The Side Hustle That Taught Me More Than It Earned

By Jack Mercer · Money · June 11, 2026

It made almost no money. It still might have been worth doing.

Eight months ago I started a small side project on evenings and weekends, convinced it would eventually replace a decent chunk of my income. It has not done that. It has made, across eight months, enough to cover one decent dinner out.

By any sane financial measure it’s been a poor use of my time. I could have worked overtime instead and made more per hour with a fraction of the stress.

But here’s the part that’s harder to put a number on: I learned more about pricing, marketing, and just plain finishing things in those eight months than in years of doing the same job the same way.

I learned that my first idea was wrong, that the second idea was closer, and that most of the work isn’t the idea at all, it’s the unglamorous repetition of showing up on the nights I didn’t feel like it.

I also learned what my actual limits are. There’s a version of me that thought I could do this on top of everything else without it costing anything. That version was wrong, and a few tired, short-tempered evenings paid for that lesson.

Would I tell another tired dad to start a side hustle expecting fast money? No. The money, if it comes, comes slow.

Would I tell him to start one anyway, treating the lessons as the actual payout? Probably yes. Just go in knowing which currency you’re actually being paid in.

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Jack Mercer writes about real life for men who are too busy living it to talk about it. No advice. No solutions. Just one bloke being honest.