This 34-Year-Old Was 'Wildly Un-Passionate' About His Day Job, So He Started a 9-Figure Side Hustle: 'Be an Animal' Will Nitze asked his boss if he could work half his hours for half the pay in order to build his own business.
By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas
Key Takeaways
- More than one-third of U.S. adults have side hustles, and their supplemental gigs earn an average of $891 a month, according to Bankrate.
- Learn how a Miami-based entrepreneur turned his passion for nutrition into a nine-figure side hustle.
It's the era of the side hustle, and if you've ever considered starting one to earn some extra cash outside of your 9-5, you're in good company. These days, more than one-third of U.S. adults have side hustles, and their supplemental gigs make an average of $891 a month, according to recent research from Bankrate. Of course, the most successful side hustlers see much higher earnings, especially when they start a business that brings in nearly as much as — or significantly more than — their full-time sources of income.
Miami-based entrepreneur Will Nitze, 34, is one of them. Learn about how Nitze's dissatisfaction with his day job and a light bulb moment inspired him to start his side hustle, which turned into a nine-figure business.
Image Credit: Courtesy of IQBAR. Will Nitze.
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What was your day job or primary occupation when you started your side hustle?
I sold and marketed ops and supply chain software to oil and gas companies.
When did you start your side hustle, and where did you find the inspiration for it?
I started my side hustle, IQBAR, in 2016. For starters, I was wildly un-passionate about software and oil and gas. That helped. But I also became obsessed with nutrition for personal reasons. My high-carb diet made me feel like crap every day, and shifting to a low-carb, high-protein diet changed everything — particularly cognitively. Then the idea hit me: brain food! I'll make brain food!
Image Credit: Courtesy of IQBAR
What were some of the first steps you took to get your side hustle off the ground?
My first step was walking into my boss's office and asking if I could work half the hours for half the pay. It was a huge risk, but I knew I was hard to replace and figured my odds were decent. He said "Yes," but that the arrangement wouldn't last more than a year. Then I had half of every day to get to work! I immediately reached out to every food entrepreneur in Boston, asked them a zillion questions each on how they started and triangulated my first set of moves.
Are there any free or paid resources that have been especially helpful for you in starting and running this business?
In CPG, people are far more useful than resources — there's no "playbook." The key is to find at least three people who are two to three years ahead of you in your specific field. Make friends with them. Buy them coffee. Ask them as many questions as they'll let you. Then, at some point, just start acting. You really do learn an insane amount as you go through trial and error. I often say, "Trial and error is still the best strategy in startups."
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?
In the early days, I wish I had obsessed more over product excellence and been less of a "product purist." Ultimately, you have to give people what they want, not what you want them to want (and most certainly not what you want; you aren't a market). And the product has to be consistently great, every time. I wish I nerded out less on things like Facebook ads for the first few years and more on product excellence because that's what really moves the needle over the long run. Ultimately, I got the memo!
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?
Cash flow, cash flow, cash flow. CPG has a ridiculously high failure rate because most brands can't handle cash flow swings. Until you're scaled up, your unit economics will suck, and everyone will take forever to pay you. If you're really shrewd about negotiating payment terms with your supply chain partners, expanding gross margin over time and doubling down on cash-flow-advantaged sales channels (like Amazon), you can make it. But even then, you're probably going to have to raise equity capital before you turn substantially cash flow positive.
Can you recall a specific instance when something went very wrong? How did you fix it?
Oh boy, so many catastrophes. In our first year, we got a giant order from a retailer. Our whole team drove out to our manufacturer to see our production run and to celebrate. Everyone's bubble burst when our wrappers didn't seal properly — total nightmare. I had to spring into action, calling 50 different wrapper companies until one said they could get us new, viable wrappers in a week. A week later, I was back at the manufacturer, and we successfully produced the retail order. It cost me $35,000, but we survived.
Image Credit: Courtesy of IQBAR
How long did it take you to see consistent monthly revenue? How much did the side hustle earn?
We started with a Kickstarter and sold about $75,000 worth of product, so we were producing lots of revenue right out of the gate. Now, profit is a different story; it took us five years to turn profitable. Last year, we achieved 13% EBITDA. This year we'll be at 20% EBITDA. Controlling your own destiny is a lot more fun than begging for investment.
What does growth and revenue look like now?
This will be our fourth straight 100%-plus growth year. We'll do well into the nine-figures in revenue in 2025. Our ecommerce channels have grown steadily, but brick-and-mortar growth has been exponential recently. You can now find IQBAR products in Costco, Walmart, Target and thousands of other locations.
What do you enjoy most about running this business?
Working with my wife! She's a total badass and runs our entire ecommerce business. Hiring her was the best business decision I ever made.
What is your best piece of specific, actionable business advice?
Keep your team lean as long as you possibly can. More people will not only add cost, but they will also make you move slower, not faster. The caveat here, of course, is that everyone on your team needs to be an animal (yourself included), and you need to augment with great third parties. We'll do nine figures in revenue this year with just eight employees. It can be done!
