These 3 Americans Turned To Side Hustles After Being Laid Off. Now They're All Making Between $200,000 And $3 Million A Year: 'sweet, Sweet Irony.'

In 2023, overmuch than than 305,000 U.S. workers mislaid their jobs during a surge of wide layoffs that impacted nan tech manufacture and beyond, CNBC Make It reported.

Meta worker Scott Goodfriend was 1 of those people. After he was laid disconnected from his "dream job" arsenic an augmented reality shaper astatine nan tech giant, he faced an important decision: Go activity for different institution aliases build a business of his own.

Related: 'Hustling Every Day': These Friends Started a Side Hustle With $2,500 Each — It 'Snowballed' to Over $500,000 and Became a Multimillion-Dollar Brand

Goodfriend chose nan latter. The entrepreneur had been moving his Ultimate Food Tours broadside hustle retired of New York City for years, pinch a spike successful activity aft he reworked his offering and listed it connected Airbnb experiences successful 2021.

Goodfriend's nutrient circuit broadside hustle grew from $30,000 to $200,000 gross a year

As a play broadside hustle to his 9-5 role, Ultimate Food Tours earned astir $30,000 a year, Goodfriend told Entrepreneur.

The "sweet, saccharine irony," according to Goodfriend? He'd ne'er group retired to toggle style his passion task into a business; successful fact, erstwhile group first encouraged him to discarded his tour, he was put disconnected by nan thought of building a website and trading nan service.

However, erstwhile Goodfriend committed to turning nan broadside hustle into a full-time venture, Ultimate Food Tours tripled successful size twelvemonth complete twelvemonth — each nan measurement to astir $200,000 yearly gross arsenic of April 2024.

Related: 'I Just Hustled': She Earned More Than $300,000 Wrapping Gifts Last Year — and It All Started With a Side Hustle

Goodfriend isn't unsocial successful his recreation from layoff to broadside hustle success. Earlier this year, Entrepreneur said pinch 2 different broadside hustlers who built businesses pinch important gross aft losing their jobs.

El Ghatit's sentimental broadside hustle earned $350,000 successful 2023 and is connected measurement for overmuch than $700,000 this year

In 2006, Illinois resident Alaa El Ghatit was moving successful IT erstwhile he sewage nan thought for his business LifeOnRecord, a activity that lets group telephone successful stories, memories and bully wishes for personification celebrating a birthday, wedding aliases different emblematic occasion.

A less months later, El Ghatit was laid disconnected and focused overmuch connected his broadside hustle. Although immoderate orders came in, they weren't tin to support his family, truthful he took a caller business 9 months later and continued to activity connected LifeonRecord connected nan side.

LifeOnRecord earned $100,000 astatine its highest arsenic a broadside hustle, El Ghatit told Entrepreneur. El Ghatit adjacent nan patient world down to spell a full-time entrepreneur successful 2022. In 2023, LifeOnRecord brought successful $350,000; arsenic of February 2024, nan business was group to overmuch than double that revenue.

Related: She Started a Side Hustle That Earned More Than $1 Million successful Year 1: 'Manifest Your Best Life'

Ugalde's broadside hustle went from making $2,500 successful play 1 to astir $3 cardinal successful yearly gross successful 2024

Carlos Ugalde is yet different entrepreneur whose layoff inspired broadside hustle growth.

When Ugalde, who is based successful Las Vegas, Nevada, mislaid his business arsenic a copywriter and landing page designer astatine a Google trading institution successful December 2018, he opted to commencement a broadside hustle that would spell his print-on-demand apparel brand, House of Chingasos.

Ugalde opened a Shopify storefront, created astir 10 basal designs, connected it to nan print-on-demand level Printful and started moving ads connected Facebook. The business earned $2,500 successful nan first month, $11,000 successful nan 2nd and $54,000 successful nan third, Ugalde told Entrepreneur. In 2023, House of Chingasos deed almost $3 cardinal successful revenue, a astir 70% summation complete 2022.

Related: Best Friends' 'Scrappy' Side Hustle Led to a Product connected Track for $1 Million Annual Sales: 'Rare to Find Somebody With This Same Passion'

"There's a flood of stories astir individuals earning astronomical sums from broadside hustles."

Building a broadside hustle into a lucrative business tin net disconnected ample clip — and proviso financial accusation extracurricular of a 9-5 nett — but nan roadworthy to occurrence is often rockier than it looks.

"Although there's a flood of stories astir individuals earning astronomical sums from broadside hustles, specified instances are exceedingly rare," El Ghatit admits. "Usually, advancement is slower than anticipated, resembling a creation of 'two steps forward, 1 measurement back.'"

El Ghatit's champion advice? Be benignant to yourself, attraction connected a principles-first business (which requires patience and time) and "leverage your time occupation for its intended purpose" — reducing your financial consequence arsenic you build a business that will last.