Welcome to Side Hustle Spotlight, where I feature real solopreneurs who’ve turned their ideas into income. Today’s story comes from Sarah Parker, A Piano Teacher who is running a $20K per month side hustle from her living room. This is her journey, in their own words.
The Sunday Night Blues
Eighteen months ago, I was sitting on my couch, calculating how many more piano students I’d need to squeeze into my already packed schedule just to afford a vacation. My fingers were sore from teaching 8 hours straight, my voice was hoarse from repeating “Let’s try that passage again,” and I had exactly 45 minutes before my next student arrived.
I loved teaching piano truly, I did. But teaching 40+ students a week in my cramped living room was burning me out. My back ached from leaning over students at the piano bench. My weekends didn’t exist. And despite working 60-hour weeks, I was barely making $3,500 a month after expenses. The worst part? I could only impact one student at a time, and there were dozens of people on my waiting list I had to turn away.
A Message That Changed Everything
The turning point came when I received an email from a mom in Singapore. Her daughter desperately wanted to learn piano, but they couldn’t find a teacher who spoke English and understood Western music theory. “Could you possibly teach her online?” she asked.
I almost deleted the email. Online piano lessons? That seemed impossible. How could I correct hand position through a screen? How would I hear if their timing was off with internet lag? But something made me pause. If one parent in Singapore was looking for this, how many others were out there?
That night, instead of collapsing in front of Netflix, I opened my laptop and typed: “online piano teaching” into Google. What I found blew my mind: teachers were charging premium prices for online lessons, and students were happy to pay.
Everything That Went Wrong
Let me be clear: my journey from that Google search to where I am now was anything but smooth.
My first attempt at creating an online course was laughable. I spent three weeks recording 47 videos on my phone, propped up against a stack of books. The lighting was terrible, you could hear my neighbor’s dog barking in the background, and in one video, I completely forgot what I was saying mid-sentence and just stared at the camera for 10 seconds before mumbling, “Let me start over.”
I uploaded everything to YouTube as “unlisted” videos and created what I thought was a course website (it was actually just a Google Doc with links). I excitedly announced my “Complete Beginner Piano Mastery Course” to my email list of… 83 people. Most of them were my current students’ parents.
I sold exactly zero courses in the first month.
The second month wasn’t much better. One person bought the course but requested a refund after two days because “the videos were hard to follow.” I was devastated. I remember sitting in my car after teaching all day, crying because I’d spent over 100 hours on something that nobody wanted.
Then there was the technology nightmare. I tried to set up a proper course platform and accidentally deleted everything twice. I spent an entire weekend trying to figure out how to sync audio and video because, apparently, my ancient laptop couldn’t handle basic editing software. At one point, I was so frustrated that I threw my computer mouse across the room. (It survived, thankfully.)
The Breakthrough Moment
Three months into my failed course experiment, I decided to try something different. Instead of creating a massive, comprehensive course, I focused on solving one specific problem. I noticed many adult beginners in my studio struggled with the same issue: reading sheet music. They’d get discouraged and quit before ever really getting started.
So I created a simple 5-day challenge: “Read Sheet Music in 5 Days – Even If You Think You’re ‘Not Musical.'”
The videos were still recorded on my phone, but this time I kept them short, under 10 minutes each. I added simple homework assignments and created a private Facebook group where participants could ask questions. I priced it at just $27.
In the first week, 37 people signed up.
The feedback was incredible. People were actually learning to read music! They were posting videos of themselves playing simple melodies. One student, a 67-year-old retiree named Robert, sent me a message that said, “I’ve wanted to play piano my whole life but thought I was too old and too slow. Your challenge proved me wrong. What else do you teach?”
That’s when it clicked. I didn’t need to be everything to everyone. I needed to solve specific problems for specific people. And I realized my ideal students weren’t kids whose parents signed them up for lessons, they were adults who chose to learn piano for themselves.
From Challenge to Business
Armed with this insight, I restructured everything. I created a series of targeted mini-courses:
- “Play Your First Song in 30 Days” for absolute beginners
- “Finally Master Rhythm” for those struggling with timing
- “Jazz Piano for Classical Players” for more advanced students wanting to explore
I learned to batch my recording sessions, getting a whole course filmed in one weekend instead of dragging it out for weeks. I discovered simple tools like Loom for quick lesson videos and Canva for creating worksheet templates. Nothing fancy, nothing that required a computer science degree—just simple tools that worked.
The real game-changer was building a community. I started a weekly live Q&A session where students could ask questions and play for each other. These sessions became so popular that students started renewing their course access just to stay in the community. Some students have been with me for over a year now, working through multiple courses and supporting newer members.
I also discovered the power of student stories. When students shared their progress videos, I’d ask if I could feature them (with permission, of course). These authentic testimonials were worth more than any marketing I could create. Seeing a 45-year-old accountant play their first complete song after years of thinking they “weren’t musical” inspired dozens of others to take the leap.
Freedom Beyond Finances
Fast forward to now. My online course business consistently brings in $18,000 to $22,000 per month. Last month hit $23,400, my best month yet. But the money is just part of the transformation.
I now teach only 10 in-person students per week, the ones I genuinely enjoy working with. My online courses have reached over 3,200 students across 42 countries. I work about 25 hours a week, mostly creating new content and hosting live sessions. I took a three-week vacation to Italy last summer, and my business actually grew while I was away because my courses continued to sell on autopilot.
But here’s what really matters: I get messages every single day from adults who thought they’d missed their chance to learn piano. Last week, a nurse from the Philippines sent me a video of her playing for her patients during break time. A grandfather in Canada is learning piano alongside his grandkids. A woman recovering from depression told me that learning piano gave her something to look forward to each day.
This is impact at a scale I never imagined possible when I was teaching one-on-one in my living room.
Start Before You’re Ready
If there’s one thing I want you to take away from my story, it’s this: You don’t need to be a tech genius or have everything figured out to start an online business. You just need to solve one real problem for one specific group of people.
I made every mistake in the book. My first videos were terrible. My first course structure was confusing. I had no idea how to price anything or market to anyone. But each mistake taught me something, and each small win gave me courage to take the next step.
Here’s my advice if you’re thinking about creating your own online course:
Start with a tiny offer. Don’t create a 12-module comprehensive course. Create a 5-day challenge or a single workshop that solves one specific problem. Price it low, deliver massive value, and learn from the experience.
Your expertise is more valuable than you think. What feels obvious to you is magical to someone else. I thought everyone knew how to read sheet music—turns out, it’s a massive barrier for adult beginners.
Perfect is the enemy of done. My current best-selling course still has a video where my cat walks across the piano keys in the background. Students think it’s hilarious and makes me more relatable. Your authenticity is more valuable than your production quality.
Community is everything. The course material gets them in the door, but the community keeps them coming back. Foster connections between your students, not just with you.
So here’s my question for you: What skill do you have that someone else is struggling to learn? What problem do you solve every day that others find overwhelming? That’s your starting point.
Don’t wait for the perfect moment or the perfect equipment or the perfect business plan. Open your phone, record a 5-minute lesson teaching something you know, and share it with one person who needs it.
That’s exactly how my $20k/month business started—with one imperfect video and one person who needed help. Your first student is out there waiting. What’s stopping you from reaching them today?
P.S. – If you’re curious, that mom from Singapore? Her daughter is now 18 months into lessons and just performed her first recital piece via Zoom for her extended family across three continents. Sometimes the most impossible-seeming ideas lead to the most beautiful outcomes.Retry
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