Service Businesses

Many freelancers in Side Hustle Nation eventually grow their business into an agency that no longer ties their time to their income. What that looks like in practice is often bringing in other team members to deliver the work.

The business ideas and case studies featured in these archives are generally a little “bigger” than a traditional freelance business, even if the actual work offered is the same.

What separates a service business from a freelance business is a matter of scale. No longer are your hours directly tied to your income, and you may not even be directly responsible for doing the work; that’s what your team is for.

360: How to Start an Aquarium Maintenance Business – $70k a Year Part-Time

November 7, 2019

He knew his $12 an hour gig at Walmart was a dead-end job.

His escape route was a business idea you probably walk past at least a couple times a year without even thinking about it.

What’s he do?

Today, Larry McGee’s the guy who takes care of the aquarium at the dentist office and other commercial waiting rooms.

And it earns him around $70,000 a year, doing something he enjoys and working just 15-hours a week.

347: Airbnb Experiences: Make Money w/ Your Unique Local Experience

January 27, 2020August 8, 2019

Can you get paid to breathe? Well, that’s certainly part of Michele Mattix’s guided meditation Airbnb Experience. Airbnb Experiences are activities led by locals, and Michele jumped at the chance to reach a new audience for her meditation instruction. When travelers book a stay in Arizona using Airbnb, they are also offered one of Michele’s meditation … Read more

332: How to Start a Junk Hauling Business: From $0 to $300 Million and Beyond

February 9, 2022April 25, 2019

WTF man!?

Are you willing to fail!Let that be your new mantra.

It’s the only way to get up the courage to get started.

That’s the rule Brian Scudamore — the founder and CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK — lives by.

321: Hosting Trivia Nights for Fun and Profit: Turn Useless Knowledge into Cash

April 20, 2020February 7, 2019

Question: When Seattleites comment, “the mountain is out,” to which mountain are they referring?

Answer: Mount Rainier.

How many of you that aren’t Seattle natives knew the answer to that one?

317: Licensing or Franchising a Business? How a School Nurse Started a 6-Figure Side Hustle

January 25, 2022January 10, 2019

“It’s a business with training wheels,” Timika told me.

Timika Downes is a school nurse by day but was looking for ways to add income after hours, and ended up licensing someone else’s business idea.

295: A Local Service Business that Scales – From Zero to $60k a Month in Revenue

November 22, 2021August 9, 2018

Chris is the founder of ThinkMaids.com, a residential house cleaning service in the Washington DC area he started on the side while still a university student.

Less than two years later, the business is doing $60k a month worth of cleaning work, all without Chris ever lifting a mop or dusting a shelf himself.

289: After School Programs: How to Make $200 an Hour Playing with Kids

November 5, 2021June 28, 2018

May Najafabadi of CreativeKidzCrafts.com went from paying for her son to attend afterschool enrichment classes, to holding her own classes and making $12k working 1 hour a day for 8 weeks.

May has an interesting entrepreneurial background that is mostly in e-commerce selling items on eBay and Amazon.

How to Start a Tutoring Business: How I Earn $1000/week Tutoring for the ACT

April 13, 2020May 15, 2018

The ACT is a college entrance exam used by many colleges to rank students applying to their schools. The subject matter covers English grammar, reading comprehension, math, and science.

Millions of students take the test each year and the test prep business rakes in over a billion dollars a year.

As a Side Hustle Nation reader, I want to show you how to get some some of that money!

280: How to Start a Bounce House Rental Business (Investing in “Inflatable” Real Estate)

November 5, 2021April 26, 2018

Corey Jeffreys turned an $800 investment into $3k in the first year and has been growing his business and adding more automated processes each year.

His entrepreneurial adventure began by exploring the world of real estate investing, when he happened upon a slightly different rental business model: inflatable bounce houses.

274: The Middleman Method: A Real-Life Example of Turning Trash into Treasure

November 5, 2021March 15, 2018

John Wilker of TheSimplestBiz.com has an interesting side hustle that takes up just a few hours a day and earns him anywhere up to several thousand dollars a day.

His business model? Buying industrial byproducts, the kind of stuff that’s used for shipping like pallets, cardboard boxes, crates, and so on, and selling them on for a profit.

Usually Hustling, Occasionally Social