Look, I'll be straight with you.
Two years ago, I was that person. You know the one. Scrolling through TikTok at 11 PM, watching 22-year-olds talk about their "passive income streams" while I'm sitting there in my pajamas wondering where my life went wrong.
I had no business skills. Couldn't even balance my checkbook properly. And the thought of starting my own thing? Terrifying.
But something clicked.
Maybe it was watching my friend Dave get laid off after 15 years. Maybe it was realizing I'd been at the same desk job for way too long. Or maybe I just got tired of feeling stuck.
Today my side hustle makes me $2,500 a month.
Not earth-shattering money. But it's changed everything about how I think. About work. About what I'm capable of. About taking risks.
Here's how I went from zero to actually making this work.
The Day Everything Started
Tuesday. 9:47 AM. I remember because I was staring at the clock, counting down to lunch.
Sarah from accounting walks by my desk. Casual as anything, she goes, "Yeah, my soap business made $300 last week."
Her soap business?
I'm thinking, if Sarah can sell soap online, what's stopping me from doing... something? Anything?
That night I'm lying in bed making mental lists. What am I actually good at?
- I can organize my closet pretty well
- I don't break computers when I use them
- My mom always asks me for budgeting advice
That's it. That's my entire skill set.
But then I had this thought. What if I'm overthinking this? What if I just... start with what I have and figure the rest out later?
Revolutionary, right?
Attempt #1: Epic Disaster Mode
I decided to become a professional organizer.
Why? Because I'd watched like three episodes of that Netflix show where they organize people's houses. Looked simple enough.
So I made a Facebook page. "Organized Life Solutions." Even designed a logo on some free website. Posted in every local mom group I could find.
Then I sat back and waited for my phone to explode with requests.
Spoiler alert: It didn't.
For two weeks, nothing. Not even a like on my posts. I started wondering if I was shadow-banned or something.
Finally, one person messaged me. Wanted help with their garage. I quoted $200 because honestly, I had no idea what to charge.
Spent my entire Saturday digging through boxes that probably hadn't been touched since 2003. Found a dead mouse. Nearly cried twice.
When I calculated my hourly rate later? Twenty-five bucks. Before gas money. Before the storage bins I bought with my own money.
The organizing business died after exactly one month.
But here's the weird part. I actually enjoyed the puzzle-solving aspect. Finding creative ways to make spaces work better. I just hated everything else about it.
The YouTube Rabbit Hole That Saved Me
After my organizing failure, I spent two weeks in full pity-party mode.
Ice cream for dinner. Binge-watching reality TV. Questioning all my life choices.
Then YouTube happened.
I was probably watching videos about cats or something when this video popped up: "How I Make $5000 a Month as a Virtual Assistant."
Virtual assistant? What's that?
Three hours later, I'd watched seventeen VA videos. This woman was explaining how businesses need help with basic stuff. Email management. Scheduling. Customer service.
All things I literally do at my day job already.
My brain started racing.
For the next three days, I went full research mode. Blog posts, YouTube tutorials, Facebook groups where VAs shared their horror stories and success tips.
The more I learned, the more it made sense:
- Businesses actually need this help
- Other people were already doing it successfully
- I didn't need any special equipment
- The skills weren't rocket science
Just me, my laptop, and decent internet. That's it.
Building My VA Business (Very Badly)
I signed up for Upwork, Fiverr, and this other platform called Belay.
My first profile was... yikes. Generic as a grocery store brand. "I'm a hardworking virtual assistant ready to help your business succeed!"
Cringe.
Week one: Zero inquiries.
Then I learned about "niching down." Instead of competing with 50,000 other generic VAs, what if I specialized?
I rewrote everything to focus on one thing: helping small business owners manage their email chaos.
Suddenly I wasn't just another VA. I was the email lady.
Three days after the rewrite, I got my first message.
Amy owned a small jewelry business. She was drowning in customer emails and needed someone to handle responses and process returns. Fifteen dollars an hour, ten hours a week.
Not exactly retirement money. But it was something.
Amy became my business school. She walked me through her customer service software, explained her brand voice, showed me how to handle difficult customers. Most importantly, she trusted me with her business.
That trust? Worth way more than the $150 a week.
The Struggle Bus Phase
Months 1-3 were rough.
Some weeks I'd work five hours. Other weeks, twenty-five. I had no systems, no boundaries, no clue what I was doing.
My biggest mistake? I was practically working for free.
I was so grateful anyone would hire me that I said yes to everything. Weird hours? Sure. Last-minute rush jobs? No problem. Eleven dollars an hour? I'll take it.
The wake-up call came when I calculated my month three earnings.
$847. For 78 hours of work.
I was working nights and weekends, missing my kid's soccer games, and making less than minimum wage. My husband started making jokes about my "expensive hobby."
