This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Oh, hey there, welcome. This is Side Hustle School, I'm Chris Guillebeau. You know, I never know whether to say good morning, good afternoon, good evening, because with the format of the show, of course, you can listen whenever you want. So whatever time of day it is for you, well, I hope it's good. And by way of introduction to today's story, let's go back to the vision of the show.
Like, why do I make Side Hustle School every day? Well, I want it to be fun, I want it to be enjoyable, but shocker, every Side Hustle story contains a lesson. And I try to be somewhat purposeful about this. I may not always get it right, but for the most part, there's definitely something that you can take away, even if you have no interest in the story itself. Even if you don't want to start a crowdfunding campaign, even if you don't want to bring back schools from Bali, like that story you heard the other day, or sell monogram scarves or paleo bars, two other things we featured this week.
The whole vision is to teach through storytelling. So for example, in today's story, you'll hear about a German couple who started a Side Hustle after coming back from vacation, not entirely unlike that Bali school story I told you a couple of days ago. And I'll talk about their process and what happened. But within this story, there are at least a couple of key points that I want to highlight. In particular, today's story, this question of, but what if my idea is taken, comes up.
And you know, I hear this question all the time. I hear it in emails, I hear it in the Side Hustle School workshops. When I was doing research for the Side Hustle book, it was one of the most common things I heard from people. And I think we have this fear, like, oh no, someone else is already doing this. Like I had this idea to do something, but then I went to Google and I typed in my phrase or my idea, and I wasn't the only one who thought of it.
Well, that may not be a bad thing. Just because you're not the first person to think of something, doesn't mean it can't be successful. Doesn't mean you can't put your own spin on it. And it doesn't mean that you should discard that idea. So enjoy the stories, but take something with you for the rest of your day, as you plan and work on your project.
That is always my goal, to kind of cheer you on and encourage you, but also provide you something helpful and practical. And that story's coming right up in just a moment. [Music]
Stefan Bauschein and his family were on vacation in Denmark, taking a stroll along the beach. Along the way, they decided to stop and show their two-year-old son how to make hand and footprints in the sand. Then they watched as the waves rolled across the shore and washed them away again.
After doing this a few times, Stefan's wife turned to him and said, if only there was a way to make these little prints last. Well, shortly enough, this gave him a great idea for a side hustle. Upon returning from the vacation, Stefan and his wife took to scouring the internet to see what options there were for people to preserve these wonderful memories. To their dismay, they found out this wasn't an entirely new idea. There were plenty of businesses offering jewelry and other options.
Now, this is where many side hustlers would turn away and look for a new idea with less competition, but not the Bauscheinens. Upon closer inspection, he found the products on offer didn't look that great. They weren't clean cut or precise, which was a German's worst nightmare, and it wasn't anything he'd ever wear or gift to someone else. Stefan knew he could make it better, and he made that the sole focus of his side hustle. He wanted to create natural-looking jewelry with clean lines where it really looked like the child had pressed their hand into the mold and had it set, no matter the size.
And this idea would lead to the tagline, "Memories made manageable." Now, back when he finished school, Stefan had been trained as a metalworker, and he spent months trying to perfect a technique. Although he hadn't used it in a long time, he remembered enough to allow him to treat the metal correctly and use other tools to make the process easier. And finally, almost 18 months after the vacation in Denmark, he found a way to make the jewelry look exactly like he wanted. Using a mix of 3D prints, metalworking, and countless numbers of his son's footprints, he found a system that he could replicate time and time again. And this meant the new family side hustle, Foya, was ready to go live to the world.
Stefan's wife, Katya, created the first company website using some self-taught HTML skills to put everything together. She added frequently asked questions, a sales page, some background information, and anything else she could think of that a customer might want to know. Within a few weeks, they'd managed to get their first sale through a process they both found a little comical. They wanted their potential customers to feel like they were a big company and not a small family side hustle. They spent the entire time trying to make their business sound as professional as possible, all while hiding the fact that they were overwhelmed by the idea that someone would actually want to buy from them.
Thankfully, they were able to overcome this overwhelm, and they jumped around in circles when they got that first international sale to a woman in Hong Kong. And this project first started in 2011, and over the next five years, Foya would continue to grow. Stefan was able to turn the side hustle into his full-time work, which he says allows him to pay more than his fair share of the household income. And Katya spends a lot of time running the back end of the business and updating the company website to make it look just right. Over time, the system for the online shop has also become more sophisticated.
They switched over to WordPress to run the back end of the site, and they use WooCommerce to help them make online sales. And last, they added a configuration tool to the site where customers can completely design or customize their own jewelry from start to finish. Now, there are some perils that come with running a business with your significant other. Stefan and Katya have established a rule, no business during meal times. There's also some natural friction that comes about when there's a lot of orders coming in.
But because it's a side hustle of mutual interest, there's not usually any arguing about working late or using time on the weekend. And when the bow shine ends get feedback from their customers, it's all worth it. They tend to get repeat business from people who have new children or get a new pet, as well as reorders of the old prints they've stored. It feels as though the work they're doing really matters to people. And going forward, the plan for FOIA is to look at the technical aspects of the business, see how they can continue to improve.
They've recently set up a new workspace, they want to experiment with new materials, and finalize a new line of jewelry. This memorable side hustle won't be forgotten anytime soon. [Music]
Awesome, so let's go back to that question. What if your idea is taken? You think, wow, I'm gonna be the first person to ever do something like this.
And you go online and you look and you're like, actually, I'm not. Well, you might know where I'm going with this. The answer is it's probably okay if somebody else is already doing that thing. In fact, that's kind of normal. And very often the answer is you just need to find your own unique twist on it.
Or like I think I mentioned the other day, you just need to do something better or different. And not every aspect of what you do has to be better or different. But you want to look for some key factor. And now, by the way, I'm not saying you should completely copy someone else's idea. I'm talking about these situations where you have an idea and then you're like, oh, is anybody else doing this?
But there may be some situations where ideas and projects and side hustles and businesses are kind of market specific. Like the way the Bauschines have set up this project, they're actually selling internationally, which is really smart. But if they were only doing this in Germany, for example, you might be living in New Zealand and you hear about this idea. And you have this kind of skill. And you like this concept.
Well, maybe you set it up there. The point is just because somebody's doing something similar to what you have in mind can actually be a good thing because it's showing that people have a demand for that service or that product. Presumably these other people wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't working for them in some fashion. [Music]
So just keep that in mind as you go forward. Every day a new story, every day a new lesson.
My goal is for you to be inspired and take action, which conveniently relates to the tagline of Side Hustle School. Inspiration is good, but inspiration combined with action is so much better. Today's show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/224. I am still on the road this week myself, but continuing to record episodes every day, of course. I do this for you and I hope it's helpful.
Tell somebody about the show if it is. I'm Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School. [Music]
