ECONOMY & WORK
MONEY 101
NEWS
PERSONAL FINANCE
NET WORTH
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use DMCA Opt-out of personalized ads
© Copyright 2023 Market Realist. Market Realist is a registered trademark. All Rights Reserved. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.
MARKETREALIST.COM / ECONOMY & WORK

With 5 Income Streams, $142K/Month from Amazon, This Woman Warns Against 3 Side Hustle Mistakes

The founder of Mind Brain Emotion, Dr Jenny Woo shared some crucial insights for hustlers.
PUBLISHED APR 21, 2024
Cover Image Source: Unsplash | Photo by Garrhet Sampson
Cover Image Source: Unsplash | Photo by Garrhet Sampson

Side hustles have become widely popular since the pandemic with about 39% of the Gen Z working on a side hustle, as per EY. With soaring costs and high inflation, more Americans are looking to make extra money. However, side hustles can be difficult to navigate, especially for those who are just starting out. Thus, to help out hustlers, Harvard-trained educator, and founder of Mind Brain Emotion, Dr Jenny Woo shared some crucial insights with CNBC Make It.



 

Woo was inspired by a class project and her personal struggles, to launch a side hustle selling card games on Amazon. Her games aimed to help people build “human skills” like emotional intelligence and critical thinking.



 

After completing her Ph.D., Woo branched out into other hustles and today she has five income streams. She speaks at schools and businesses, teaches an online course about EQ, lectures at the University of California Irvine, does freelance business consulting, and she still sells the card games, Mind Brain Emotion through her site and on Amazon which is $142,000 a month alone, as per the report.



 

Here are the 3 Mistakes that She Wants Hustlers to Avoid

1. Settling for Subpar Service to Save Money

Dr Woo says that side hustlers should ideally work with fellow side hustlers to collaborate and save money while growing their business. However, working with another collaborator who is striving to grow, may result in unpredictable service.

Representative Image | Pexels | Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
Representative Image | Pexels | Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

Sharing an example, Dr Woo said that she parted ways with her social media manager and SEO vendor last year who were both solo entrepreneurs aspiring to turn their side gigs into agencies. She says the collaborators handed her business to new recruits who knew very little about her industry, thus, she had to let them go.

She said that staying with underperforming collaborators cost her money as she did subpar business even during the peak season. “As much as collaboration can be beneficial, it’s crucial to be diligent about who you hire,” Dr Woo said in the report.

2. Over Relying on Networking to Grow The Idea

As a solo entrepreneur, Dr Woo applied and was accepted to incubators at Harvard, UC Irvine, and USC, where she got access to top executives and advisers. While she took advantage of the knowledge pool, she was often left confused and overwhelmed. Dr Woo says while the opinions and advice were well-intentioned, she found the advisers to be projecting their own ambitions and mistakes onto her.

Representative Image | Unsplash | Photo by Siora Photography
Representative Image | Unsplash | Photo by Siora Photography

Thus, she advises hustlers to bring skepticism and feedback in such to avoid being swayed by the ideas of others. “I’ve found that relying too much on external validation diluted my vision and slowed my progress,” she told CNBC Make It.

3. Making the Product Too Complicated

Dr Woo says she had major issues as she spent a lot of time researching and developing flashy product features. She thought of including augmented reality components and more just to add the wow factor. However, this ended up confusing her users and added more pressure on her to develop better products.

Representative Image | Unsplash | Photo by Elimende Inagella
Representative Image | Unsplash | Photo by Elimende Inagella

“This will not only slow you down, but it will also inflate your costs”, she says in the report. Thus, now that Dr Woo has already launched a dozen products and has heard plenty of pitches from aspiring entrepreneurs, she advises people to not complicate things.

MORE ON MARKET REALIST
The sharks did not expect the product to taste as good as it did, considering what it was made from.
4 hours ago
The designer was also commissioned by top brands and worked for the royal family.
5 hours ago
The host had a look of bewilderment on his face which was absolutely hilarious.
6 hours ago
Things did not seem to be going well for the entrepreneur due to her high energy.
9 hours ago
The guest might have had high expectations, but they were quickly brought down to earth.
10 hours ago
The contestant was unable to contain her excitement and hugged the model.
1 day ago
Two of the players got it right, and while the player who lost didn't mind, fans were not satisfied.
1 day ago
Lisa celebrated her birthday in style with a perfect two-card guess to win the big prize.
1 day ago
Rick Harrison did what he could to console the guest who said that he had lost faith in NASCAR.
1 day ago
Both the guest and the expert were fascinated by how well the automaton worked.
2 days ago
One of the entrepreneurs broke down in tears, explaining all the struggles they had to go through.
2 days ago
She couldn’t believe it when her doll was appraised at a five-figure sum, and laughed in disbelief.
2 days ago
Ken Jennings truly has embraced "Jeopardy!" in every way possible at this point.
2 days ago
The comedian was impressed by the simplicity of the product and amused by the pitch.
3 days ago
Harrison usually makes smart deals on the show, but this vintage car buy turned into a costly mistake.
3 days ago
Had she started the game in a better way, she might have won the five-figure prize money.
3 days ago
Barbara Corcoran made the exact same offer, and she wasn't happy about being rejected.
4 days ago
The guest believed that it was worth a modest amount of money, but that was clearly not the case.
4 days ago
With James Holzhauer in the lead, Amy Schneider and Andrew He decided to joke around.
4 days ago
Barbara Corcoran told the founders that she had never seen Greiner so passionate.
4 days ago