Notes from Chris

Episode 488

We’ve all heard the saying “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” What Claire and Chris Wolfson experienced had nothing to do with citrus but everything to do with a sudden health scare with their beloved Dachshund, Bean.

It was a traumatic experience for Claire and Chris. But Bean’s strength really inspired this designerly duo to create something in his honor.

They originally wanted to design and develop harnesses to support back health in dogs prone to injury. But without any background in this area, they felt intimidated. So they decided to use their apparel and graphic design skills to create a series of knit beanie hats called Bean Beanies.

Chris developed their logo, while Claire helped source beanies and even sewed on their custom labels. At this time, they both were still working full-time, corporate jobs while selling Bean Beanies on the side. It was just a fun project, and startup costs were low.

That first year, in 2011, they made around $1,000 and tapped into a niche audience they didn’t realize would be so supportive. And supportive is an understatement—they discovered that the doxie community is not only vast but tight-knit. That first thousand bucks made Claire and Chris wonder, "could we build this brand beyond beanies?"

Short answer: Yes, they could, and they would. But let’s talk about how.

While they were getting Bean Beanies off the ground, Claire quit her full-time job to explore a Masters program. Realizing quickly that it wasn’t the right road, Claire quit the program and focused on some freelance to fill the gap.

Freelance work isn’t always consistent, and Claire found herself with an abundance of free time as well as uncertainty about what to do. By applying for unemployment she actually came upon a Small Business Program. She decided to join the program and focus on what was quickly becoming BeanGoods full-time. In 2013, she dove in, expanding their product assortment to include graphic tees, tanks, accessories for doxies and their owners.

Chris, who was still working full-time, created additional product designs. That year, they made $16,000.

How did they jump from just a couple grand a year to over $16,000? The new products helped a lot, and Instagram played a big part in driving traffic to their site and establishing a dedicated group of fans. All of this work really started to pay off in 2014 when they made over $93,000. That was the moment when Chris decided to quit his full-time gig to focus on BeanGoods.

With the duo now dedicated to their own business, the next couple of years (2015-2016) they consistently made over $100,000. In 2017, Claire wanted to push profits beyond what seemed like a little bit of a plateau. She decided to take an online course around creating Facebook Ads. This was really a game-changer in expanding their reach, growing their audience and driving traffic to their site.

With the help of that course, BeanGoods made over $150,000 in 2017. Their best year yet! Bean the dachshund is still doing well, and now has a brother named Van. Both dogs are actively involved in executive decision-making. With business booming, it would seem that BeanGoods is certainly barking up the right tree!

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• BeanGoods: Head on over to Claire and Chris' website for all of your Dachshund apparel needs
• Big Cartel: This company makes it easy to build a unique online store and run a creative business

SEE ALSO:

• Claire's Facebook Guide: Free beginner's guide to getting started in the world of Facebook Ads
• Every Dog Has Its Side Hustling Day: Two sisters team up to create a side business with a social good component. It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there… are you working on your hustle?
• Shopify Employee Sells Enough Apparel to Buy a French Bulldog: She only needs to make $3,000. But when she turns to a side hustle to fill the French Bulldog shaped hole in her life, she ends up making six-figures

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

Yours in the revolution,

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