When I Started a Side Hustle Welding Business

 Here is the story about how and why I started my side hustle welding business...

In the early 1990s, I switched industries from pipe welding to aerospace repair welding and I took a big pay cut.

I went from around 18 bucks per hour to $11.50

I knew that going in, but I figured it would be worth the pay cut in the long haul because of opportunity to advance, along and benefits like vacation, sick time, pension, etc.

It was a great job and I gladly worked lots of overtime to make up the pay gap.

…but the gulf war came along and halted all overtime.  

When my bank account bottomed out,  I got a job moonlighting at a local sheet metal fab shop.

I made even less per hour moonlighting but with a wife and 2 young boys,  we needed every penny and I was glad to do it.

After a year of moonlighting, I decided to buy my own tig welding machine and start my own welding side hustle.

So I bought a Miller Syncrowave 250 with running gear, dual flowmeter, Dynaflux tig cooler and a 20 style CK water cooled torch. All for around $2500.

Right away I got some good paying work thru word of mouth at my day job.

Within a couple of years, I got a few small machine shops as customers and it actually became more work than I could handle.

I remember it all clearly because it was a turning point.

$2500 was a lot for me back then but I reasoned to myself..."C'mon Jody, lots of folks buy bass boats that cost 5 times what this welder costs and those boats aren't making money"

I even took out a loan to buy it.  Things were tight!

But I quickly paid off that loan with the side hustle work.

So by investing around 2,500 dollars in my own TiG welder,  I went from punching a clock every afternoon after my day job...and making 11 bucks an hour on someone else’s schedule…

...To working in my own garage on my own schedule with my own equipment and making 40-50 dollars per hour.

Moral of the story: Don't be afraid to Invest in Yourself!

I took out a $2000 loan.  You won't need a loan because the PrimeWeld TIG225x is very affordable   ....especially if you use our afterpay payment option.

And by the way, If you order soon, you will receive a $30 digital gift certificate good towards your next purchase.