EARNING six figures a day might seem like a pipe dream, but for this woman it became a reality and it’s all thanks to her savvy side hustle.
Kat Norton, better known as Miss Excel, is an online educator and content creator with over one millions followers, but she didn’t start her career that way.
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Speaking on the Earn Your Happy podcast, Kat revealed how she went from her boring corporate job where she was only earning enough to pay the bills to raking in the cash.
That’s when she decided to put her knowledge of Microsoft Excel to good use and share all of her tips and tricks on TikTok.
“I had so much resistance to TikTok,” she said.
But once she realised there was more to the app than funny cat videos and teens making up dances, she decided to give it a go.
After a quick browse of the app, which Kat said she had never used before, she realised no one else was teach Excel on there.
That’s when she made her first video, a fun clip set to a popular Drake song teaching a simple hack on the software.
“I knocked out 10 videos and I sat in my room that weekend and I edited them,” she said.
She shared one video a day, and then by the fourth post the clips were getting over one hundred thousand views.
Then a CEO from an IT company reached out to Kat and hired her to make more videos.
“My dream was to make enough money from the side hustle to pay for a future mortgage for a house on Long Island,” she said.
But that would be a reality sooner than she thought when the CEO agreed to pay her $100 per hour for her to create the informative yet fun clips.
“At this point I’m working 40 to 50 hours a week at my day job, then I’m probably doing another 10 a week making content for Miss Excel, then I did another 15 hours a week for this CEO on the side,” she said.
“Within the next few weeks I had my first video on TikTok go viral,” Kat continued.
Then after hearing that there was the threat of TikTok being banned in the US, Kat decided to hedge her bets and share the same Miss Excel content on Instagram too, where she also quickly vent viral.
Following that success, Kat then decided to take two weeks holiday from her day job and create a full Excel course people can pay to take.
“I start selling it and within a few weeks it was bringing in more money every month than my day job,” she said.
Deciding to bet on herself, Kat then decided to take her side hustle full time and quit her corporate consulting day job.
With all of that extra time, Kat built nine more courses covering all of Microsoft Suite.
She even made her first webinar, which made $50,000, much to her own amazement.
“I’d never seen that kind of money,” she said.
At this point, Kat’s business gained attention from various new outlets, and she began appearing on podcasts to discuss her success.
She said she puts all of these achievements down to manifesting her dream life and showing up for herself.
Do I need to pay tax on my side hustle income?
MANY people feeling strapped for cash are boosting their bank balance with a side hustle.
The good news is, there are plenty of simple ways to earn some additional income – but you need to know the rules.
When you’re employed the company you work for takes the tax from your earnings and pays HMRC so you don’t have to.
But anyone earning extra cash, for example from selling things online or dog walking, may have to do it themselves.
Stephen Moor, head of employment at law firm Ashfords, said: “Caution should be taken if you’re earning an additional income, as this is likely to be taxable.
“The side hustle could be treated as taxable trading income, which can include providing services or selling products.”
You can make a gross income of up to £1,000 a year tax-free via the trading allowance, but over this and you’ll usually need to pay tax.
Stephen added: “You need to register for a self-assessment at HMRC to ensure you are paying the correct amount of tax.
“The applicable tax bands and the amount of tax you need to pay will depend on your income.”
If you fail to file a tax return you could end up with a surprise bill from HMRC later on asking you to pay the tax you owe – plus extra fees on top.
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