Podcast Summary: The Side Hustle Show – Episode 709

Title: 10 Creative Side Hustles That Make Real Money – Part 9
Host: Nick Loper (Side Hustle Nation)
Date: November 27, 2025

Main Theme

This special Thanksgiving edition of The Side Hustle Show features Nick Loper’s annual roundup of 10 of the most interesting, creative side hustle businesses discovered throughout the year. The episode showcases a mix of product, service, and content businesses—each demonstrating unique ways to turn ordinary (or even boring) ideas into profitable ventures.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Luxury Firewood – Cutting Edge Firewood

(Start: 02:31)

• Founder: Leroy Hite

• Idea: Transforming ordinary firewood into a luxury product by focusing on quality, experience, and branding.

• Details: Hand-selected, kiln-dried, pest-free hardwoods delivered “white glove” in premium packaging; $59 per box, $250 firewood racks; featured in national media.

• Growth: Over 30,000 customers, national expansion, eventual successful exit.

• Insight: Every industry has low standards—find where you can raise the bar and create an experience worth paying for.

  “I realized it’s not a commodity, it’s an experience. It’s the aroma, the crackle, the warmth, the flicker of the flame…people will pay a premium for that experience.”
  — Leroy Hite (03:33)

Notable Segment:

• [03:14] – Leroy discusses the moments leading to going “all in”—selling his house, maxing out credit cards, and working 110-hour weeks.

2. Boss as a Service – Accountability as a Subscription

(09:31)

• Founder: Manasvini Krishna

• Idea: Users pay ($25/month+) for a “boss” to hold them accountable to personal or business goals.

• Growth: From viral posts and quizzes, the business scaled to 2,500+ users and over $60,000/month in revenue.

• Expansion: Added coaching, goal-setting, challenges, and is developing a mobile app.

• Insights:

  • Virality is exciting but not a sustainable growth plan.
  • Accountability is a highly valuable service.
  • Simplicity and market validation matter more than complex features in the early stages.

  “I was great at launching things… But taking a business from 100 users to a thousand, I had no idea what I was doing.”
  — Manasvini Krishna (12:21)

3. Peak Rover Tuning – Niche Hobby Service (Ski & Gear Tuning)

(14:00)

• Founder: Ryan Goodwin

• Idea: Seasonal ski-tuning business started as an SEO experiment, run out of a Denver garage.

• Model: Google Business Profile brought in clients as local shops became backlogged; now offers delivery and is building a local network (Gear Fix app).

• Diversification: Expanded into bikes and a platform for local gear repairs.

• Insight: Super-local, niche services can succeed with minimal online presence and good community engagement.

  “I was surprised, but I think a lot of people also are tired of walking into traditional shops…”
  — Ryan Goodwin (15:01)

4. Bat Club USA – Baseball Bat Rental Subscription

(18:39)

• Founders: Oscar Urana & Eric Rico

• Idea: Rent high-end baseball bats to kids via monthly subscription ($17–$45+), reducing upfront costs for families.

• Results: $50,000/month in recurring revenue; started lean by testing with 15 families.

• Scaling: Invested $40,000 in inventory, used in-person tournament booths and targeted Facebook ads to acquire customers.

• Insights:

  • Validate ideas before big investments.
  • Recurring revenue models can work with physical products (not just SaaS).
  • Inventory management and fraud can be challenges in scaling.

  “Test your idea first...those first 15 families at the academy proved that the concept could work.”
  — Nick Loper (21:47)

5. Car Seat Scrub Club – Car Seat Cleaning & Course Sales

(22:44)

• Founder: Shelby Merrill

• Story: Stay-at-home mom in Utah rapidly built a profitable service cleaning car seats ($5,600 in first four months) and selling how-to courses after her TikTok videos went viral.

• Business Model: $40 per car seat plus travel; upsells digital courses ($75–$500) to followers who wanted to start their own business.

• Expansion: Hired staff, expanded geography, and limited cleaning to protect work-life balance.

  “I could be the someone who does this.”
  — Shelby Merrill (23:20)
  “Shelby identified this pain point that every parent has. Look, the car seats are gross. And she went out and solved it, didn’t overthink it…”
  — Nick Loper (27:30)

6. The Swiftologist – Fandom Content to Full-Time Income

(28:01)

• Founder: Zachary Howahan

• Idea: Serving Taylor Swift fans with commentary, analysis, and podcasting (“Evolution of a Snake”); grew to 250k+ followers.

• Monetization: Patreon has 15,000 members ($3–$25/mo), generating ~$90k/month; free podcast supports a larger audience.

• Insights:

  • Build a media property around a massive, passionate audience.
  • Authenticity, consistency, and critical viewpoint differentiate the creator.
  • Superfans will pay for exclusive content.

  “I wanted to own what I did.”
  — Zachary Howahan (29:31)
  “The best audience isn’t the biggest one, it’s the most engaged one.”
  — Zachary Howahan (31:53)

7. Am I The Jerk? – Reading Reddit Posts for Profit

(35:05)

• Idea: Voice actors read and dramatize user-generated Reddit stories (“Am I the A-hole?”/“Am I the Jerk?”) for YouTube and podcast release.

• Scale: Over a million YouTube subs, 12,000+ Spotify reviews; daily publishing; estimated $20k–$100k/month.

• Model: Curates and packages free, viral online content to new formats; voice acting is main expense.

• Insight:

  • Curation and repackaging UGC is a powerful, replicable content model.
  • Accessibility and entertainment in familiar formats monetize attention.

  “What’s cool is that you don’t always need to create original content from scratch...sometimes the content already exists.”
  — Nick Loper (38:05)

8. Six-Figure Proposal Planner – Ultra-Niche Event Planning

(39:15)

• Founder: Lexi Tobin

• Idea: Designs and manages custom marriage proposals, typically earning ~15% of proposal costs, with brand/affiliate income from TikTok (300k+ followers).

• Revenue: Six figures per year; best month: $20,000.

• Origin: Started as a passion project for family, went viral on TikTok, recognized market demand.

• Insight:

  • Hyper-focused services attract a growing market.
  • Recording and posting reactions builds a virtuous marketing/content cycle.

  “According to the Knot...one in four proposers now pay someone to help them pop the question. One in four, that’s like a pretty sizable market...”
  — Nick Loper (42:43)

9. Crooked Branch Studio – Wooden Bow Ties (Teen Entrepreneur)

(44:13)

• Founder: Paul Castor

• Idea: Identified a gap in design/quality for wooden bow ties; created improved versions, scaled via Etsy and direct sales.

• Results: ~$20,000 profit in a year as a high school senior, automated with contractors when at college.

• Product Expansion: Added carbon fiber “Carbon Cravat” line and wholesale.

• Insight:

  • Improve upon existing concepts with better execution.
  • Systematically outsource to maintain passive income as time becomes scarce.

  “He didn’t invent wooden bow ties. He just set out to make better ones.”
  — Nick Loper (48:26)

10. DigiWoof – Niche Marketing Agency for Dog Trainers

(49:34)

• Founder: Josh Boutel & wife Mandy

• Idea: Full stack marketing agency exclusively for dog trainers (especially positive reinforcement/R+ community).

• Services: Web, automation, lead gen, tailored content.

• Revenue: $10,000+/month via highly targeted, specialized offerings.

• Insight:

  • Niching down makes you the obvious specialist—clients prefer industry insiders.
  • Industry knowledge powers authentic, valuable services and builds credibility.

  “He’s not competing with every generic marketing agency out there. He’s the dog training marketing guy. And when you own a niche like that, I think $10k a month is just the starting point.”
  — Nick Loper (53:01)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On why everything is monetizable:

  “Just about any skill is monetizable if you’re excited enough about it.”
  — Nick Loper (01:53)

• On scaling solo businesses:

  “Trying to do everything yourself, you’re going to get burned out in those 14 hour days.”
  — Nick Loper (13:19)

• On opportunity in overlooked industries:

  “Every industry has low standards somewhere… what can you do to raise the bar?”
  — Nick Loper (09:06)

• On the content model for Reddit stories:

  “The real genius here is they’re not creating the core content—it’s user-generated. The Reddit users are creating it and they create it every single day.”
  — Nick Loper (37:01)

• On age and entrepreneurship:

  “He didn’t let his age stop him. Some people didn’t take him seriously because he was young, but he proves them wrong with results.”
  — Nick Loper (49:05)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:31] – Cutting Edge Firewood – Luxury firewood business breakdown
• [09:31] – Boss as a Service – Accountability subscription service
• [14:00] – Peak Rover Tuning – Local garage ski tuning service
• [18:39] – Bat Club USA – Bat rental subscription
• [22:44] – Car Seat Scrub Club – Car seat cleaning, virality, course sales
• [28:01] – The Swiftologist – Taylor Swift content creator’s journey
• [35:05] – Am I the Jerk? – Reading Reddit for fun and profit
• [39:15] – Proposal Planner – Niche event planning, TikTok growth
• [44:13] – Crooked Branch Studio – Teenpreneur, wooden bow ties
• [49:34] – DigiWoof – Marketing agency for dog trainers

Overall Takeaways

• There are infinite opportunities to turn everyday problems and passions into profitable side hustles.
• Success often comes from scratching your own itch, finding areas with low standards, and niching down—sometimes even within a niche—to dominate a category.
• Don’t overthink business ideas; test quickly, validate your concept, and scale what works.
• Be willing to pivot and create secondary revenue streams (teaching, content, courses) for even greater impact.
• Consistency, authentic expertise, and community focus are recurring themes among all the highlighted businesses.

For inspiration, motivation, and lots of concrete, repeatable ideas—this is a must-listen episode for would-be side hustlers!