This 27-Year-Old’s Side Hustle Now Earns Over $500k a Month

This Aspect Hustle Highlight Q&A options 27-year-old Valentina Zapata, a Las Vegas-based entrepreneur behind The Shoe Game Co. Zapata’s aspect hustle turned full-time gig reselling sneakers sees greater than $500,000 income a month. Responses have been edited for size and readability.

What was your day job (or different sources of earnings) while you began your side hustle?
I used to be a life insurance coverage dealer.

When did you begin your side hustle, and the place did you discover the inspiration for it?
It was the post-pandemic period; my girlfriend really inspired me to select it again up as one thing optimistic to do on the aspect.

Associated: This Former Flight Attendant and Her Roommate Started a Side Hustle With Just $2,000 Each. Then It Earned Them Nearly $600,000 — and Counting.

What have been a number of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the bottom?
We began with Instagram, then we went to Facebook Marketplace and drove nearly an hour for our first “flip.” And we simply saved rinsing and repeating.

What have been a number of the greatest challenges you confronted whereas constructing your side hustle, and the way did you navigate them?
Studying what to not purchase — what sits — and that each one “good offers” should not all good offers. And the most important lesson we discovered early on: recognizing fakes! This price us essentially the most cash; nevertheless, we watched movies, learned, took the Ls on the chin and saved pushing. Lastly, as resellers, we’re at all times scuffling with sitting stock. This was one thing we needed to unravel — how might we promote and promote quick?

Associated: She Grew Her Side Hustle Sales From $0 to Over $6 Million in Just 6 Months — and an ‘Old-School’ Mindset Helped Her Do It

How lengthy did it take you to see constant month-to-month income? How a lot did the side hustle earn?
We noticed constant earnings at $7,000 a month, but it surely wasn’t till we received on the live-selling platform Whatnot that issues exploded for us. That is after we shifted our operation to full-time.

When and why did you determine to take the side hustle full-time? What does development and income seem like now?
We determined to take this aspect hustle full-time inside two months of being on Whatnot. We noticed the attain and neighborhood, and extra importantly, we knew the sneaker class on Whatnot was comparatively new, simply as live-selling was, and we did not wish to miss it. We’re doing over $500,000 a month in income — and simply signed and moved into our new 6,000-square-foot warehouse. We now have seven staff in lower than two years and haven’t any plans to decelerate.

Associated: ‘The Work Just Fills My Soul’: She Turned Her Creative Side Hustle Into a 6-Figure ‘Dream’ Business

What do you get pleasure from most about working this enterprise?
I really like seeing the team grow and their lives change round me as we work hard, and it pays off. Along with our crew profitable, our neighborhood is so stunning — it is a lot extra than simply promoting.

What’s your recommendation for others hoping to start out profitable aspect hustles or companies of their very own?
Construct and drive community — all the pieces else will comply with. The one option to stand out in a digital period is constructing a powerful brand reach.

This text is a part of our ongoing Young Entrepreneur® collection highlighting the tales, challenges and triumphs of being a younger enterprise proprietor.