A Simple, Leisure-Focused Side Hustle Earns This Couple a Lucrative Extra Income Stream: 'Our First Year We Made $84,000.' Stuart Doty and his wife, who both work in healthcare, found an easy way to earn some extra cash.
By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas
Key Takeaways
- Side hustles can help pay the bills or free up extra funds for retirement.
- Stuart Doty and his wife stumbled upon a leisure-oriented gig that does just that.
We're in the era of the side hustle. More than half of Gen Zers (53%) have one, as do half of millennials and 40% of Gen Xers, according to an April 2023 Bankrate survey.
Side hustles allow people to supplement their 9-to-5 salaries — which only recently began to outpace inflation — with additional income streams, which can help pay the bills or free up extra cash for retirement funds and discretionary spending.
Related: A Simple Household Chore Turned Into a Side Hustle — Now She Earns Up to $24,000 Per Month
Portland, Oregon-based healthcare worker Stuart Doty found his side hustle in December of 2020 after his wife told him that someone at work was talking about renting out their pool for extra cash. Doty was immediately intrigued — and started doing his research.
A quick Google search led Doty to Swimply, an online marketplace that lets locals rent private pools and pickleball, tennis and basketball courts by the hour. "I entered my [indoor] pool's info quickly and arbitrarily named it the Mad Men Pool," he told BIZ Experiences. "We didn't really even have a chance to think about it for too long before the bookings started rolling in."
Doty also listed the couple's tennis court along with the pool, charging $80 per hour on weekends with a 30% discount during the week. According to Doty, he and his wife host several groups throughout the week and are booked up every weekend unless they block it off for their own use.
Related: These Are the Fastest-Growing Side Hustles. No. 1 Is Something You Might Already Do.
The couple's income from Swimply varies from month to month, Doty says, but that first year, they earned $84,000. And having an indoor pool means Doty and his wife can host year-round.
In addition to enjoying the extra money that comes with being a Swimply host, Doty likes seeing the pool get more frequent use — and would recommend the side hustle to anyone in search of an additional cash flow.
In fact, a friend who was between jobs already took him up on the suggestion. By renting out her pool, she was "able to take as long as she needed to find her next job, as her Swimply income matched what she made at work," Doty says.
