When a successful high street retailer found his sales in decline, he focused on growing this passion project on the side. The results surprised everyone – especially him.
I love entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial spirit.
And I love hearing business stories.
One of the businessmen I met with recently in France (let’s call him H) has a great business story.
H successfully ran a chain of fashion and shoe stores in England for many years, but with time the whole brick and mortar style of operating his business was declining. Less and less people, it seemed, were taking to the high street to physically shop.
Parallel to this, for his birthday one year his youngest son bought him a couple of vinyl records. H thought it was a really cool gift, but his other son, taking the piss out of his brother, said ‘Oh yes, so cool, too bad you don’t have a record player to play them on dad.’ And so, H went and bought a record player.
H had always been into music and sold CDs in his stores, but vinyl was an entirely different, more aesthetic experience. He started to grow his collection, and when his father passed away, he inherited his dad’s quite large collection of vinyl.
Still running his stores, H decided to sell a few of his records online and realising the huge demand for vinyl, he started a little side hustle from home. And what occurred amazed him. The numbers for his fashion stores kept declining, while the numbers for his side hustle kept increasing. The maths was clear (especially when you take into account the rent he paid on the stores): if he invested his time and his money in growing his vinyl stock, to say 100,000 units, he could close his stores and move full time into the record business.
And so, he did.
He now sells vinyl record online, worldwide. His major clients are DJs looking for 70s and 80s vinyl to mix in their performances. His side hustle is now his major hustle and he could not be happier.
Always keep an eye out for opportunities. Could your hobby or side interest be monetised? Could your side hustle outstrip your main hustle? Are you so focussed on what you think is the right path that you fail to see the opportunities that are right in front of you?
Kate Christie is a time management coach and a bestselling author, her 4th book is called Me First: The Guilt Free Guide to Prioritising You. Sign up for Kate’s free 5 Day Time Challenge on her website.