We turned our love of picnics into an epic side hustle – it makes us £11.5k a MONTH, we’re only 24 & 25
A PAIR of best friends have revealed how they transformed their love of picnics into a side hustle that brings in £11,500 a month.
Jocelyn, 24 and Coco, 25 had a brainwave when their friend’s wedding was cancelled during the pandemic.
The still wanted to make her feel special so they threw her a luxury picnic.
“We got really great feedback from out friends and family”, Jocelyn told CNBC.
“So we decided to throw more for out friends and family.”
Eventually they decided to turn their picnic planning passion into a business and Picnic ‘N Chill was born.
When Coco lost her job as an event planner at Facebook, she decided to turn the side hustle in her full time job.
Jocelyn still works full time as a social media assistant, but plans to transition to working on Picnic ‘N Chill full time.
The duo’s business really started to take off after a promotional video on their TikTok account went viral.
Jocelyn said: “I just picked up my phone and started filming little clips of my day and what its like to be a luxury picnic planner.
“After about 30 minutes my phone would not stop ringing and the post was flooded with comments and likes”.
The girls quickly had to learn the basics of running a business, and garnered knowledge from watching lots of YouTube videos.
The pair now plan 60 picnics a month and offer three different packages – First Date, starting at £142, Picnic ‘N Chill, starting at £218 and Grandeur, starting at £300.
They also cater for hen parties and baby showers and charge around £1500 for larger groups.
They have now hired five other women to help them with the picnics, and plan to expand their business even more.
Jocelyn said: “The event industry is so big, and every day we’re trying to improve our business.
How to start your own business
Dragon's Den star Theo Paphitis revealed his tips for budding entrepreneurs:
- One of the biggest barriers aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners face is a lack of confidence. You must believe in your idea — even more than that, be the one boring your friends to death about it.
- Never be afraid to make decisions. Once you have an idea, it’s the confidence to make decisions that is crucial to starting and maintaining a business.
- If you don’t take calculated risks, you’re standing still. If a decision turns out to be wrong, identify it quickly and deal with it if you can. Failing that, find someone else who can.
- It’s OK not to get it right the first time. My experience of making bad decisions is what helped develop my confidence, making me who I am today.
- Never underestimate the power of social media, and remember the internet has levelled the playing field for small businesses.
- Don’t forget to dream. A machine can’t do that!
“There’s so much room for us to grow.
“Every day we’re trying to improve learn something new.
“Everyday we’re trying to improve our business.
“We would not trade this for anything, this is our baby.”
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