would distribute fliers to get more customers.

At first, he was only cleaning three to five houses a week but as his business grew, he needed extra help. He decided to hire some other cleaners as independent contractors—not as employees, because he didn’t want the hassle of all the government paperwork. He also didn’t have enough clients yet to guarantee anybody full-time hours.

So he began sub-contracting out his jobs to other cleaners that he found by posting ads on Kijiji. It’s a platform similar to Thumbtack in the United States. Ahmed would search for cleaning services, contact them about the cleaning job he needed to fill, negotiate a price for them to do the job, and come to a deal..

Basically he was using the Uber model, focusing on building a top-down operation that could work with a lot of different contractors and many, many clients. He later added Virtual Assistants from the Philippines to help with operations and marketing, including social media and blog posting.

What sets Hellamaid apart from typical cleaning companies is the use of technology for online appointment booking. The company also uses a service called Twilio that send out SMS booking reminders and ratings requests.

Ahmed pays his cleaners well above average and treats them like employees. He strives to be the “Starbucks of cleaning services” where his main focus is on the happiness of his cleaners over everything else because he believes that will guarantee great service.

In 2022, annual revenue is expected to be between $1.7M and $2.2M, with a monthly revenue of close to $150,000.

Ahmed’s grateful for that Reddit article that got him started. He’s also glad he pushed beyond what society had led him to believe about business.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Learn more about Ahmed’s Canadian based cleaning services at his website, Hellamaid.ca.

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
"When you’re starting out in business you have to wear many hats, but there comes a time when you need to delegate and hire the right people to join your team even if this cuts into your profits."
—Ahmed Mezzo #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

Adobe Expert Digitizes Millions of Family Photos

What It’s About

A service that helps families organize their precious memories amidst the chaos.

Words of Wisdom

Adam shares an important reminder, “I struggled for years to find purpose and meaning in my day job. It was a great day job and I loved the company, but it didn’t feel like a good fit anymore and my side hustle gave me something challenging and interesting to pursue.”

Fun Fact

Originally, Adam wanted to name his company, “Overwhelmed,” because that’s how most people feel about organizing their photos. However, the domain price for Overwhelmed.com was $183,000. That seemed a bit too expensive, so Adam went with “Chaos to Memories.”

Notes from Chris

Episode 2019
IIt took a few years to develop, but Adam Pratt got his side hustle into focus.

He’s the creator of Chaos to Memories, a way to not only scan your family photos onto the computer but also make those photos searchable. Thanks to his process, people find it easy to look for specific photos and share them with friends and family.

It all started when Adam took 15,000 family photos to get scanned. Upon getting them back, he quickly spotted two problems. First, the photos he got back didn’t have the greatest quality. But second, he had a difficult time finding specific photos.

Finding one photo from 15,000 is a nearly impossible task. He figured he wasn’t the only one who had this challenge–after all, lots of people scan old family photos and then feel overwhelmed.

What if he sold the already-organized, searchable photo system to other people? First, though, he wanted to see if anyone would value the service.

He volunteered his time, and he offered to organize photos for some good friends. He worked for thirty hours, all for free. His friends loved the result. Now, that was the Kodak moment. Adam knew then he had a golden, photo opportunity.

He got his first, paying client. The pay was decent. The client loved the end result. But to make the business viable for him, Adam realized he had to increase his hourly rate. He doubled his rate, and the business snowballed from there.

Flash forward to today. Adam’s business makes well into six figures annually, and he’s hired four part-time employees.

Next up, he’s launching new, online courses, and is expanding his staff, and is even publishing a book.

Adam pictures a bright future for Chaos to Memories.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Learn more about Adam and his memory organization services at his website, ChaosToMemories.com.
  • Adam is launching a new book, Declutter Your Photo Life and is giving Side Hustle School listeners 40% off. Use the code: SIDEHUSTLE40 at checkout.

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
"Venture out, learn what makes you uncomfortable and repeat. What I learned about myself in 15 years I could never have learned just from reading books or hearing others tell their stories."
—Eva Rosales #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

Failure Friday: “Don’t let customers pay after services have been rendered…”

What It’s About

We’ve all been there… making sure you get paid!

Notes from Chris

Episode 2001

I believe we can learn as much from failure as we can from success, if not more. It’s with this principle in mind that I offer you a weekly segment called Failure Friday: a collection of short stories all about mistakes, missteps, disasters, and of course, failure.

Just like our Throwback Thursday segment, you’ll hear directly from side hustlers who have struggled to get something off the ground. They’ll tell you a short story of something that went very wrong.

The stories will vary, but often it starts with an idea, what they thought would happen and what really happened—and of course, what they learned.

Today’s short story features Jessica Bonner, the owner of For Other Prizes, a tutoring business based in Birmingham, Alabama. All was going well until she received a frustrating chargeback after what she thought was a successful tutoring session with services rendered in full.

Let’s hear from Jessica about how that went down… I’ll be back at the end to wrap us up.

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Thanks to Jessica for sharing this transparent and truthful story. Check out their website at ForOtherPrizes.com. She’s also on most social media, including Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

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

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

Hollywood Video Editor Shoots for the Stars

What It’s About

A hardworking Hollywood professional builds an empire from inexpensive Craigslist ads.

Words of Wisdom

Graham is a huge advocate for Craigslist advertising, “Make use of those $5/month Craigslist ads! I don’t know of a more cost-effective form of advertising.”

Fun Fact

Graham once did a project for the band Maroon 5. They had several hundred videotapes of behind the scenes footage they had shot over the years, and needed it all captured to a computer.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1998
Graham “Gray” Jones works as a TV editor/writer. Because that industry has so many ebbs and flows, he’s always filled in the gaps with side jobs, including building a stock footage library and getting sponsorships for his video podcasts. But in 2017 when he was invited to shoot a music festival, he started thinking bigger.

Although he had a lot of gear already, he didn’t have everything he needed, so he rented it from a peer-to-peer equipment camera sharing platform called ShareGrid.

That experience made him realize he could be renting out his own gear when he wasn’t using it, so he immediately listed everything he had and started making $1,500/month. He reinvested earnings to build a bigger rental catalog, and got it as high as $3,500/month before COVID hit.

In addition to bringing in revenue, the rentals also allowed Gray to be more aggressive in pursuing jobs that needed a lot of specialized equipment, because he knew whatever he bought could be rented out to offset the purchase price.

Buying and selling camera equipment has also been lucrative. In fact, Gray made about $30,000 last year just on the buying and selling through a mix of eBay, Craigslist and ShareGrid, the website that started these hustles.

So far, Gray’s biggest catch was a $140,000 job with an educational foundation for billionaire Michael Milken. The foundation had 14,000 videotapes (appropriately fifteen tons of tapes) that needed to be imported.

By capturing from nineteen machines at once, Gray and a small team were able to deliver it in ten weeks. Even the most established transfer companies would take a year or more for that amount of video, so he feels that speed is what’s helped him succeed in that niche. He celebrated the six-figure project with a week-long vacation in Disneyland and a weekend in wine country.

When Gray saw how much success he had renting out camera equipment on ShareGrid, he and his wife started renting their minivan through the peer-to-peer car rental site Turo. In the first two weeks of signing up, they booked $3,000 of rentals. They plan to reinvest their earnings to buy more vehicles and gradually build a fleet.

Finally, because two multi-six figure side hustles isn’t enough, he’s also in talks to buy a competing well-established audio/video transfer company.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Learn more about Graham and his AV services at his website, AVGearGuy.com/.

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
"Make use of those $5/month Craigslist ads! I don’t know of a more cost-effective form of advertising."
—Gray Jones #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

Digital Illustrator Crafts Creative Designs

What It’s About

This graphic designer illustrates why representation matters.

Words of Wisdom

Naa Ardua says that no matter what you do, time will pass. If you don’t start your side hustle, time will pass, and you will have accomplished nothing. But if you start that side hustle, it may take a few years to reach your goals. The time will still pass, but you will have created something to be proud of.

Fun Fact

After a classmate told her son he couldn’t dress up as Batman because Batman isn’t black, Naa Ardua decided to use her artistic skills to bring more positive representation of black culture to the public. She has now written and illustrated a children’s book for her son, who was happy to see himself as the hero of the story.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1991
In 2016, Naa Ardua Flohic was an American expat living in France with her husband and two children. As a legal secretary at an international patent law firm, Naa Ardua was a valuable employee to have on staff. Among other skills, she was fluent in both English and French.

But when Naa Ardua asked to take on more work in order to get a raise, the answer was no. So that door was closed. She knew at that moment that she needed to do something else. She could already do traditional drawing on paper, but she knew digital art was the future.

Naa Ardua began learning to draw on a computer using a free open-source graphics program called Inkscape. It was hard at first, but she practiced every night after she put her kids to bed. An hour of practice would soon flow into two as she gradually developed her skills by watching tutorials, taking lessons, and practicing.

She focused in creating digital art that celebrates the African American community. As her skills improved and she began creating drawings she liked, Naa Ardua posted them on Instagram. People started liking her drawings, so she posted more. After a few months, a man messaged her and wanted to buy a custom illustration of Michele Obama for his t-shirt business that was dedicated to multiculturalism.

But Naa Ardua didn’t know how to invoice the customer for the illustration. He suggested using Etsy, the well-known online seller’s marketplace for handmade and unique items. Using his suggestion, Naa Ardua opened her Etsy shop, created a listing for his custom illustration, and he bought it.

Paper Flo Designs was in business.

Naa Ardua opened her doors in 2017 and has now sold over 10,000 scalable vector graphics or SVG files … which are just digital drawings.

Startup costs were a grand total of $120, which included buying a tablet and the first course she took to learn the graphics program. In 2021 she earned over $24,000, which she hopes to double this year.

Big news: Naa Ardua left her day job in January of this year and now works on her side hustle full time. She’s still figuring out her future plans but is focused on growing traffic to her website and increasing sales.

 

 

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
"If you don’t start your side hustle, time will pass, and you will have accomplished nothing. But if you start that side hustle, it may take a few years to reach your goals. The time will still pass, but you will have created something to be proud of."
—Naa Ardua Flohic #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

First $1,000: “I took a salary cut of fifty per cent…”

What It’s About

The origin story of a Airbnb rental management empire operated while living abroad.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1948

Today’s episode is part of a new feature we’re doing in 2022 called ‘Your First $1,000.’ As you might surmise from the title, this is all about how someone made their first $1,000.

How did they get to that point? Not their first $100,000—that’s cool, but it would probably be a long story.

One thing I’ve learned is that once you begin to earn real money, the steps required to go to the next level—whether it’s $1,000 to $2,000, or even to $5,000 or $10,000 are often easier than that first real paycheck.

With that in mind, today’s feature comes from Josh Strawczynski. We first featured his remote Airbnb rental empire back on Episode #1506, where he learned to operate a series of Airbnbs in Australia while he was living in the Caribbean.

But what about his first $1,000—how did he make that happen? It just so happens he’s got a story for us! Let’s hear it from him.

Listen to today’s episode to learn more…

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Thanks to Josh for telling us about his first $1,000. I hope you found it encouraging. Check out his website at his website, jmarketing.agency or follow him on Twitter @JoshStraw84.

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

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

Ottawa Teacher Finds “Unexpected Journey” After Retirement

What It’s About

A retiring teacher organizes DIY adventures in Canada.

Words of Wisdom

Jennifer recommends being persistent with your marketing. Post every day, comment and share, and have real dialogue with others over social media. And be willing to change up things up. Jennifer always listens to her customers and uses their feedback to improve her business.

Fun Fact

The name Ottawa is derived from the Algonquin word adawe, which means “to trade”. The word refers to the indigenous peoples who used the river there to trade, hunt, fish, and camp.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1942
Jennifer Sloan wasn’t meant for retirement. A former schoolteacher, she’d only been retired for a week when her husband convinced her to turn her love of planning into a thriving side hustle.

