170
8 min 19 sec

Nomad Family Cooks Up $40,000 Profit With Houseware Import Business

A traveling family creates a houseware reselling business using the Fulfillment by Amazon model, with profits going straight to their travel fund.
FBA Food Manufacturing Product Retail

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What It's About

How the Fulfilled by Amazon program helps a family bring in a passive income while they travel the world.

Business Model
Manufacturing
Skills Required
Organization & Research
Complexity
Medium
Profit Potential
Medium

Words of Wisdom

In order to get a feel for the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) model, Nathan and Kathrin started out selling a product that they were familiar with—water filters. Once they got the hang of how the FBA model worked, they expanded their offers to include a ceramic pan that they stumbled on while traveling in Italy.

If you want to launch your own product-based side hustle, start out with something that you're familiar with so that there are fewer unknown variables.

Fun Fact

Worried that selling cookware is just a flash in the pan? Well, according to an Ibisworld report, Kitchen and Cookware is a $15 billion business and is growing around 2% every year. Doesn’t look like it’ll be sizzling out anytime soon.

Notes from Chris

Episode 170
At the end of 2015, Nathan and Kathrin Spaccarelli decided they wanted a different life for themselves and their children. After selling everything they owned and taking a year-long sabbatical from work, they’d returned from traveling with a completely different ‘why.’

While they were proud of their coffee business and everything they’d build back in Oregon, nothing could compare to the rich experiences of exploring the world as a family.

Since they were determined to create something that would allow them to be location independent, Nathan spent every free moment he could researching... and one day he stumbled upon a podcast called The Amazing Seller that focused on how to start a profitable and mostly passive Amazon business.

On their around the world trip, they’d picked up a healthy, non-stick ceramic pan at a market in Italy and brought it back with them to America. Even with months of use (Nathan absolutely loves to cook!), they were still getting great results and felt this would be a perfect addition to their FBA endeavors.

They launched their cooking line in 2016 under the name DaTerra Cucina—literally translated as from the ground kitchen due to the all-natural, volcanic minerals used to create the non-stick coating on their pans.

They managed to make over $200,000 in sales by the end of their first year in business, and after the first quarter of 2017, they’d already cleared $85,000 in sales, putting them on track for an even more profitable year than their last. This has allowed them to invest in more inventory and grow their business by adding three more sizes of pan to be introduced by the end of the year.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • DaTerra Cucina: Check out Nathan and Kathrin Spaccarelli's ceramic pans on their website
  • IBISWorld | Kitchen & Cookware Market Research: A market research report that offers insightful industry analysis and research into the kitchen and cookware market at the national level
  • Alibaba: The platform that Nathan and Kathrin used to locate a manufacturer for their water filters
  • The Amazing Seller: The podcast that helped Nathan launch his own profitable and mostly passive Amazon business
  • Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA): The model that the Spaccarellis used that allowed them to pass on the responsibility of keeping stock and shipping out orders
SEE ALSO:

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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Resources

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Quote of the Day
"This side hustle has allowed us an opportunity to be location independent making money while we're traveling, on vacation, and even sleeping! It's been easy to work on in the evenings and on weekends while still having our full-time jobs and balancing kids and activities."
—Nathan & Katherin Spaccarelli #SideHustleSchool

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To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau