How to Build a $2,600/Month Business in 12 Months
Like Jane...
Wouldn’t it be brilliant if 2026 was the year you actually built your freedom-funding micro hustle?
Not the year you thought about it. Not the year you researched it endlessly. Not the year you bought another course and never opened it.
The year you did it.
The year you went from zero to a genuine income stream. Something small enough to manage alongside your life, but real enough to matter. Something that proves to you (and everyone who’s been quietly sceptical) that this whole online income thing isn’t just for twenty-somethings with tech degrees.
I recently recorded a podcast about the four micro hustles I’m building this year, and my goals are actually much bigger than $2,000 a month. But that’s because I’ve been doing this for 15+ years. I’ve built the audience. I’ve made the mistakes. I know what works (and what doesn’t).
If you’re just starting out, $2,000 to $3,000 a month by the end of the year is 100% achievable, and it will change everything. It’s enough to cover your travel fund, your mortgage top-up, your “I don’t have to panic about money” cushion, and unless you’re looking to buy an electric Lamborghini, pretty much anything else you can think of.
Sound exciting?
Let me show you exactly how it works.
Meet Jane
Jane isn't real (I’ve made her up for the purposes of this article). But she could be you. Tired of where she is, ready for something different.
Jane is 54. She’s worked in HR for decades, she’s good at her job, and she’s thoroughly fed up with it.
What she loves, (what she’s always loved), is her garden. Specifically, she’s obsessed with growing things in small spaces. Her own garden is a tiny courtyard that she’s transformed into an absolute jungle of containers, raised beds, and vertical planters.
Friends constantly ask her how she does it. She’s the person everyone texts when their tomatoes look sad.
Jane has zero online audience. No email list. No following. No idea where to begin.
But she’s got time in the evenings, curiosity, and one thing that matters more than anything else: she’s willing to try something new and show up consistently.
Here’s how Jane’s year unfolds.
Months 1–3: The Foundation (Building Her First 200 Subscribers)
Jane starts a Substack publication called “Small Space, Big Harvest”.
In month one, she commits to one long form article a week and a daily note with quick tips and photos from her garden.
She writes about things she already knows: companion planting in pots, which vegetables actually thrive in containers, how to make the most of a north-facing courtyard.
She focuses on being useful rather than perfect.
Jane also starts engaging with other gardening writers on Substack. She leaves thoughtful comments. She recommends & restacks notes & publications she genuinely enjoys. She replies to every single person who comments on her posts.
By the end of month one, she has 47 subscribers (🥳). Mostly friends and family, plus a handful of strangers who found her through the Substack network.
By the end of month two, she’s at 89 subscribers. Her post about “5 Vegetables That Thrive in the Shade” got shared a few times and brought in a wave of new people.
By the end of month three, she’s crossed 180 subscribers.
Total revenue: $0
And that’s fine. Jane isn’t trying to monetise yet. She’s building something more valuable: trust, consistency, and clarity about what resonates.
And here’s what she’s noticing. Her posts about growing vegetables in containers get far more engagement than anything else. She's found her angle.
Months 4–6: The First Product (Testing the Waters)
With 180 subscribers and a clear sense of what people want help with, Jane decides to create something small.
She spends a few weekends building a workbook in Canva: The Container Vegetable Planner: A Month-by-Month Growing Guide.
It’s a practical, usable workbook, with planning pages, planting calendars, spacing guides, and checklists. The kind of thing her audience can use, not just read once and forget.
She prices it at $9 and sells it through Gumroad.
Jane mentions it casually in her newsletter. No hard sell, or countdown timers, just “I made this thing, here’s why I think it’ll help you, here’s the link if you want it.”
In month four, she sells 4 copies. In month five, 7 copies. In month six, 11 copies.
Revenue months 4–6: $198
Meanwhile, she’s still posting weekly articles and daily notes. Her subscriber count continues to climb and she ends month six at around 420 subscribers.
Jane now has proof. People will pay her for her knowledge. $198 might not sound like much, but the confidence it gives her is worth far more.
She also has something else: feedback. Buyers are emailing her to say how much they love the planner. One person asks if she does workshops. Another asks if she’ll ever create something on vertical gardening.
Jane is taking notes.
Months 7–9: Expanding the Offer (Workshops and Guest Appearances)
Emboldened by those early sales and the questions landing in her inbox, Jane decides to try something bigger.
She plans a live workshop on Zoom: Container Gardening Masterclass: Plan Your Small-Space Garden for Next Season.
She prices it at $47, promotes it to her newsletter (now sitting at around 550 subscribers), and nervously hits publish.
Twenty-two people sign up.