You see, Jennifer had always loved planning vacations but found the most memorable trips were the ones that left her surprised and full of awe. You know, the little side trips where you discover the most amazing restaurant that only locals know about, or the perfect hidden park nestled behind the shopping district—the one you never would have found if you hadn’t taken that wrong turn.

Therefore, her new business, Unexpected Journeys, takes people on surprise one-day adventures around Ottawa, Ontario.

But here’s the twist!

Customers choose from several options listed on Jennifer’s website and she mails them a package with all the details. Each itinerary comes wrapped in vellum with a wax seal, similar to a wedding invitation. Inside, there are five notes. Customers open each note one by one along the way with each stop leading to the next destination.

Right now, the business is a one-woman show. Jennifer personally visits each spot along each journey she creates to make sure it is special enough to be included. She also does all the planning, research, mailing and social media herself. All her hard work has paid off…Faces Magazine recently awarded her Best Tour Company in Ottawa.

Startup costs were about $5,000, with the biggest chunk being a new laptop to replace the one she returned to her school board when she retired. She also bought a high-end printer and paper supplies to create her packages and hired a designer to make her business look its best.

Sales started off slowly but picked up and she made over $35,000 in her first year.

The best part is when someone emails her to say they had an incredible time and discovered places they never knew existed.

 

 

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
"Venture out, learn what makes you uncomfortable and repeat. What I learned about myself in 15 years I could never have learned just from reading books or hearing others tell their stories."
—Eva Rosales #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

Orthodontic Marketer Knows the Drill

What It’s About

Brace yourself for this story of a marketing agency with a specific niche.

Words of Wisdom

When offering up two pieces of advice Keaton says, “1. Just start. The sooner you fail the sooner you succeed. 2. Enjoy the journey. The happiest days of my business were the first few months of working on something I loved.”

Fun Fact

Coincidentally, one night, years later while watching YouTube, Keaton came across Justin again. He had recorded a webinar about how he got started working online.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1935
Keaton Walker’s family business was a niche in its own right: they taught babies to swim in Utah. When business expanded to a second location, Keaton was tasked with executing the marketing strategy. He tried everything he could think of, including billboards, flyers, and even door-to-door marketing.

After many months of trial and error, the time to launch the second location was getting too close for comfort. So Keaton looked around for some outside help. He decided to hire a 17-year-old who was a friend of a friend’s.  And it’s a good thing he did because what he witnessed him do that night changed his life.

In one session the young apprentice (his name was Justin) systematically tested multiple ad campaigns—campaigns that Keaton never thought of trying himself. Not only that, but the ads Justin created were different in every possible way: from the marketing copy to the targeting demographics all the way to the text message follow-ups.

Keaton saw that each aspect of the campaign worked in perfect harmony. This is why it was so compelling. Not only was it inspirational to watch, but it also worked! Wonder teen Justin yielded the family business a ton of leads.

Though he was still working for his family’s business, he wanted to see if he could start his own business on the side.

But marketing what exactly? And to whom? He dove in, not sure how to answer those questions. He posted on his Facebook profile. He recalls it was something to the tune of “I’m finally following my dream of starting a business, it’s a marketing agency, reach out if you need any marketing help!” He got a few friendly responses but no clients. So Keaton started to shoot in the dark.

One fateful night changed everything. He happened to be speaking to a friend who ran a dental practice. His pal tipped him off that orthodontists charge even more than dentists and tend to have more patients. Interesting.

A week after that conversation, he reached out to his first orthodontist’s office through their Facebook messenger and asked if they needed help with their marketing. He made a connection on his first try, and a week and a half later collected $600. This was the momentum he needed.

Keaton’s niche marketing concept snowballed after this, as he signed client after client. And starting in 2020, it began bring in upwards of $65,000 a month. At this point, Keaton’s side hustle was a side hustle no longer. He was marketing for orthodontists full-time.

What’s next? Keaton says that he hopes to focus on higher-level operations and do more consulting down the road—an aspect of the business he’s excited to develop.

 

 

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
""
—Keaton Walker #SideHustleSchool
Enjoy the journey. The happiest days of my business were the first few months of working on something I loved.”

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