How a 21-Year-Old Started a Side Hustle That Brings In $500,000 a Year Now

Jayson Siu, a 21-year-old college junior at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, built an incredibly lucrative side hustle that rakes in over $500,000 annually, as per a CNBC Make It report. Siu started Invalid.jp, which creates and sells customized automotive accessories, when he was a high school student. Just in a couple of years, Siu has made hundreds of thousands of dollars  from his business, here’s how.

The Beginning of Invalid.jp

The idea came to Siu in his senior year of high school, when he spent $300 on a vinyl printer to make and sell stickers to his friends. He started by selling $3 stickers on Snapchat to save up for new parts for his car.

He soon started experimenting with new products like automotive accessories and implemented marketing strategies on social media. One of his LED-backed mirror designs went viral on TikTok in 2021 and generated a whopping $12,000 in sales in a single day.

After this, Siu quit his valet job and dedicated his time to Invalid.jp. His LED light-up sticker design created another TikTok phenomenon in 2022, bringing in over $38,000 of revenue in a single day, per the report.

Siu capitalized on social media promotion and leveraged viral moments to boost his business. In just a couple of years, he had amassed over $1 million in annual sales. In 2023, Siu managed the day-to-day operations of the company out of a warehouse while balancing a course load at the University of Hawaii. He also employs multiple contractors to help with production and content creation.

The company now sells stickers, car accessories like LED-lined rearview mirrors, cupholders, visors, and more. Siu buys most of these items wholesale and customizes them with light panels to sell them for a profit. He rents a warehouse to serve as the business center as well.

How much did Siu make from his business?

Siu has earned about $400,000 since he started. He attributes some of his success to TikTok virality while the majority of it comes from his commitment and posting strategy honed over the course of multiple years.

As per Siu, the business doesn’t bring in tens of thousands of dollars every day. Thus, in the recent past, he has focused on making his business consistently profitable and learning how to leverage social media ads to help raise Invalid.jp’s revenue.

Siu’s advice on starting a lucrative side hustle

According to Siu, if there is an idea, no more than $100 is needed to start a side hustle. He said that when he started his venture, he invested $20 in buying products and $300 in a printer. He then bought more inventory as the business picked up.

He advises observing the trends of Amazon or TikTok and creating content to go viral. However, he cautions that entrepreneurs should know what has the potential to sell and how much to buy as it is risk to buy a large inventory without knowing the response from the market.

Siu further said that persistence and commitment are crucial and working 24/7 is a given. He said that people who copied his business and sold similar products couldn’t keep up with the demand and eventually failed. Thus, there is no hack apart from finding the right product, using the right promotional strategies, and putting in the work to succeed.