4 Strategies That Turned Side Hustles Into Six-Figure Businesses

Forbes

24-04-2025

In a previous article, we discussed low-cost side hustles that can help build a business in the future. However, as side hustles have become essential to supplement Americans' income and build financial security, it is worth revisiting the conversation and sharing some successful strategies that side hustlers have implemented to build six-figure businesses.
According to a recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 5% of the workforce holds more than one job, with a median monthly income for this second job of around $200. Still, a growing number of women are beating the odds, turning side hustles into incomes that earn more than $100,000 a year. These women, each from a different industry and background, reveal the strategies they used to scale from nights and weekends to full-time founders. The strategies shared here reflect systems, mindset shifts, and clear decision-making that can turn part-time work into long-term, sustainable businesses. Let's look into them.
Nicole Leon launched her first side hustle in 2018 while working full-time at a law firm and attending esthetician school in the evenings. 'I was working 9 to 5, in school from 6 to 9, and then lashing people at 10 or 11 p.m. and on weekends,' she told me in our conversation in the Brown Way To Money Podcast.
What started as a way to earn extra income quickly grew into a six-figure business within one year. Leon credits the early success to how she positioned her side hustle before it even started. She knew she wanted to take on this venture and create anticipation within her circle as a way to commit to her journey and let others know things were changing for her. 'I was using social media to build anticipation months before I officially started. I created a business email, a website, an Instagram account, and business cards—everything. That mindset shift was important. I told myself: 'I'm doing this now,'' she said.
Using her personal Instagram account, she teased a major reveal. 'People were invested in my life already, so they were trying to guess what was coming,' she told me. 'They thought I was having a baby or getting married. No one guessed it was a lash business.'
After launch, she kept the momentum going by involving her local and online community. 'I called clients 'models,' offered discounted services, and asked them to share on social media. There was a mutual exchange—if I did your lashes, you'd tag me, and I'd tag you. That dynamic helped build a referral-based business really fast.'
Even when the Covid-19 Pandemic halted in-person appointments, Leon stayed active online and involved in her community. 'I wasn't making much money during those months, but I didn't disappear. I was doing raffles, reading to kids on social media, selling lash-related products, anything to stay involved.'
Leon later applied the same strategy to a second venture, a virtual assistant side hustle, which also crossed the six-figure mark within its first year. 'People want to be part of something,' she said. 'I've involved my community in every stage of growth. It's a shared accomplishment.'
Katie Krimitsos launched her podcast Meditation for Women in July 2018 as a side project while scaling down her previous business and raising two young children. For nearly 18 months, the podcast was a part-time effort, delivering one episode per week, recorded during available time slots. 'It was absolutely my side hustle,' Krimitsos said. 'I had a toddler, I was pregnant, and I was still supporting clients from my previous company. I was working maybe 10 to 15 hours a week.'
By early 2020, as the Covid-19 Pandemic began driving demand for wellness content, downloads surged. Instead of pulling back, Krimitsos scaled up. 'While everything out there was slowing down, I intuitively knew I had to speed up. People needed this,' she said. Her key strategy was to monitor analytics and replicate what was working consistently.
After noticing that sleep-related content consistently outperformed other episodes, Krimitsos launched a second podcast, Sleep Meditation for Women. It became her highest-performing show. 'I was watching the numbers. Sleep meditations were resonating. So, I created a whole new podcast with content I already had,' she told me. 'That show took off. And I knew if I could multiply those touchpoints, I could multiply the brand.'
Since then, Krimitsos has launched multiple podcasts under the Women's Meditation Network umbrella, featuring highly targeted, SEO-friendly titles such as Morning Meditation for Women, Meditation for Anxiety, and Panic Attack Meditations, among others. 'They're not flashy,' she said. 'They're exactly what someone is searching for. That's intentional.' By repurposing content across platforms and cross-promoting shows within her network, she maximized reach without increasing production time. 'I didn't have more hours. I had to stretch, but not break,' Krimitsos said.
Today, the Women's Meditation Network is approaching $1 million in annual revenue. Approximately 95% of earnings stem from sponsorships. Early growth was fueled by podcast platform ads and targeted PR campaigns, including one associated with her 100 millionth download milestone in 2022. Since then, the network has exceeded 175 million total downloads. 'I invested in infrastructure early, like paid ads, media pushes, and hiring help,' she said. 'But the biggest driver was listening to the data and doubling down where it made sense.'
Quynh Nguyen turned her creative side hustle of making handcrafted paper flowers into a six-figure business by combining long-term vision with consistent, incremental action. What began as a favor for a friend's wedding in 2013 eventually grew into a global brand offering online courses, a subscription box, and a podcast.
'I didn't start out thinking this would become a business,' Nguyen said. 'It was something fun and stress-free that unexpectedly sparked demand.' After recovering from back surgery and stepping away from a physically demanding catering company she had previously run, Nguyen took contract event planning jobs and crafted flowers on the side. Over the next two years, she explored the niche market of crepe paper flowers, built relationships with international suppliers, and taught herself how to design botanically realistic pieces. By 2015, she formally launched Pink and Posey, the business that would become the foundation for her current offerings.
Nguyen credits her growth to setting clear, attainable daily goals rooted in a larger strategic vision. 'Every day, even while working full-time, I committed to five key tasks: reaching out to people in my industry, sending emails, making connections,' she said. 'That daily consistency compounded over time.'
She anchored those tasks to a long-term objective: hosting an international paper flower convention. 'When you have a far-off goal, it changes how you present yourself, how you approach relationships, and the kinds of decisions you make,' she said. That mindset shaped her approach to vendor partnerships, industry collaborations, and building her audience.
Today, Nguyen continues to apply the same framework to expand her business through Paper Talk, a podcast she co-hosts alongside two other artists. 'Whether it's content, community, or revenue strategy, everything still ties back to my original approach,' she said. 'Start small, stay consistent, and align your daily actions with where you want the business to go.'
When Dielle Charon started her side hustle in 2018, she was working full-time as a social worker. On nights and weekends, she offered life coaching, first on mindset and later on business strategy. 'People began asking how to start side hustles of their own,' she said. 'That became my focus.'
Initially, Charon balanced both types of coaching through one-on-one sessions, leveraging Instagram, email marketing, and a podcast to reach potential clients. As demand for business support grew, she shifted toward group coaching to reduce her hours and increase her income. 'Group programs allowed me to help more people while managing fewer calls,' she said.
A focus on outcomes drove her early growth. 'I talked about client results constantly,' Charon said. 'Testimonial-based marketing helped people see the impact of my work.' She showcased wins across platforms, using live videos, stories and teaching-focused podcast episodes to establish credibility and generate leads. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she heavily leaned on Instagram to connect with new audiences. 'I shared concepts, marketing plans, even how to pay down debt using a side hustle. That kind of free education brought people in.'
Charon hit six figures in 2020. The business grew quickly from there: $500,000 in 2021, $1 million in 2022, and $1.5 million in 2023. She attributes that growth to an iterative strategy, doubling down on what worked while gradually expanding her marketing mix. 'Instagram is still our hub, but we've added paid advertising and live events to meet our community in person,' she said.
Every entrepreneur starts somewhere with a skill, an idea, or a need for extra income. But what separates a side hustle that earns an average amount per month from a high-growth business may not be the product or platform, but how you position it to run; in other words, it is the mindset. The decision to treat even the earliest version of your work like a company sets the tone for everything that follows.