A home kitchen, a garage filled with wireless headphones, a pickup loaded with landscaping tools and a weekend booth at a farmers market may not look much like traditional places of business.

But for four Tri-Lakes-area entrepreneurs, those places became starting points for businesses which generate income, created flexibility and, in some cases, grew into something much larger.

Across the country, home-based businesses and side hustles have become a significant part of the economy. The U.S. Small Business Administration estimates about half of all U.S. businesses are home-based, and about 60% of businesses without paid employees operate from home.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported nearly 30 million non-employer businesses nationwide in 2022. Those businesses have no paid employees and include many sole proprietors, side hustles and home-based operations.

The COVID-19 pandemic helped accelerate a wave of entrepreneurship. According to the Census Bureau, 4.4 million new business applications were filed in 2020, a record at the time. Census researchers found much of the surge came from retail businesses, with the largest increase among non-store retailers, a category primarily composed of e-commerce businesses.

Census data later showed non-employer businesses increased 4.9% in 2021 and another 4.7% in 2022, the highest growth rates in nearly two decades.

There is no official count of home-based businesses in Colorado. At the local level, Monument has 19 permitted home-based businesses, according to Town of Monument Finance Director Jennifer Phillips. None provides sales tax revenue to the town because all 19 are registered as service-based businesses.

El Paso County does not track home-based businesses at that level of detail, open records manager Mike Madsen said.

The reasons people start such businesses are as varied as the businesses themselves.

For Monument resident Elizabeth Torgerson, a love of baking became Elizabeth’s Sweet Treats, a home-based custom bakery specializing in made-from-scratch goods for celebrations and special occasions.

Torgerson officially started the business in 2019 while her family was stationed in California during her husband’s service in the U.S. Marine Corps. Friends and family began requesting cakes and desserts, and she saw an opportunity to build a business that could move with her family.

“Like many small businesses, it started organically,” Torgerson said. “Friends and family began requesting cakes and desserts for special occasions, and before long I realized there was an opportunity to turn something I loved into a business.”

Operating from home allows Torgerson to balance the business with raising three daughters and remain involved in every customer order. It also means she handles nearly everything herself.

“On any given day, I am the baker, decorator, customer service representative, bookkeeper, purchasing department, marketing team, delivery driver and cleanup crew,” she said.

Torgerson said technology has helped remove many of the barriers which once made starting a business more difficult. Social media and online payment systems allow entrepreneurs to reach customers without the expense of a storefront.

For Gleneagle resident Codie Erickson, avoiding overhead was part of what allowed her company to grow.

Erickson started Discreet Beats six years ago after discovering silent discos through her love of music festivals. At a silent disco, guests wear wireless headphones and can switch among different music channels while sharing the same dance floor.

“What began as a passion project operating out of my home quickly grew into something much bigger,” Erickson said. “Starting from home allowed me to keep costs low and invest directly into equipment, events and building relationships within the community.”

Discreet Beats has grown from a small inventory of headphones to nearly 1,000 and now works with employees and independent contractors. The company provides entertainment for schools, municipalities, festivals, nonprofits, corporate clients and private events across Colorado.

Because customers have no need to visit a traditional retail location, Erickson said the events themselves serve as the company’s public face.

“In many ways, our events became our storefront,” she said. “Every silent disco introduces new people to the experience, and word-of-mouth has become one of our strongest marketing tools.”

For Mary Armenta, the motivation behind her Gleneagle-based landscaping business was different.

Yardening began after a series of personal and financial challenges convinced Armenta that depending on one source of income could be risky. She survived a pulmonary embolism, faced significant medical bills and an expensive legal battle, and continued raising her children, including a child with autism.

“At some point, I realized I could either keep hoping life would become less expensive or start creating another source of income,” Armenta said.

She began helping friends and neighbors with landscaping and gardening. Referrals followed, and what began as extra work became a business offering garden design and installation, lawn care, aeration, dethatching, drip line systems and advice for homeowners struggling with Colorado’s climate and water limitations.

“A side hustle used to mean vacation money,” Armenta said. “Now, for many people, it means grocery money, medical bills, legal expenses, home repairs or simply having a financial cushion when life throws you the standard curveball.”

The additional income has become important as Armenta works toward financial independence, debt reduction and savings for her family.

“I don’t think I’m unique,” she said. “I think I’m representative of a lot of Americans who work hard but still realize one income isn’t always enough anymore.”

Nicole Lindeman represents another path, a side hustle which grew into a brick-and-mortar business while its owner continued juggling several other ventures.

Lindeman started Palomino after being accepted into the Monument Farmers Market in spring 2025. Having recently moved from Los Angeles, she noticed no one at the market was selling vintage goods and decided to test whether there was demand.

“Starting as a side hustle was a deliberate choice, not a fallback,” Lindeman said. “I already had steady freelance income as a graphic designer and social media manager, so I could take the time to get the idea dialed in and weigh the risks before ever signing a lease.”

Success at the farmers market led to a dealer space at Sweet William in Colorado Springs. Within three months, Lindeman expanded into a second space, eventually giving her the confidence to open Palomino as a physical store in Palmer Lake with her mother and sister.

Even with a storefront, Lindeman maintains multiple sources of income. She continues her freelance design and social media business and operates Workhorse Jewelry, a vintage-inspired fine jewelry company she co-founded with her twin sister in 2011.

Her decision to leave traditional employment was influenced, in part, by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lindeman had her second son at the beginning of COVID-19 and, like millions of others, began working from home.

“I internalized the idea of embracing the present and knew, like a lot of people did in that moment, going back to a 9-to-5 was no longer for me,” she said. “It was time to follow my heart and thrive on my own terms.”

For Lindeman, maintaining several businesses is a personal choice. For Armenta, a side hustle is about financial resilience. For Torgerson, a home-based business provides flexibility and a connection to her community. For Erickson, keeping overhead low helped a passion project grow into a company serving thousands of people.

Together, their experiences reflect a changing definition of work, one in which the path from hobby to side hustle, home-based business or even storefront is increasingly fluid.

Armenta said people considering side hustles do not need to begin with a revolutionary idea.

“Start with what you already know,” she said. “You don’t have to invent the next million-dollar app. Maybe you’re good at baking, maybe fixing things, maybe tutoring, maybe mowing lawns. Start there.”