A WOMAN has revealed that she is set to make £100, 000 a year thanks to her side hustles, which she only has to work one hour a week on.
Elena Assimakopoulos began side hustling back in 2021, when she was preparing to move to London for a 9-5 job that would give her an annual salary of £30,000.
The 26 year old thought that the salary would make it "really difficult" for her to live in the capital, so decided to find ways of making some extra income.
After doing some research Elena discovered that she could make cash from selling books on Amazon and decided to write one about her expertise in candle making ( a skill she had learned when she was younger).
After working "relentlessly" for five months to research the book, Elena hired a ghost-writer to complete the text for her.
Elena's has now published eight books, and said she has raked in more than £70,000 so far from the venture.
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She explained that she now works just 2-3 hour a day on the side hustle, waking up at 5am to work on it before heading to her 9-5.
The entrepreneur said that she has had to make sacrifices, such as spending less time with friends and family, and occasionally having to work on weekends, but said that it is all worth it, as she is on track to earn £100,000 by the end of the year.
Speaking to What's The Jam, she said: “Starting my side hustle journey has changed my life in so many ways.
“A typical day involves building my community of 66,000 members online and replying to comments and emails, working on Amazon ad management, and learning new skills like how to improve engagement rates too.
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“It's definitely a sacrifice as I do see my friends and family less, but it's worth it for me as I want to build something special.
“This intensity of time has not always been the case though – last year when I started my new job, I spent significantly less time on my side hustle (less than 1 hour a week).
“But I have drawn my focus back to it this year and want to grow my business much bigger – to £100,000 revenue by the end of 2024.”
Elena revealed that she published her first book Kindle Direct Published (KDP) on Amazon through a pseudonym.
She said that it cost her £1500 to make the book, and another £1000 for a course to learn how to publish it.
Elena used all of her savings from her first job to pay for this, but managed to save money on making her second book, which cost her £500.
Side hustles in numbers
Based on new research from Finder, an estimated 22.8 million Brits are using side hustles to top up their income.
Among generation those aged 18-23 68 percent have a side hustle in 2024.
Those aged 24-42 aren’t far behind, with 65 per cent having an additional source of income.
Side hustles are less popular among older generations, with 40 percent of generation those aged 43-54 having one.
Whereas 23 percent of people aged 55-73 and just 7 per cent of those aged 74 and over are earning extra cash this way.
The side hustler has made three candle books, two colouring books and three notebooks.
She said: “My biggest regret is that I was too scared to publish any of my books under my own name, so no one ever knows I published them!”
Elena, also flogs her old clothes and other household items online for cash, but said that this only makes her £100 a month.
Discussing her average monthly earnings, she said: “It fluctuates monthly but on average I make around £3,500 a month at the moment, with my highest months just under £10,000.
“I also have some big launches coming up which will increase my side hustle earnings before the end of the year.”
Sharing advice to anyone thinking of starting their own side hustles, she said: “For anyone who is doubtful about starting, I hope they read this, and start your journey today.
“I am extremely grateful for the opportunities that I have received.
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