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What It's About
A newly married couple design geofilters and wedding programs to help them pay off their wedding.
Business Model
Product
Skills Required
Design & Attention to Detail
Complexity
Medium
Profit Potential
Medium
Words of Wisdom
If you're looking to start a similar side hustle, Zander recommends doing everything you can to test your products before you go all-in on your ideas. It’s easy to see other designers posting their work, and go crazy creating your own products to try and get the same success. But take the time to test and see what people want to buy, then set yourself a goal of how many products you can make in a certain amount of time.
Fun Fact
Zander has named all of his side hustles and businesses Aycock followed by the type of work they do. He knows it’s not imaginative, but it really does the trick!
Notes from Chris
Episode 278
Like many couples, Zander Aycock and his bride-to-be found themselves looking for answers to the question, “How can are we going to pay for all of this?,” and spent the six months leading up to the wedding looking for ways to save and make money. Zander, a digital marketer by trade and a part-time design consultant, managed to cut costs by putting his design skills to use and making his own wedding program, welcome sign and rehearsal dinner invitations. They got a great response from the guests, but only put a small dent in the overall wedding bill. Whilst on the honeymoon and still tussling with the question, Zander noticed that many graphic designers were selling their services through Etsy, and packaging their pre-made designs as finished products. That’s when inspiration struck. He had the idea to share the hard work he’d put into his own wedding on Etsy and see what response it got. Within one week, the newly founded Aycock Designs made their first sale. Although Zander and his wife celebrated briefly, it was straight back to work. They’d sold miscellaneous items on the internet before and they weren’t yet completely convinced. The pair set about creating new printable designs for all the different facets of a wedding: seating plans, menus, signs, and gifts. They also managed to make use of a new social media trend to add a new side to their business—Snapchat Geofilters. This new branch of their side hustle actually started to bring in the bulk of their sales, so they started offering a larger variety of filters. The profits from Aycock Designs fluctuate depending on the wedding season and can range from anywhere from $500 to $1400 per month. Not enough to quit their jobs, but the newlyweds have been able to put their profits with some other savings toward a downpayment on their new house, which is a great achievement!MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- Aycock Designs: Check out more of their designs on their website and their Etsy page
- How to Create a Snapchat Geofilter for Your Event: Here's a step by step guide to creating your own Snapchat filters using the free program, Canva
- Designer Illustrates Success with Personalized Wedding Products: A graphic designer in New York City taps into the wedding e-commerce market and turns her side hustle into full-time work bringing in multiple six-figures
- Wedding Bells Ring Brighter if the Bride’s Not Broke: A New York professional rents high-end accessories to brides who want the glam without the buck
Quote of the Day
"Don't go all in until you know there are people out there that want what you have to offer. Once you prove this to be true, then I recommend setting goals for how many types of products you make in a period of time."
—Zander Aycock #SideHustleSchool
