I turned my side job into a £28,000-a-week business – it was a disaster at first, but then I got lucky

A businessman has told how his part-time job was a flop until he managed to turn it into a £28,000-a-week business.

Mark Sellar, from Melbourne, Australia, launched a series of business ventures after winning almost £600,000 on a reality show.

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He told news.com.au: “I was pretty lucky then I had the financial freedom to start developing products without that risk.”

However, his business ideas – including a doorstop company and an automatic CD generator – did not bring the hoped-for success.

But after a series of disasters, Mr Sellar, 39, got lucky when he noticed people on the beach trying to cover their faces with T-shirts.

It inspired him to package a tent-like face shield made of reflective material that folds up and slips into a pocket.

He launched the Shader product in 2018 and initially thought the idea was a failure too.

Mr Sellar said: “It started very slowly. In the first week we hardly sold anything – we thought it wouldn’t work.

“Then all of a sudden it got really crazy.”

The product was shared on Facebook and became popular – until the pandemic hit and people stopped going outside.

However, since Mr. Sellar’s original product was made of wood, he decided to use the pandemic to rethink.

He created a version that was lightweight, elegant and easy to wear.

It also meant transport costs were reduced – and after restrictions were lifted, businesses started booming again.

He’s now making £28,000 a week and is hoping to launch the product in the US next year.

Meanwhile, one man has shared how he quit his job to pursue his passion of creating vintage lighting and is now making up to £15,000 a month.

Ionut ‘John’ Scarlat makes the lamps from old objects such as cameras, sewing machines, telephones and musical instruments.

And a former flight attendant made heaven to focus on her side hustle – revealing she now makes in excess of £25,000 a month.

Alexia Grace, 24, says she “don’t miss the rude flyers” ever since she decided to leave cabin crew to do racy content on OnlyFans.