Utah family turns business idea into successful side hustle

People looking to supplement their income or wanting to make some extra cash are turning to side hustles.

In Today’s ‘Save more, worry less’ Tamara Vaifanua shows us how one Utah couple is making their side hustle work for them.

Michael and Diana stone live in Lindon with their three young kids. In just a few years, they’ve created a lucrative business selling wrapping paper. A simple idea that’s grown into a six-figure side hustle.

The side hustle industry is booming in Utah.

40,838 people are taking on a job to bring in some extra money — in addition to their regular job — that’s according to the Deseret News.

“It’s becoming more of a passive stream of income for a lot of people,” Meg Sauer, a CNBC Make It contributor said.

She talks to people from all over the country who have come up with creative side hustles.

“This guy who lives in Oregon and he was just renting out his backyard pool to strangers and made $200,000 over the course of two years.”

People have also rented out backyards for company parties or turned them into dog parks.

In Lindon, Utah,  Michael Stone and his wife Diana run Viola Grace Shop.

Their specialty is wrapping paper printed on demand for just about any occasion you can imagine.

“Kids birthday parties or themed birthday parties. Or Christmas gifts, things like that,” Michael said.

They have a library of 1,500 licensed designs that are printed on high-quality paper.

“You know when you get that perfect slide with the scissors, and it snags and rips like three inches. It doesn’t do that,” Michael said.

They’re also pre-cut.

“This is only three sheets, so you use it and you wrap it up and you don’t have any waste. You don’t have to store it,” he said.

In 2022, the Stones made bank, generating $150,000 in revenue.

They put in a few hours every night while the kids are asleep.

“We’ve moved off of Etsy, now we’re on our own website and we’re working with a software partner to be able to personalize it. We do it primarily to provide more time for our family and for our kids,” Michael said.

Successful side-hustler gurus like Michael are now sharing their knowledge.

“One of the popular side hustle trends right now is people are selling how to start a side hustle classes,” Sauer said. “They’re selling, “How I made money by only working 10 hours a week.”

This week, Michael is launching a 6-week course.

He says if you have the desire to start your own side hustle – just do it!

“A lot of it is stay at home moms even. Because it’s something if the kids are at school or if they’re sleeping or something like that we’ve found so much freedom from it,” he said.

Michael says for now, they’re content on where their business stands. The whole point is spending more time with their kids, and they don’t want to take on more responsibility.

That’s why he says it’s important you’re clear on your “why.”

He also suggests you do your homework and find something that requires less work as you go.