Workshop revenue: $1,034
The workshop itself is terrifying and wonderful. Jane over-prepares, obviously, but people love it. The chat is full of questions. Attendees stick around afterwards to ask about their specific situations. Several people email her the next day to say it was the best $47 they’ve ever spent.
Jane now has something else that’s priceless: testimonials. She screenshots the lovely feedback and adds it to her Gumroad page.
She also adds some requested pages and resources to her workbook and increases the price to $19. Sales start to go up and she’s now selling around 12 copies a month.
During this period, Jane also starts putting herself out there more. She writes a guest post for another Substack publication about small-space gardening. She appears on a gardening podcast (a small one, as she’s a bit nervous), but each appearance brings a bump in subscribers.
By the end of month nine, she’s at 680 subscribers.
Revenue months 7–9:
Workshop: $1,034
Workbook sales (12 x 3 months = 36 copies × $19): $684
Total: $1,718
Months 10–12: Building Momentum (Scaling What Works)
Jane now knows what works. She has a product that sells, a workshop format that people love, and a growing audience that trusts her.
So she does more of the same, but better.
She runs a workshop every month now. October’s workshop has 28 attendees. November has 35. By December, she’s filling 42 spots.
She creates a second workbook based on all the questions about vertical gardening: The Vertical Garden Blueprint: Growing Up When You Can’t Grow Out. She prices it at $24 and launches it in November.
With two products and a monthly workshop rhythm, here’s what her last quarter looks like:
October:
Workshop (28 × $47): $1,316
Workbook sales (14 × $19): $266
Total: $1,582
November:
Workshop (35 × $47): $1,645
Container Garden Planner (16 × $19): $304
Vertical Garden Blueprint launch (10 × $24): $240
Total: $2,189
December:
Workshop (42 × $47): $1,974
Container Garden Planner (18 × $19): $342
Vertical Garden Blueprint (14 × $24): $336
Total: $2,652
Months 10–12 total: $6,423
By the end of December, Jane has 940 subscribers. She’s on track to cross 1,000 in the new year.
The Full Picture
Let’s tally up Jane’s year:
Months 1–3 - $0
Months 4–6 - $198
Months 7–9 - $1,718
Months 10–12 - $6,423
Year Total - $8,339
But here’s what matters more than the total: by month 12, Jane is generating over $2,500 in a single month. She has a system that works, products that sell, and an audience that’s still growing.
And she built all of this alongside her day job, using evenings and weekends, without spending a fortune on ads or software or courses.
If Jane keeps going, and simply maintains her current rhythm through 2027, she’ll comfortably clear $30,000+ that year. Enough to drop to part-time work, fund serious travel, and change her life.
Why This Works
Here’s what Jane did right:
She started with audience, not product. Those first three months of $0 revenue were the foundation that made everything else possible.
She paid attention to what resonated. Instead of guessing what to create, she let her audience tell her. Growing vegetables in containers. Vertical gardening. Practical tools, not theory.
She started small. A $9 workbook, not a $297 course. A $47 workshop, not a $997 coaching programme. Low risk, fast feedback, building confidence with every sale.
She showed up consistently. Weekly articles. Daily notes. Guest posts. Podcast appearances. None of it was complicated, but all of it compounded.
She let momentum build. Instead of launching everything at once, she layered. Foundation first, then simple products, then workshops, then multiple products. Each stage made the next one easier.
P.S. What If You Grow Half as Fast?
Let’s say you can’t commit as much time as Jane. Or your niche is smaller. Or you’re just a bit more cautious about putting yourself out there.
Here’s what the numbers look like if you grow at half her pace:
Months 1–3 - $0
Months 4–6 - $99
Months 7–9 - $859
Months 10–12 - $3,212
Year Total - $4,170
Still over $1,000 a month by December! Plus proof that it works, and a foundation you can build on.
Your speed of growth matters far less than your consistency.
One More Thing
I know absolutely nothing about the gardening niche. I picked it randomly to prove a point: this strategy works regardless of what you’re passionate about.
Fitness. Finance. Art. Travel. Parenting. Cooking. History. Whatever lights you up. If there are people who share that interest and have problems you can help solve, you can build this.
The numbers might look slightly different. Your timeline might be faster or slower depending on your niche and how much time you can invest. But the pattern is the same.
Foundation.
Simple offers.
Expansion.
Momentum.
That’s it. That’s the whole strategy.
So here’s my question: what if 2026 was your year?
Not the year you thought about it. The year you did it.
This is a completely doable strategy my friend. So stop thinking about it, follow the steps Jane took and make it happen for yourself.
You can! 💪
Your crawl, walk, run practical approach could work for anyone Jo. Thanks coach!
This is a great article, very motivational! I bought the travel cards and look forward to working with you on my ideas.