Clothing Boutique Burns Down, Rebuilds to 4 Locations

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[Music]

Today's story could be called "Always Read the Fine Print." It might bring you an extra $30,000. It's also a lesson in resilience, and one of the most important skills you can develop no matter what you want to accomplish in life. That skill is figuring stuff out. If you can buy something at one price and sell it for a higher price, you have a business model. Even if it's very small, it doesn't matter.

You've got something there you can build on. If you can't afford to rent a storefront, ask for a lower price. We'll get into all of that and more in the story. Welcome to "Side Hustle School." My name is Chris Guillebeau. I have the privilege of bringing you these stories every single day.

And today's featured case study had been flipping refurbished clothes for years on the side. But when her job and construction slowed down, she realized it was time to turn her hustle into a real storefront. Oh, and that storefront also burns down, but we'll get into that too. Stay tuned for the whole story. [Music]

Nicole Whitsill has been a creative money maker ever since she was young.

In fact, as an eighth grader, she sold handmade neck warmers, but she had to stop because one blew up someone's microwave. Don't try that at home. There were other side hustles over the years, most of them involving flipping something on eBay. During college, Nicole discovered that she could buy Nordstrom's refurbished clothes in a deep discount, then resell them online for a significant profit. She made a few hundred dollars each month, so she continued the gig on the side after she graduated and became a full-time general contractor.

She even built out her own e-commerce store, again, on the side. Now, unfortunately, the construction work she was doing didn't last long. The housing market crashed and new work slowed to a trickle. Meanwhile, old work stopped paying her invoices on time. Through it all, Nicole's online store, Shop Adorn, was still bringing in a steady income.

She posted on Instagram every now and then, it brought some traffic to her site, which again, turned into a few hundred dollars each month. Nicole figured she could have earned more, but she didn't really have any strategy. She was just winging it. And here's the reason, because her dream was really to open a physical retail store, not an online-only store. One day, Nicole and her husband drove by a storefront that had been empty for two years.

It was in a great location right in Portland, Oregon, but the rent was too high to attract new businesses. Her husband said, "If we can negotiate a lower price, that would be the perfect place to start a store." At the time, the couple was broke. They were living with Nicole's parents, and construction wasn't gonna bounce back anytime soon. They felt they had nothing to lose, so they asked the owner for a lower price. You never know if you don't ask.

He agreed, and then they helped him remodel the building, which got them six months of pre-rent. From there, Nicole started calling suppliers. With the new store, she wasn't just gonna resell clothes, she wanted to source clothes from designers and vendors. It took a while to find the right ones, 'cause many weren't eager to work with the first-timer, but she was able to get just enough on board for a launch. The official adorned storefront opened a couple months later.

Things were slow at first, but that was almost a blessing. Nicole could finish up contractor projects from the back office, and she was also looking after her two young children who came to work with her every day. So at that point, she probably couldn't have handled a busy store. It didn't take long, however, for her to find her stride when it came to inventory. Many of the women who came in talked about feeling judged or shamed at other stores, and Nicole knew the feeling.

She made shopping at her boutique and experienced free of second glances or snide comments by treating her customers with respect and carrying items for all sizes. The community noticed how welcoming she was, but they didn't notice enough. A door needed more sales, so she had to get creative. She designed a customer appreciation event where she'd give away unsold items to people who came in. It was a great way to build brand loyalty, get people in the door, and make her customers feel appreciated.

Now, interestingly enough, it became her top grossing annual event, one that she continues to this day. It turns out when you have a culture of giving and hospitality, customers like spending money at your store. Soon after, Nicole received an offer to move a door in five blocks down the road. It was a nicer space, and when they made the switch, sales tripled overnight. It seemed like everything was finally coming together, but unbeknownst to them, they were about to go down in flames.

These were literal flames. Nicole and her family were preparing to take a much-needed vacation to Mexico. Then they got a phone call that said there had been a fire. The smoke had destroyed everything, and the entire store had to be stripped down to the studs. Tragic as it was, there wasn't much they could do at that point, not until they got the insurance worked out, so they still flew to Mexico a couple days later.

Nicole figured she'd rather read over the insurance papers by a pool than sitting in an office with no walls. One day that week, while lounging by the pool, she discovered they were entitled to an additional $30,000 payment that the insurance company had first said they weren't gonna get. At that point, she realized the insurance company wasn't really there to protect her, and that if she didn't want to be taken advantage of, she had to do everything she could to stay up to date on her coverage. A door and reopened a few months later, and sales quickly picked back up. Over the next several years, Nicole fought her way through dozens of additional challenges.

One year, she went through four managers. She gave up on e-commerce sales for a while, then hired a new digital marketer a few months later. For several of those years, the family relied on her husband's construction work for the bulk of their income. It was never easy, but it was rewarding. It was what she wanted to do, and she was building something.

She loved helping women find clothes that made sense for their size and style. She loved investing in her employees and giving them a meaningful job. She loved building that business from the ground up. So whenever a problem arose, she figured it out. A door now has four retail locations, a thriving e-commerce store, and more than 30 employees who love what they do.

Nicole knows she can leave for days or weeks without the store burning down, literally or figuratively. So she's decided 2019 will be the year of herself. She's going to rest, invest time in her own skills and desires, and spend more time with her family. She's earned it. [Music]

Okay, so first up, first and foremost, always read the fine print.

I love the part about how she got reimbursed an additional $30,000, just because she noticed a clause in the contract that they were not super excited about pointing out. That clause was a seasonal adjustment claim, essentially. And again, because she did her diligence, that's how she was able to follow up and make sure that happened. So as she learned, the insurance company is not necessarily your friend. I don't think they are necessarily your enemy either.

I don't think every one of those companies is always out to get you, but I do think it means you need to look out for yourself. And just like the ability to figure stuff out is so important, looking out for yourself and asking questions, when you see that storefront and it hasn't been rented for two years, maybe it's not just you, maybe the price is too high. So what do you have to lose in going to the landlord and offering a lower price? Nothing. And it might actually turn out to be the first location for your store that then goes on to grow to 30 employees in four locations.

So I really love seeing these values of creativity and self-reliance that come through the stories. And I think Nicole is a wonderful example of that. Her stores are in the Portland, Oregon area. I actually know her myself. So if you happen to be in the area or you're visiting at some point, definitely go and check them out.

You can also look at their website, shopagorn.com, which of course we will link up in the show notes. So listeners, thank you for listening. Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Those show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/768. Episode 768.

I'll be back again tomorrow. Much more is on the way. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]

From the Onward Project.