Notes from Chris

Episode 1094

Tony and Fei Ouyang lived and worked in one of the most expensive cities in the world, San Francisco. Tony was a marketing manager for a large finance startup, while Fei was a product manager at Cisco.

They met in university ten years earlier. While many of their friends went on to start companies, they took regular jobs instead. Not that it was a decision they regretted. It afforded them a great lifestyle in a beautiful city where they had two kids and earned plenty of money to support them.

But working at startups can wear down even the most optimistic person after a while…

That was certainly the case for Tony, who, in 2017 was eager to find stimulation outside his nine to five. To do that, he explored the idea of starting a side hustle.

There was no grand plan for it. He was just looking for a hobby and figured he may as well pick one that could make money. It didn’t have to be a lot. In fact, he had a very specific goal in mind. Earn enough to pay for his fifteen-dollar work lunches.

He quickly landed on the idea of selling a physical product on Amazon. He had a family member who’d had success doing that, so it seemed feasible.

He had two criteria for the product: One, it shouldn’t be something breakable like glass or electronics. That would avoid quality issues and returns. Two, he had to make at least a fifty percent profit margin.

In the end, he landed on selling cold brew filter bags for coffee. It was a product he’d use himself, being an avid cold brew drinker. Furthermore, he’d seen the rise of cold brew in places like Starbucks and knew it was rising in popularity.

With the product idea set, it was time to find a manufacturer…

Tony hunted on Alibaba where he found one in China. He put in an order of one hundred bags for six hundred and forty dollars. After that, he found freelancers on Fiverr.com to create the graphics and labels for just over one hundred dollars. In total, he spent around eight hundred dollars.

Soon after, he used the Fulfillment by Amazon program to list the product for sale and. Although it was December, the Christmas rush didn’t help. In fact, he didn’t make his first sale until mid-January the following year.

Still, within a couple of months the cold brew bags were generating enough money to cover his lunches, and they tasted oh so sweet. In fact, he was so happy with his profits that he regularly indulged himself with extra guacamole.

Just a few months later Tony’s wife, having seen the success of the cold brew bag, wanted in on the action.

So they became a husband and wife team and agreed to take the side hustle more seriously—which meant it needed a name. They came up with Doppeltree, a play on the word Doppelganger. Because two is better than one!

Fei chose to sell a new product under the same brand name. To find one, she repeated Tony’s process from a few months before. That is, she wanted to devise a simple product that she herself would buy, one that wouldn’t break, and had a good profit margin.

It was easier than she expected.

With two kids at home and a demanding day job, Fei was always looking for a tiny moment to pamper herself, a little relaxation in her day. To do that, she often used all-natural beauty and skincare products.

After exfoliating for ideas she settled into under-eye masks. These are small patches that are placed under the eye to minimize the look of wrinkled and ‘tired eyes’. Just what Fei and every other hard-working woman, or man, needs. She and Tony again sourced a supplier from Alibaba, who partnered with the pair for their pampering product.

Just like the cold brew bag, they listed them for sale in Amazon’s ecosystem. Next, like receiving a discount at a day spa, people rushed to order.

With that, the Doppeltree husband and wife team knew it wasn’t a fluke. They were quietly confident that if they launched more products, they could replicate their success. But before they did that, they thought it best to learn how to actually run a business. While Doppeltree was a side hustle now, they knew it had potential for more.

Customers have spoken by opening their wallets to the tune of forty thousand dollars gross per month. A large sum by anyone’s standards, and enough money that Tony can go full-time on Doppeltree for 2020 to have a real go at growth. If it goes well, Fei will quit her day job next.

But for this married couple, the money is a side benefit of being able to own their time and see a path to building their future for the long term.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Doppeltree: Check out Fei's and Tony's full product lineup at their website.
• Tony and Fei used Fiverr.com to find freelance work to help them with graphic design products.
• Tony and Fei use Shopify to sell their products. (use the link to start a 21-day trial and get 10% off for an entire year!)
• Want to launch your own product and are considering working with a supplier through Alibaba? Listen to Extended Cut Episode #400 and look for the Shopify guide to Alibaba, posted in the notes.

SEE ALSO:

• Mountain Biker Takes B-Line To All-Natural Profits: When two friends create an all-natural energy gel that’s as good as the processed alternatives, they shift into a higher gear and crank out a side hustle.
• Natural Deodorant That Actually Works Brings In $5,500/Month: A former venture capitalist starts a scent-sational side hustle selling her own natural, floral-based deodorant.
• Active “Type 1” Lifestyle Inspires Sticky, Successful Side Hustle: Wanting to help a family member diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, this serial side hustler invents a sticky solution to a pressing problem.

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

Yours in the revolution,

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