Apr 17, 2017
Stepping up your CAD Design Business – Scott Hoffman - Ep 27
Scott Hoffman is the founder of PepperNickelDesigns, a CAD design and 3D printing service. Scott’s background is in electrical and computer engineering. He works full time as an insurance adjuster but he started PepperNickelDesigns as a side hustle that he wants to bring to a full-time job in 2017.
We connected on the Facebook page for the Side Hustle Show (http://www.sidehustlenation.com/). He posted on the Facebook page that he had issues with either too much design/print work coming in at once or not enough. This is an issue I am very familiar with, as I have been running my business full time for 2 years now. I replied to his post and offered him to come on the podcast so that I could help him with the strategies of how to solve some of these issues.
(Side note: I was a guest on the Side Hustle Show in June 2016. If you want to hear that interview, click here: http://www.sidehustlenation.com/listener-success-story-took-side-hustle-full-time/)
Key Takeaways
- The secret to starting a side hustle is to take a skill you have and find a way to monetize it
- My advice to Scott was to use contractors to handle overloads of work
- And when work is slow, there are a few strategies
- Make cold calls for new business. Even better is to follow up with past clients to see if they have any new projects
- Look for other revenue streams. One of my favorite ways when incoming work is slow is to work on new inventions. I have so many ideas but only so much time to work on them, so I use my downtime to create new products of my own. Sometimes the products sell and sometimes they don’t. Even when they don’t, I usually learn some valuable design skills in the process
To Contact Scott
Email: Peppernickeldesigns@gmail.com
Tumblr: Peppernickeldesigns
Facebook: Peppernickeldesigns
The Engineering Entrepreneur Podcast is produced by Scott Tarcy, President of CADdesignhelp.com. You can reach me at info@caddesignhelp.com