Happy Thursday!
Really quick before I dive in, I get this question all the time: “How do I actually make money with all these AI tools?” Thats why I built Playmakers- my AI agency program where I teach you how to charge local businesses $500-$5,000 a month to set up and manage AI for them. You get three live calls a week, plug-and-play automation templates you can deploy for clients on day one, a 5 Day First Client Challenge, and my personal lead lists with businesses in your area ready to connect.120+ people are already in the community building agencies right now. Go to playmakersai.com and check it out.
Okay, let’s get into it.
Last Thanksgiving week, a dad in West Palm Beach named Mike Herod needed money, so he typed up a post on his personal Facebook page offering woodworking parties for kids. The post had no photos and didn't even list a price. Between March and July he brought in $50,600, and this fall he signed a $30,000 contract that takes him two hours every Friday.
His tool kit cost about $425, and because parents pay up front, you could start this with almost nothing out of pocket. I interviewed Mike recently, and I'm going to walk you through how to copy his business in your own city. If you want the full conversation, it's on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
What You're Selling: You're running shop class for kids ages 7 to 18. You show up with folding tables and hand tools, the kids build something simple like a wooden robot or a bird feeder, and they take it home. Most schools dropped shop class years ago, so parents have nowhere else to go for this. Mike hosted a father-son build last December, and only two of the 38 dads had ever touched a power tool.
It took Mike a while to figure out that parents are buying confidence for their kids, and woodworking is just how he delivers it. (As a dad of four, I can tell you that's absolutely something I'd pay for.)
Step 1: Write your Post
Post a static image to your personal Facebook page, then to local homeschool groups and moms groups. Mike's wording is basically this: "Woodworking shop class for kids to build confidence. Message me for details."
Leave the price out so parents have to message you. Mike says they don't read websites anyway and would rather ask you directly. Expect four questions: how old, how much, when, and where. Have your answers ready before you post.
Homeschool groups are the best place to start because those moms all talk to each other and they are always looking for learning opportunities for the kids. Also, many programs have budgets to pay for classes like these. Mike is in three groups, one with 9,000 members, and he has taught about 500 students so far. Half of them are repeat customers.
Step 2: Run Two Free Classes
Mike's first two classes were free, held in backyards with five or six kids each. You're doing these for the photos and reviews, since you have no social proof yet. One of those free classes led directly to that father-son event, which was 38 pairs at $150 each in his second month. Have every parent sign a waiver that includes photo permission, then post pictures every day.
Mystery shopping is where companies will pay you to eat at restaurants, test-drive cars, and stay at hotels. You've probably heard of it and assumed it was a scam. But there's a real industry behind it. Businesses hire regular people to walk in as customers and report back on the experience. iShop is an education company that teaches people how legit mystery shopping works, how to find the gigs, and how to avoid the scams.
Mercedes has done thousands of these shops across the U.S., including Hawaii. She's made $400 in about four hours mystery shopping cell phone stores. Other gigs cover apartment tours, retail stores, and hotel stays. You have no idea how many different types of mystery shops are out there. If you've ever wondered how legit mystery shopping actually works, or how people get started, iShop has a free training that breaks it all down.
Step 3: The “Starter Kit”
About $425 covers six kids at one table:
A 6-foot folding table with a half-inch plywood top clamped on
Two miter boxes from Harbor Freight
Six tape measures with the fractions printed on them
Six speed squares
Screwdrivers, clamps, and a few sanding blocks
If you borrow a table and use the screwdrivers you already own, you can easily get under $300. Buy cheap hand tools, (think Harbor Freight and FB Marketplace) because kids will drop and break them. Collect full payment up front through a Square or Stripe link, and you can use that money to buy the kit. Mike pays about $95 a month for regular business insurance.
Skip the power tools in the beginning. A set for six older kids runs about $4,100, and Mike has taught whole classes where the kids were perfectly happy with handsaws.
When Mike needed tools for his trade school, (separate from these kid classes) he cold messaged a Milwaukee employee on LinkedIn. He pointed out that a tradesperson spends $30,000 to $45,000 on tools over a career and asked if Milwaukee wanted to reach those customers at 18. They've sent him about $5,000 in free gear so far. Never hurts to ask.
Step 4: Price per Kid, per Hour
Mike charges $75 an hour per kid for ages 7 to 9, because they need more supervision, and $50 an hour for ages 10 and up. A one-hour class with ten little ones brings in $750. Materials run about $150, so you keep $600.
He doesn't discount for typical groups of 8 to 12 kids, because he has no competition. For school breaks he runs morning camps from 9 to noon, priced at $300 for three days and $500 for five. Spring break alone cleared $12,000 in one week of teaching mornings.
Step 5: Keep the Projects Simple
Mike has about ten projects and says that's enough to stay busy for five years. He buys plans on Etsy, and his American flag plan cost $9. Kids love making totes, flags, bird feeders, and cornhole boards.
A few rules he learned the hard way:
Use screws instead of nails, and buy sheetrock screws by the bucket.
Buy knot-free pine so the kids can skip paint and stain and still finish on time.
Prep the harder cuts yourself before class.
Bring a bin of scrap wood for kids who finish early.
Safety is where you can't bend. Eye protection goes on before anyone touches the table, and Mike opens every class with the shop rules. He hasn't had a single injury.
Step 6: Go After Group Contracts
Once you have photos and reviews, pitch homeschool co-ops and private schools. Mike's $30,000 contract with a homeschool co-op covers 40 students for two hours every Friday over 14 weeks. He brings his family plus two helpers at $150 each, everything fits in one pickup truck, and he'll clear about $10,000 after buying the extra tools.
Also check whether your state has a school choice scholarship program. Mike is an approved vendor with Florida's Step Up program, so those parents pay nothing out of pocket, and the state pays him within 24 hours.
What This Can Make: Mike's estimate for someone doing this part time and fully mobile is $1,500 on a Saturday and another $600 on a Sunday afternoon. At two weekends a month, that's about $4,000 a month while keeping your full-time job.
His $50,600 stretch came after he moved classes into a commercial space, which he says made moms trust him more. Everything before that ran off a folding table in someone's backyard. A single one-hour class of ten younger kids brings in $750, which pays for your entire kit and materials on day one.
Again, if this hands-on hustle interests you, listen to the full walk-through on YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts., and by the end, you will have everything you need to create your own woodworking class system and start bringing in real money.
Lastly, I'm always looking for cool, unique businesses to share on my podcasts. If you have one and are comfortable sharing your journey, drop your info here!
Have a great week!
Chris
P.S. I share deep dives on business ideas and complete playbooks three times a week on YouTube and every podcast platform.
