Back in the summer of last year, I started looking for a new side hustle.

But let’s be honest, I’m always looking for new ways to make extra money. As a business owner with a project-based business, my cash flow comes in waves. Having something to supplement that lack of income in the ebbs is important.

Since around 2016, I had been a group exercise instructor and personal trainer at Sync Studio (and its successor Intent Fithouse) in Durham.

When Covid hit, we stopped having indoor classes and my personal training clients greatly reduced in number—so much so that it wasn’t worth it to continue.

So I had a gap to fill.

Like I mentioned, I’m always on the lookout for other ways to make money. I listen to podcasts, watch TikTok videos, and pull from other little success stories I’ve heard. There were many ideas that I had considered: owning vending machines, drop shipping, affiliate marketing, etc.

But there was one that stood out to me because I already had the tools I needed to be successful with it and the barrier to entry was the lowest. I hadn’t heard of it until last year.

Couch flipping.

If you live in an area like we do with a rapidly growing housing market, plus several schools where students are moving in and out every semester, there are a lot of sofas and other large furniture available for very little or no money. Most of the time, the time spent selling it or hauling it away is the issue for the seller, so the buyer is actually doing them a favor.

And with all the online marketplaces (Facebook, Craigslist, OfferUp), they are easy to get rid of for a quick profit—especially if you are able to offer delivery. That’s the real value: picking the furniture up and delivering it. Many times, the only labor is moving the couch. But I try to make sure and vacuum and clean them to get them in as good a shape as possible, too.

I already had a trailer to pull them and a big hand cart to load them into the trailer with no help, so all I needed was a place to store them before they sold. I booked a self-storage unit and told my wife I was going to try this “couch flipping.”

Naturally, she looked at me like I was crazy.

In fact, so did everyone else I told—which was basically just my brother and mother.

I got the first one for free from a college student. It was a matching couch and chair set and sold it for $250, all profit. I sent a picture to my mom and brother’s group text and they burst out laughing. I chuckled and started looking for my next one. When I found it, I sent another picture.

“You got ANOTHER one??” they asked. I reminded them each time that I wasn’t just doing this once. I was going to keep doing it. They still thought I was crazy and wasting my time.

Everyone did, it seemed, except my daughter. She’s still in that stage where everything I do is interesting, so I started taking her with me. On the next flip, I sent another picture with her.

“Now you’ve drug BB into this mess???” my mom texted.

Beau chimed in, “Mama, it’s like they’re Sanford and Son!” Even I had to laugh at that one. But also because they just thought I was picking up junk and storing it. The way I looked at it, I was making around $100 an hour in my spare time, when the fitness work I used to do probably netted me around $30 an hour.

At that point I’d made around $1,500 profit.

I told them that if I do that four times, I’ve earned enough to max out my Roth IRA contributions for the year (and without having to pull from my salary.)

But the real benefit to me, besides obviously the money, is the time spent with my daughter. She’s “helped” me load them, spent time organizing them in my storage unit, and even helped me deliver them. She’s a big hit with all the customers.

She may not fully understand what’s going on at her age. And she’ll probably look at me like I’m crazy when she’s older, looking back at our pictures. But maybe she’ll look at me as a side hustle genius who maximized his time and helped people find affordable furniture.

All I know is that I’m teaching her two things: 1) don’t listen to the haters and trust your gut, and 2) when looking for supplemental income, find the thing that pays the most for the least amount of time and labor invested.

I’m not suggesting that all your time needs to be capitalized. Sometimes you just need to go on a hike or relax with a glass of wine and a movie.

But if you’re looking for supplemental income, it’s out there. And it may be easier than you think.

As long as you don’t mind getting laughed at by those that love you.

This Christmas, there was a present for my daughter and I that my brother (“Uncle Beau Beau”) had already gotten us before he passed away in October. It was two t-shirts, one adult-sized and one child, that read: “Bennett & Daughter Couch Flippers.”

And that one made us all laugh together.


Rain Bennett is a two-time Emmy-nominated filmmaker, writer, and competitive storyteller with over a decade of experience producing documentary films that focus on health and wellness. His mission is simple: to make the world happier and healthier by sharing stories of change.

You can read the rest of “Right as Rain” here, and check back every Wednesday on Chapelboro for a new column! 


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