Something had to change.
The Pricing Revelation
I spent one Saturday morning researching what other VAs actually charge.
Turns out I was pricing myself like a clearance item at Walmart.
Everyone else was charging $20-35 an hour for the same work I was doing for twelve bucks.
The problem wasn't my work quality. The problem was I didn't believe my work had value.
So I did two scary things:
- Raised my rates to $25 an hour
- Started requiring contracts and payment terms
I was convinced I'd lose every client.
Instead, something magical happened. I started attracting clients who actually valued good work. Who paid on time. Who said please and thank you.
The clients who complained about my rate increase? They were the same ones who paid late and demanded miracles on impossible deadlines.
Good riddance.
Getting Off the Hamster Wheel
By month six, I was making $1,200-1,500 monthly working about 20 hours a week.
But I realized I'd built myself a fancy prison. There are only so many hours in a day. I was still trading my time for money, just at a better rate.
Then I discovered packages.
Instead of billing hourly for email management, I created an "Email Management Package" for $400 a month. Daily monitoring, customer responses, weekly reports, the whole thing.
The psychology shift was huge.
Clients stopped thinking "How many hours will this take?" and started thinking "How much is it worth to have this completely handled?"
They weren't buying my time anymore. They were buying results.
Growing the Business (Finally)
As I got more confident, I started noticing patterns.
My clients always needed help with the same things:
- Social media posts
- Basic graphic design
- Organizing their digital files
So I spent evenings learning new skills. YouTube University became my best friend.
Canva for design work. Hootsuite for social scheduling. Google Drive organization.
Each new skill meant I could offer more services to existing clients. And small business owners? They'd rather work with one person they trust than manage five different freelancers.
The Month Everything Clicked
Month nine was my breakthrough.
Four regular clients. $1,800 in monthly recurring revenue. Plus project work that added another $300-500.
I was working about 20 hours a week and actually enjoying it.
But the real breakthrough wasn't financial. It was mental.
For the first time, I felt like an actual business owner. I had systems for everything. Templates. The confidence to have pricing conversations without my palms sweating.
I wasn't just picking up odd jobs anymore. I was running a business.
Where I Am Today
Eighteen months later, I'm consistently making $2,200-2,800 a month.
My client roster:
- Three e-commerce stores
- Two business coaches
- One law firm
I've raised my prices twice and have people on a waiting list.
But honestly? The money isn't even the best part.
This whole experience taught me things I never expected:
You don't need to be special to start. I had basic computer skills and figured out the rest by doing.
Your first idea will probably stink. My organizing business was a disaster, but it taught me about pricing and finding real demand.
Undercharging attracts the wrong people. When I charged too little, I got clients who didn't respect my time or work.
Systems are everything. Having processes made me look professional and work way more efficiently.
Fear is worse than failing. I spent months worrying about what would happen if I failed. When I actually did fail with organizing, it wasn't the end of the world. Just useful information.
What I'd Tell My Past Self
If I could go back to the beginning, here's what I'd say:
Just start already. I wasted months "researching" when I should have been learning by doing.
Pick one thing and get good at it. My business took off when I focused on email management instead of trying to do everything.
Track your money from day one. I wish I'd kept better records of what projects were actually profitable.
Find other people doing this. The VA Facebook groups were goldmines for pricing advice and client management tips.
Keep your day job until you're sure. Having that steady paycheck meant I could be picky about clients instead of taking whatever I could get.
The Unexpected Benefits
Starting this side hustle didn't just change my bank account.
I became way more confident at my regular job. Started negotiating better deals everywhere. Developed this whole new mindset about what's possible.
Plus, I actually love running a business. The problem-solving, building client relationships, constantly learning new things. It's way more engaging than my 9-to-5 has ever been.
I'm not ready to quit my day job yet. But knowing I could if I wanted to? That's powerful stuff.
What's Coming Next
Right now I'm working on creating some digital products. Templates and mini-courses that can make money without me actively working.
The dream? Build some passive income streams while keeping my awesome clients happy.
I'm also thinking about bringing someone on to help. That way I could take on bigger projects without working more hours myself.
The Real Truth
Starting a side hustle with zero experience was scary as hell.
But it was also the best thing I've ever done for myself.
You don't need a perfect plan. You don't need special talents. You don't need some brilliant, never-been-done-before idea.
You just need to start.
Make mistakes. Learn from them. Keep trying stuff until something works.
If you're sitting there thinking you're not qualified or experienced enough, I get it. I felt exactly the same way.
The difference between where I was then and where I am now? I stopped making excuses and started taking action.
Your journey won't look like mine. But here's what I know for sure: the best time to start was probably last year.
The second-best time? Today.
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