An $80,000 per Month Business That's Also Tasty

SHS #003 - No, it has nothing to do with ChatGPT. Not yet anyway.

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Like meat and cheese?

By now, you’ve likely heard of charcuterie boards. After all, it is a $378 million industry. Some figures have it as high as $950 million (with 10% annual growth).

Not kidding.

Even more - I mean let’s face it - who doesn’t love grazing? The whole crackers and cheese - maybe some wine - you can’t go wrong.

I love when my wife puts them together - or when I get a chance to eat off them at parties. I’m a guy. I like to eat.

But, what about a charcuterie side hustle - or even stand-alone business?

Apparently - to my surprise (sort of) - it’s a thing!

Side Hustle: Charcuterie Business

I saw this Entrepreneur article this week about Platterful. It’s a charcuterie business started by three friends - who also had full-time jobs.

Platterful even uses a subscription model - to get that recurring revenue. Based on my research, that seems to be the outlier. However, as you’ll see below, other charcuterie businesses operate under different models and additional revenue streams.

So, the businesses are as creative as the boards themselves. Here’s a few other articles I found on the side hustle turned full-time charcuterie business trend:

  • BoardsByMo.com: Monisha Misra started her charcuterie board prep company during the pandemic and made $100,000 in 9 months. What started as donations to essentials workers turned into a successful side business where Monisha is the expert. On top of the business itself, she holds workshops to teach others how to start their own charcuterie business. That’s how you know you made it. Her marketing secret: Instagram hashtags. Read more in Side Hustle Nation.

  • Charcuterie Shed: When Chris Long was laid off during the pandemic, he knew he needed to figure something out to bring in money for his family. So, why not preparing some meat and cheese for folks? It was a new hobby he took up and the family thought they could make some money doing. And they began taking orders. He even gets to work with his kids. Now that he’s back at a job, he also is another running this type of business on the side. Read more in The Peterborough Examiner.

  • Graze Craze: Started in 2018 by military veteran Kerry Sylvester, Graze Craze is actually a charcuterie franchise. Yes, you read that right. They have 34 locations in 18 states as of the end of 2022. Kerry plans to have that number up to 60 locations in 2023. She really caught the trend on this one before it took off. Talk about being among the in an industry! Read more in Forbes and Entrepreneur.

I’d love to know what you think of this! Would you start a charcuterie side hustle?

Growth Tip: Build Your Tribe

So, here’s this week’s growth tip based on the lessons learned from these charcuterie businesses. It comes from Monisha:

“Surround yourself with like-minded people.”

This is something I keep having impressed upon me. I’m picking it up in things I read - like Your Best Year Ever by Michael Hyatt.

And it happened completely organically on Twitter this week with a few other up and coming “legends” trying to make money online. We’re supporting each other’s ideas, DMing each other lessons learned, and starting Telegram and Discord chats. We even plan to do a Twitter Spaces this month or next to discuss our learnings.

That’s the power of the mastermind for you Think and Grow Rich fans.

Find your tribe - both with customers and colleagues.

That’s how you grow. Support each other and rise together.

That’s it for this week. I appreciate you checking it out.

Will you do me a favor and share this with your friends and family who might benefit?

If you want help getting started with these ideas or others, here’s a few ways I can help.

  1. I have a new Side Hustle Quick Start course that can help you go from idea in your head to launching your side gig. It’s completely free. Just go to RunTheMoney.com/fire to sign up. You can also email me at any time at [email protected] and hit me up on Twitter @RunTheMoney.

  2. Working smarter, not harder is the name of the game when you’re working a side business and a job. That’s why I recommend Adrian Shepherd’s Uber-Productivity Blueprint.

  3. If you want to learn how to grow your side hustle’s brand on Twitter, you need to check out David Dill’s Twitter Affiliate Masterclass. You’ll get the blueprint to earning passive income on Twitter.

If you are not a subscriber of the Side Hustle Strategist, join 2,600+ other side hustle enthusiasts, business owners, and entrepreneurs that receive it directly in their inbox each Sunday night — it’s free.