A couple months ago, Matt Bochnak sent me a note about his motorcycle repair side hustle. As someone who is, shall we say, less-than-savvy when it comes to mechanics, I was impressed.
But Matt shared that the passive income from this service business now actually exceeds his revenue from “turning wrenches.”
How?
He films himself fixing the bikes as they come in, and sells the videos online via Gumroad to other motorcycle owners with the same issue. In fact, he sold one as we were recording this episode!
It’s a short and sweet conversation about finding customers for a service business, especially locally, and then figuring out how to get more mileage out of those customers and your expertise. Matt tried a few different angles before landing on the video tutorial sales, but I think it’s a cool way to turn an hours-for-dollars biz into a passive income stream, and turn a local business global.
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Learn:
- How Matt decided this was a service he could offer.
- How he found his first customers.
- His 80/20 bootstrap marketing strategies that have him turning away work.
- His failed attempts to productize/”passifize” this business and what ultimately worked.
- Matt’s YouTube preview strategy that drives customers to his paid products.
- How he priced his products and services.
- Matt’s #1 tip for Side Hustle Nation.
Links:
- ChicagolandMotorcycleRepair.com
- HowToMotorcycleRepair.com
- Matt’s YouTube channel
- Google My Business
- Ramit Sethi’s blog
- Gumroad
Download the Free PDF "Highlight Reel" from this Episode
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Hey Nick,
Once again thanks for having me on the show!
If anyone has any further questions, I’m here to answer them.
Thanks,
Matt
Great podcast guesting, Matthew! Don’t really have a question. Just wanted to say I thoroughly enjoyed learning how you turned your business into a passive income stream. Best of luck in your online business!
Thanks, Emma!
Thanks so much for this podcast. I have been looking for another way to monetize my business.
Wow – that’s really cool. I have never heard of gumroad before, but it sounds like a great idea to build a business. I’m checking it out now. Good luck to Matt with his online business!
Derek: Im a huge GumRoad fan. I’ve been using to sell products (and buy them!) for a while now and they are fantastic. The service works and the people behind the scenes are incredible helpful.
Had an idea for a product Matt could develop with broader appeal than just those in need of bike repair. How about creating a product with a printed checklist and a video walk through of a bike inspection for people people buying used bikes? Just as the guy hired Matt to check out the bike he was buying in his area, Matt could sell this product to anyone who wanted to do a pre-purchase checklist on a used bike they were considering buying.
I like it!
Don,
That is a big light bulb you have there…LOL.
Thanks for the good suggestion. I actually started writing up some this content some time ago. I know of a similar site that has this as a free guide, which is a opt in. Needless to say, I need to take my stab at it, whether I sell it or give it away as a “pay what you want” on Gumroad. At a min it will be a nice way to collect emails.
Matt
Hi Matt ~
Perhaps you could create a “DIY Upkeep Club” and have people subscribe to a weekly or bi-weekly task they can do to keep their bike running smoothly. It might be a cleaning tip or a reminder to tighten their oil cap or check the wear on their tires, etc. Things they can do to detect and prevent problems early. This way you help them keep their motorcycle running and looking great on a regular schedule so that went things go wrong they already know and trust you for the more detailed repair advice.
This is very much great and hope fully nice blog. Every body can easily get perfect information from here.
Brillant! What a great twist on the service business. Love how he combines local business service with online global reach. Inspires me to consider what location-based businesses I can take online. Recently I got a loan from Kabbage for my online business – super easy and fast. Read about my experience at Kabbage.com review and ratings