815
8 min 45 sec

Personal Problem Leads to Profitable Project

Thousands of women struggle to pee while wearing shapewear after a surgery. This side hustler and her product designer husband invent a no-mess solution!
Manufacturing Niche Ideas Problems & Solutions Product

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What It's About

No-mess peeing produces private productive profits!

Business Model
Manufacturing
Skills Required
Problem Solving & Research
Complexity
Medium
Profit Potential
Medium

Words of Wisdom

Tracy learned that it wasn’t the fashion and celebrity market that loved the peeLUX with the most intensity… it was the people who had to wear shapewear after surgery. These customers were desperate for a solution because it directly affected their health and wellbeing.

With that knowledge, Tracy started reaching out to surgeons and doctors on social media, asking them how they helped their patients tackle the issue of peeing in shapewear. And they responded! It just goes to show you that you should always keep an eye out for new markets and opportunities.

Fun Fact

Did you know that SPANX was originally started as a side hustle as well? Founder Sara Blakely was getting ready for a party when she realized she didn’t have the right undergarment to provide a smooth look under white pants. Armed with scissors and sheer genius, she cut the feet off her control top pantyhose and the SPANX revolution began! With a focus on solving wardrobe woes, the SPANX brand has grown to offer bras, underwear, leggings, active and more and has secured its place in women's hearts and in pop-culture with daily mentions everywhere from CNN to SNL.

Notes from Chris

Episode 815

Like all of our profiles, Tracy Bech is a side hustler. She’s also a working mom with a job in marketing, and once had an online jewelry store. But we’re not going to talk about jewelry today. We’re going to talk about a more personal problem faced by millions of women who wear shapewear.

Shapewear—for the guys out there or anyone else who’s unfamiliar—are those super-tight undergarments that some women wear after surgeries or just to look more slimming under a fancy dress.

After experiencing her own issues, Tracy looked around online and found comfort in the thousands of women complaining that it was way too easy to make a mess trying to pee while wearing shapewear. The small opening for getting business done just doesn’t work—there had to be a better way.

And there was! One day when Tracy was cooking dinner, she noticed something that looked almost perfect: a kitchen funnel.

Tracy gave it a shot, and sure enough, she left the restroom feeling clean and confident… and then she told her husband that the funnel shouldn’t be used for cooking anymore.

It was obvious, however, that a kitchen funnel wasn’t the best long-term solution. There needed to be an easier and faster, not to mention more portable way for women to relieve themselves while wearing shapewear. And as a side hustler, Tracy wanted to be the one to invent it.

She’d read all about how Sara Blakely of SPANX solved a common problem millions of women experience and became a mega-millionaire (you may have seen her as a shark on Shark Tank), so Tracy figured her idea was worth going after.

She took the problem to her husband, Tyler, who conveniently worked as a professional product designer. They began working on prototypes. It took a few rounds of 3D printing—as well as a handful of awkward conversations—but they finally landed on a design that functioned smoothly just two months later.

While the manufacturer was getting everything set up, Tracy applied as a seller on Amazon and listed her prototypes under the brand name peeLUX. And, a bit to her surprise, they sold organically—without any ads—in just a couple of weeks!

Sixteen months in, the new product brings in just over $1,000 per month—and sales are trending upward. But while the growth is exciting, it’s not the most rewarding part.

Answering the call of nature in shapewear is no longer an anxiety-inducing activity for women across the country—and for Tracy, that’s the greatest prize of all.



MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • peeLUX: Don't let tight shapewear get you bent out of shape—pick up a peeLUX of your own over on Tracy's website!

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
"To start, try to market a product by building the community around it and involving people in the process who can become evangelists later."
—Tracy Bech #SideHustleSchool

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To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau