Shoulds often maintain a status quo. Shoulds are about settling.
In his book “Magic Words,” Jonah Berger suggests turning shoulds into coulds: “Rather than black and white, or either/or, ‘could’ encourages people to realize there might be alternate paths.”
It brings a creative mindset to problems.
That’s this newsletter.
The story of someone so sick of a life of debt, she took matters into her own hands with an income stream most people would look at and think, “I should not try that.”
This is the story of a $25k Could.
Today in 10 minutes or less, you'll learn:
✔️ A contrarian framework: How could it work?
✔️ The side hustle that paid off $25K of student debt in 6 months
✔️ Why Facebook Marketplace is all you need to copy her success
✔️ The key to scaling it into a biz
✔️ How far flipping can take you
Contrarian framework: How could it work?
“That won’t work.”
Ever catch yourself thinking that when you read these newsletters? Or hear an entrepreneur’s story? Or learn about a new side hustle?
“It’s too simple.”
“It probably doesn’t pay off.”
“It won’t scale.”
Most gravitate toward why it won't work.
The secret all entrepreneurs learn?
Shut up that part of your brain. Train your mind to instead ask:
“How could it work?”
If you learn to risk asking questions like, “How could I turn cheap stuff into thousands?”
Then you risk being rewarded by… A life-changing, scaled furniture-flipping business.
Like Lauren.
The side hustle that paid off $25K of student debt in 6mos
Like many millennials, Lauren Hull was spending her mid-20s staring student debt in the face, wondering how she could pay it off in a reasonable time – on a kindergarten teacher’s salary.
So, as the sh*tstorm we commonly refer to as the year 2020 was coming to a close, she started a side hustle to help pay off the debt.
The side hustle? Flipping furniture.
Yes, the same concept as flipping houses, but on a much smaller, more repeatable scale.
Lauren didn’t have the capital for full-scale fix-and-flips in her market. But what she did have were craftsman skills, a “how could I make this work?” mindset, and Facebook Marketplace.
These three things not only helped pay off a $25k debt in six months, but they led to a 5-figure per month, 225k-follower YouTube channel “Furniture Flipping Teacher,” and a path to build a flipping empire.
Now, let's break down how she turned piles into profit.
Why FB Marketplace is all you need to copy her success
If you’ve ever sold anything on Facebook Marketplace, you know it’s an… experience.
For the unchristened, it usually goes a little something like this:
You post an item for sale. You get between three and 300 responses saying, “Is this still available?” You never hear from 90% of them ever again. Until they come back crying because you already sold the $15 lamp they never got back to you about.
Not a battlefield for the faint of heart.
That said, making money on FB Marketplace just takes a little patience and street smarts. After all, one man’s trash is another man’s furniture flip.
There’s a paradox on this platform: You can score promising pieces others are getting rid of for pennies. Yet people are also willing to buy quality furniture for hundreds of dollars.
(Bonus: you can take cash on Marketplace, saving you online processing fees.)
Let’s look at Lauren’s flipping process:
1. Find furniture to flip.
Search for solid wood pieces under $75 (on FB Marketplace, at thrift shops, etc.). Look for minimal signs of usage, and always research the market value of the piece before buying. (Trick of the trade: search the piece on eBay, scroll down to “Show only,” and check “Sold Items.” Now you see the price people are actually paying, not optimistic appraisals by wishful sellers.)
2. Negotiate the price.
Furniture takes up space. When people are getting rid of a piece, it’s usually more important for it to be gone fast than for it to bring in a lot of money. Major leverage: offering immediate pickup.
3. Keep operating costs low.
Lauren does all this from her garage – you don’t need an expensive warehouse.
Good furniture can be refurbished on the cheap. It typically just takes some sanding, replacing hardware, and adding fresh paint.
4. Sell.*
*For more than you paid. Crucial detail here.
Flip out over these results
Here’s one example of the results Lauren gets.
