Beard Oil Behemoth Expands to 35 Countries

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

Welcome to a brand new week of Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau. Got a great set of stories for you this week. I'm really excited to bring them to you. Now, it used to be that wearing a beard was just a thing that men did.

Now, of course, following the beard revolution of 2013, when some men began devoting astounding amounts of time to the care and grooming of their facial hair, beards are serious business. Where there is serious business, there is serious money to be made. In today's story, an unemployed Georgia transplant takes $46 and starts a beard oil marketplace. Now, if you're expecting me to say he goes on to make $1,000 a month, well, put down your razor. This beard oil biz goes on to make $250,000 a month, serving customers, mostly men, I'm pretty sure, in more than 35 countries.

That's right, a quarter of a million dollars a month in sales. There's money in that beard. Stay tuned. Here's a quick thank you to our sponsor, and then we'll comb through the details. [Music]

Ryan Lane is the founder of Dreambeard, an e-commerce shop that sells hair, beard, and body products.

And he runs it alongside his wife and fellow beard enthusiast, Britney. Although it was a humble project that they started with the last $46 they had on their bank account in 2012, six years later, this trailblazer in the world of facial hair brings in over six figures a month. But how exactly did they turn this $46 idea into something so profitable and with a huge cult following of bearded fans? Well, it all started with an itch. The itch heard around the world.

When the nine to five grind just wasn't cutting it, Ryan Lane discovered that he simply wanted more out of life than his desk job could give him. After talking about it in length with Britney, the two of them decided to relocate from Ohio to Atlanta, Georgia. They wanted to be closer to family, and since neither of them had anything lined up yet, they moved in with Britney's dad. Now this was the era of the Great Recession, and they applied to hundreds of different jobs, but despite their best efforts, nothing was coming through. It was nerve-wracking.

For many, being unemployed and sleeping across the hall from your father-in-law might feel a bit demoralizing, but Ryan immediately got down to business, and this time, the business was one of his own. Back then, Ryan had what he called a short corporate beard, and it was itching like crazy. He tried a few products that claimed to help with that awkward short beard growth phase, but nothing worked. Most of them just promised a lot without actually delivering results. Not willing to give up his manly badge of pride, he started doing a little experimenting of his own.

These experiments led him to the wonderful world of essential oils. When he found a combination that he really liked, he started sharing it with friends, who in turn shared it with their friends as well. This sparked an idea. What if he created a product that could combat the pesky problems that come with growing a beard? Now back then, his timing couldn't have been any better.

Facial hair was in the midst of transitioning from a don't mind my five o'clock shadow girl, just look at my beautiful eyes phase, and moving into a more lumber sexual phase. Since Ryan had already done quite a bit of research in order to look for a solution to his scratchy beard woes, he knew that essential oil blends specifically for beards didn't exist in the marketplace. So in 2012, without $46 in the bank and the small space provided by his father-in-law's dining room table, something beard-arific began to take shape. He called it dream beard. And since Etsy seemed like a natural place to get his start, he signed up for an account.

Ryan began immersing himself into all things beard. Bands with beards, artists with beards, beard enthusiasts, beard-driven events. It was a full on beard-a-palooza. You see, Ryan didn't want to just be a guy who sold beard oil, he wanted to build a lifestyle brand that people would use for years to come. And like Gandhi once said, he decided to be the beard he wished to see in the world.

Avoiding paid advertising, his approach was simple. Make a great product that people want to tell their friends about. His focus was aimed at drawing the attention and support of beard lovers everywhere. And his timing was perfect for another reason as well. It was also the rise of social media.

Between leveraging the power of word of mouth and some very strategic social media posts, he ended up selling roughly 30,000 bottles of his signature beard oil concoction in the first year. That bottle count has risen to roughly a million bottles sold in 2018 to beard growers in over 35 countries. Kid Rock is a fan, and so are the original bearded, sharp-dressed Texas legends themselves, ZZ Top. Best known for their hit songs, "She's Got Legs," "La Grange," and "Give Me All Your Beard Oil." Meanwhile, Ryan's business wasn't the only thing that saw some serious growth. His business beard has reached great lengths as well.

It's now braided and down to his waist. He once thought about trimming it, but realized that would be off-brand. Ryan and his wife eventually moved out of her parents' home and found their own place with a roomy basement to fulfill the huge demand for their product. They've even hired a few employees that not only help them stay on track, but who also believe in Dreambeard's mission as much as they do. And Ryan didn't stop there.

In the fall of 2017, he launched a podcast as a way to further connect with his audience. The "Life Gets Hairy" podcast is just shy of half a million monthly listeners and was in the top 200 in iTunes within its first month. He and his guests talk about everything from Bigfoot to business, to parenting, to anything a beard can throw at you. So what's on the horizon? Well, Ryan recently became a father and is focusing his efforts on family.

He doesn't want to be known for just being the beard guy and is exploring other areas in life. There's nothing off-limits, but it all started with that $46 and the itchy face. [Music]

Well, fortunes have been made from less interesting products and industries. There's money in the beard and apparently your average beard needs a lot of oil. This episode reminds me of "Cubic Oil Profits." That was episode 326.

Itchy honeymoon shaves way to a $100,000 pubic oil kingdom. That story was about a guy who used beard oil in another location and then ended up developing a whole e-commerce business around it. Like I sometimes say, you never know what you're gonna hear on "Saddestle School," and there are so many different ways you can make money. It is a whole new world. Now, just a little tactical, practical tip, something that worked particularly well for Dreambeard is having live chat on their website.

And live chat is increasingly important, especially for an e-commerce business. I don't actually think every site needs to offer this. It's not a good fit for every site, depending on what you're selling. But if your goal is to convert people to a sale right then and there, especially for a product that you hope you're gonna sell them once and then sell them over and over eventually, and you wanna do this before they leave your site or otherwise get distracted, it can be helpful. Ryan says once he installed live chat, he actually has a 90% conversion rate from anybody who initiates a chat or anyone who has a question and is able to ask it right then and there from one of his support team members.

And of course, a more general tip for everybody, know your audience. Ryan is really focused on connecting with his listeners in whatever medium they prefer, and that's why he started a podcast, which is doing well for him now, too. So know your audience, understand their needs, and find a way to meet those needs. That is an enduring pathway to success. Well, listeners, I'm hoping you'll find your success, too.

I'm cheering you on over here at World Domination Headquarters. As always, remember, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better. To check out the show notes for today's episode, just come to sidehustleschool.com/660. Episode 660. You can also check out Ryan's podcast, "Life Gets Hairy." Wherever you are in the world, I hope you'll do one thing to get you closer to a goal you believe in.

And I also hope you'll join me again tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is Side Hustle School.