Dublin entrepreneur turned simple t-shirt designs into a $50,000 side hustle—without touching a single product.
Challenge
Elaine H. had a comfortable office job in Dublin, but it didn’t fulfill her creative side. After years of working in corporate roles, she longed for something more flexible—something that would let her earn income while traveling and doing what she enjoyed.
She had already launched and sold an app development business, but she wanted a new project that required less management and no customer service headaches. That’s when she discovered a new platform from Amazon that allowed anyone to sell print-on-demand products with zero upfront cost.
Action
Elaine signed up for Merch by Amazon, a service that lets creators upload t-shirt designs while Amazon handles printing, shipping, and customer support. With nothing to lose, she uploaded 25 simple designs one February afternoon.
Within the first week, she earned $49.84—not life-changing money, but proof of concept. Excited by the possibilities, she created hundreds more designs over the next few months. She experimented with themes, keywords, and seasonal trends, learning what customers loved most.
By December, she had hundreds of shirts live on Amazon’s marketplace. As holiday shoppers flooded the site, her designs took off.
Result
That December alone, Elaine sold $39,508 worth of shirts, earning $17,629 in profit—all while traveling through Spain, Ireland, and the U.S. Her total sales for the year topped $128,000, netting over $53,000 in profit.
The best part? Elaine didn’t pack, print, or ship a single item. The business ran entirely online, allowing her to enjoy the freedom she’d always wanted.
Lesson
Elaine’s story is a reminder that new opportunities often appear in unexpected forms. By staying curious, testing ideas quickly, and scaling what worked, she built a high-profit, low-stress business from her laptop.
You don’t always need a groundbreaking idea—just a willingness to take action on the right one at the right time.
Inspired by a true story originally featured on Side Hustle School by Chris Guillebeau. This rewritten version is independently produced and fully original.