She picked up four chair sets, ranging in price from free to $60. She paid $89 total.
Five hours of ripping, cleaning, stapling, and FB listing later, she sold them all for $975 total, earning a net profit of $886.
$177 per hour for furniture re-selling. I guess you could say this flipped my mindset on what’s possible with small-scale renovations.
The key to scaling it into a biz
Simple, smart, but is it scalable?
Lauren had a profitable side hustle. Now it was time to turn it into a full-time career. But how?
Enter the creator economy.
I’m a big believer in content creation as documentation. One thing that comes easy for you can be a game-changer for someone else. If you’ve done the work to learn a skill or trade, someone else wants to learn from you.
How Lauren did it was simple.
She started to document her process and share her success stories.
Quick sidebar: This type of content sells itself. People flip out (okay, maybe I should take it easy on the ‘flip’ puns) watching others flip stuff. HGTV puts out a new house-flipping show every year, and if you search “furniture flip” on TikTok, you’ll see hundreds of videos with collective billions of views.
Before-and-after content is uber-digestible: visually appealing, inspiring, and gives people the idea they can do it themselves.
Lauren tapped into this.
Take a look at her Instagram for a taste of her approachable style that nearly 250k followers enjoy. She shares painting tips, before-and-afters, what to look for, thrift shopping finds, and of course, satisfying, dopamine-producing profit numbers.
That’s just her Instagram. Her YouTube channel brings in ad revenue thanks to her 225k subscribers and 33M+ views. With over 300 videos, she makes around $20k/month from YT ads alone.
But she didn’t stop at content. She also offers:
1-on-1 furniture flipping coaching
Flipping services
An online course for $597.
For example, one couple found a furniture set for free and paid Lauren to refurbish it. Yup – she built enough credibility to be hired for her craftsman services.
There’s a market for everything in the creator economy. Authentic and helpful content makes you available to those seeking solutions for problems you’ve already solved.
I’d say Lauren has already proven furniture flipping can be scalable. But what she’s currently working on intrigues me the most…
How far flipping can take you
There’s a post on Lauren’s IG that tells me she’s playing the long game.
The strategy here: Turn attention into opportunity into cash flow, and repeat.
Use money from furniture flipping to buy (or house hack?) an Airbnb.
Consistently promote the Airbnb(s) to your half-a-million network of followers = sold-out rooms month after month.
Promote flipped furniture pieces to other Airbnb hosts. You can set up a Shopify site marketing solely to Airbnb hosts. I’d hire writers and own this SEO space.
This is a BIG one. What about Airbnb renovation services? If you’re already showing how you’re flipping furniture and renovating rooms, why not sell this as a service? You’re the face of the brand, now start hiring contractors to help. Start locally and expand to nearby cities or vacation rental hot spots.
The right hustles don’t stay side hustles. Kudos to Lauren Hull and the rest of the furniture flippers out there.
Like them, train your mind to ask…
“How could I make this work?”
We don’t have to, we get to.
- Codie
📱Flipper content: This vid has 7.7M+ views. This one? Almost 30MILLION.
🃏 $3.1M poker pot: Crypto bros losing money in increasingly unique ways
📊 Visuals to make you think a little differently about biz principles
😠 Read this if you want to get pissed off about car insurance
Disclaimer – This is the “Be an adult” section. This article is presented for informational purposes only. The opinions stated here are not intended to recommend any investment or provide tax advice. Neither are they an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to purchase an interest in any current or future investment vehicle by Contrarian Thinking, LLC or its affiliates. All material presented in this newsletter is not to be regarded as investment advice, but for general informational purposes only. Investing does involve risk. We cannot guarantee profits or freedom from loss. You assume the entire cost and risk. You are solely responsible for making your own investment decisions. We recommend consulting with an advisor. By reading/sharing this newsletter or consuming our content on our other channels, you are indicating your consent and agreement to our disclaimer.
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