This Side Hustle Spotlight Q&A features Shivani Dhamija, 40, of Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was working in customer service at a recreational center when she started her side hustle, Shivani’s Kitchen, which offers authentic premium paneer and one-step sauce bases. This year, Shivani’s Kitchen crossed $1 million in sales and is stocked in major retailers, including Costco and Walmart. Responses have been edited for length and clarity. 

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When did you start your side hustle, and where did you find the inspiration for it?
I’ve been a serial side hustler since 2012, but this particular side hustle around food began in 2014. At first, I just wanted extra money. But once I started, I saw a massive gap in the market. There were many students and Indians in my area, but not a lot of food products for them. Students, especially, didn’t know how to cook, but craved homemade food. That became my inspiration for launching a meal-delivery service.

Later, when I expanded to launch spice blends, my mom’s homemade spices were the core reason. But they quickly became popular among everyone, regardless of their culture. Finally, when I decided to launch paneer (Indian cottage cheese) and clean-label sauces, it was because I couldn’t find high-quality, authentic ones around me, and people were loving my products by this point. So, I felt inspired to introduce something that I knew everyone was looking for. 

What were some of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground? How much money/investment did it take to launch?
At first, I just started a Facebook page since I was good at marketing. I posted about offering homemade meal service for anyone — especially students — looking for it. In terms of money or investment, because it was a side hustle, I did not put a lot into it. I just bought groceries when I had my first client. 

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If you could go back in your business journey and change one process or approach, what would it be, and how do you wish you’d done it differently?
After my spice blends took off, the local market approached me to open an Indian restaurant. We launched in 2018, but had to shut shop merely two years later when the pandemic hit. The real mistake came after. I closed my restaurant but opened a federal food establishment facility. It was a large financial investment, with tiny margins. If I could go back and save time and money, I wouldn’t have opened the facility and relied on creative methods like co-packing to launch my food products. 

When it comes to this specific business, what is something you’ve found particularly challenging and/or surprising that people who get into this type of work should be prepared for, but likely aren’t?
I underestimated the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. It comes packed with rules and regulations for every single process, especially getting your products into grocery stores. It is a very challenging industry with minimal profit margins. It also requires a ton of patience when you’re creating something that will hopefully outlast you. If you start today, you will see results after 10 years.

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Can you recall a specific instance when something went very wrong? How did you fix it?
I can never forget this day. I was in India when my products — an order worth $50,000 — were launching in Walmart. The pallets had already left the warehouse, and I got a phone call from my salesperson, informing me that we had the wrong barcodes — essentially, all our SKUs had the same barcode, which is a logistical mayhem. If they had reached Walmart, everything would have been scanned incorrectly. So, we decided to pull the shipment before it reached Walmart, reorder and correct the labels. This set us back by a few months and also resulted in a loss of part of our inventory. It was an expensive financial and time loss for us and a very big lesson.

How long did it take you to see consistent monthly revenue? How much did the side hustle earn?
Consistent monthly revenue began when the business was still very small, and I was doing it from home. Even when I had the restaurant, it was pretty consistent. At first, the business was making around $100,000 a year.

What does growth and revenue look like now?
This year, our revenue exceeded $1 million, a 100% increase from last year’s nearly $500,000. We anticipate sustaining this level of growth again next year.

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How much time do you spend working on your business on a daily, weekly or monthly basis?
I spend anywhere between 50 to 60 hours a week on the business, but I don’t always have fixed times. I might be working on the weekend, or I might be working late at night. On most days, I start work at 8 a.m. and work till 4 p.m. at least, including many weekends. But since it’s my business, I can be flexible and attend my son’s recital or any other family commitment when I need to. 

In a typical week, Mondays and Tuesdays are very busy because I have to speak to everyone — sales, marketing, vendors — and ensure we’re on track with our plans and orders. As Friday comes along, I can focus more on my own work rather than managing others.

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What is your best piece of specific, actionable business advice?
I would say find friends who are also entrepreneurs because you will go through a lot of highs and lows, sometimes daily, and you will need people you can talk to. For some, this might mean making a new circle of entrepreneur friends around yourself, and that’s okay.