I Quit My Job As Marketing Director…Because I Made More Money With My Vintage Clothing Business: How To Turn A Side Job Into A Full-Time Gig
- Katie Anderson launched Pine & Treasure in 2019 while living in New Zealand
- She quit her marketing director job in 2022 to continue the business full-time
- Average crowds in the UK now bring in more than £22,000 a year
Katie Anderson launched Pine & Treasure in 2019 while living in New Zealand for a year with her husband
When Katie Anderson set up an Instagram page for her vintage clothing business, she never imagined it would be more than an afterthought.
That is, a rewarding fun little part-time project that earned her some money in addition to her main job.
Fast-forward three years and she’s generated enough profit to go full-time and match her previous salary in her job as a marketing director.
Like a growing number of enterprising Britons, Katie’s first experience running her own business came as a side project while working full-time.
The challenges of the pandemic, combined with the cost of living crisis, have led more and more people to start their own businesses to supplement their income.
Many of those who have taken the plunge are reaping the rewards. Recent research by website hosting platform GoDaddy shows that the average UK hustle generates £22,900 a year in additional income.
A fifth of side hustlers earn more than £25,000 a year, while 11 per cent earn more than £50,000. Meanwhile, 4 percent earn six figures or more.
Katie set up the Pine & Treasure page in 2019 while traveling New Zealand with her husband for a year.
Her aim was to make some extra money by selling second-hand clothes and she had no intention of continuing with it once she got back to the UK.
She says: ‘When I left New Zealand in December 2019 to return to the UK, I thought I’d leave it there and disable the account. I felt discouraged to leave it but my entire client was based in NZ.
“My husband encouraged me to just try it when I got home and thank goodness I did.
“It just shows you how to develop an online business and move with whatever circumstances you’re going through.
“When I started the Instagram page, I never imagined… doing it full time now.”
The ease and speed of setting up a side job online, whether through social media like Katie, or through a website, means that 70 percent of entrepreneurs hope to make their side job their primary business, according to research from GoDaddy.
After three years of running Pine & Treasure alongside her day job, Kate resigned last August at the end of her maternity leave.
Katie retired from her full-time job after maternity leave in August 2022 and her business has been improving ever since
‘At that point I had already tested how viable it would be to live purely on my Pine & Treasure income. I used my maternity leave as a mini test to see if it would work, and it did.
“It didn’t seem risky because I really had dragged it out as an afterthought. I felt completely comfortable doing it full time at that point. I had built up a strong and reliable customer base and a good reputation.’
Since then, the company has shifted up a gear. She launched her website in April 2023, costing £230, to start selling her made-to-order pieces.
Pine & Treasure now generates enough profit for Katie to manage it full-time, matching her previous salary as director of marketing for a creative agency.
The future also looks bright for the other online scam artists in the UK. Nearly two-thirds of the 521 entrepreneurs surveyed by GoDaddy expect their businesses to grow by the end of the year. Only three percent think they will refuse.
Andrew Gradon, Head of GoDaddy UK & Ireland, said: ‘It’s never been easier or faster to set up an online sideline, and GoDaddy’s data shows that the financial rewards can be significant.
“Technology has dramatically lowered barriers to entry, giving entrepreneurs the tools to start and grow their businesses in no time.”