People told me I was ‘committing career suicide’ when I quit my £16k a year job for my side hustle – now I make £400k
A WOMAN who quit her £16,000 a year job to focus on her side hustle, has revealed her business now makes £400,000 a year.
Paula Pant quit her low-paying job as a news reporter, after deciding to go travelling.
Her parents were unimpressed by her decision, as they had always dreamed of her becoming a doctor or an engineer.
Speaking to CNBC, she said: “Everyone told me that I was crazy and that I was committing career suicide.
“They said that I would never get a job again”.
Despite her low salary, Paula had managed to save £19,000 to go travelling, by side hustling as a freelance writer alongside her job.
She said: “Every penny that I earned from freelancing, I decided to save”.
After returning from travelling, Paula continued to freelance, living as cheaply as she could.
She started to write about her own experiences of money saving, and grew a reputation as a personal finance writer.
Once Paula was earning a salary of £4,000 a month from freelancing she started her own content creation business called Afford Anything.
The business teaches people how they can make better decisions with their finances, and now brings in £400,000 a year.
Paula writes, has a podcast and makes videos on personal finance, and teaches people everything from investing in stocks to dealing with debt.
She said: “The idea behind afford anything is that you can afford anything but not everything.
“Every choice you make is a trade-off between something else.”
She explained that many of her friends told her that they couldn’t afford to go travelling, but would happily spend £12 on one drink in a bar.
“If you want to do something, there are ways to make it happen”, she said.
How to start your own business
Dragon's Den star Theo Paphitis revealed his tips for budding entrepreneurs:
- One of the biggest barriers aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners face is a lack of confidence. You must believe in your idea — even more than that, be the one boring your friends to death about it.
- Never be afraid to make decisions. Once you have an idea, it’s the confidence to make decisions that is crucial to starting and maintaining a business.
- If you don’t take calculated risks, you’re standing still. If a decision turns out to be wrong, identify it quickly and deal with it if you can. Failing that, find someone else who can.
- It’s OK not to get it right the first time. My experience of making bad decisions is what helped develop my confidence, making me who I am today.
- Never underestimate the power of social media, and remember the internet has levelled the playing field for small businesses.
- Don’t forget to dream. A machine can’t do that!
Paula said that if you really want something, then the best way to get it is to stick to a tight budget, and take on a side hustle to earn some extra cash.
She said that the mission of her business is to help people to become better decision makers.
Her parents have finally accepted her decision and are very proud of her achievements.
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