This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
Oh, hey there, what's up? Thank you for tuning in today. My name is Chris Guillebeau. You are listening to Side Hustle School, the one and only podcast bringing you daily stories of real people who create real income, real sources of income, income generating projects, however you want to call it. Sometimes I call them a side hustle without quitting their day jobs, without quitting their day jobs, without going into debt, by doing something they enjoy and are good at.
That is what we are all about here. And for several months now, we've been running this new series called Failure Friday. Ultimately, I want to tell you about success stories, but this segment has been so popular. I think it's because we can learn as much from failure as we can for success. People really appreciate the transparency, the honesty. And so what we're
trying to do here is share a collection of short stories all about mistakes, missteps, disasters, and as mentioned failure, stuff that goes wrong, stuff that is unexpected and you have to adjust or pivot or make some different decisions. Maybe the initial decision you made was not the right one. And then you have to figure out how to kind of pick yourself up and move forward. And rather than just me explain that to you, it's been so fun to highlight different stories of people who are going through this process. So I really applaud their courage. And today's short story features
Luciana Torres from Auburn, New York. We told the successful story of her tea business, Three Leaf Tea on episode 914. But when her long time supplier from Japan threatens to disappear, just as the global pandemic was beginning to disrupt supply chains worldwide, Luciana gets worried. And rightly so, right? Because this is a disaster in the making. Don't chide this at home. Don't chide
this at home because it's about tea, right? Okay, okay. Let's hear the story from her. And I'll come back at the end to wrap us up. My name is Luciana and I'm the founder and owner of Three Leaf Tea.
We're a matcha company that specializes in flavoring this delicious Japanese green tea without any sugar or artificial ingredients. When I first started this company after a trip from Japan, I was lucky to find a reliable supplier that made importing matcha from there a seamless process. Over the course of several years, I had made several orders and never thought that there would be a possibility that the bulk of my business could be threatened overnight. Right before the pandemic hit, early in 2019, I got a phone call a few days after placing my order. I was told that my supplier was dealing with a family crisis. And there's a possibility
that I might not be able to import my matcha shipments anymore. At that point, it struck me. For the past four plus years, I had relied on this supplier so much, I never even had a backup plan. To find another supplier right now would be a nightmare. Not only would that take several months, but I'd run out of my current supply and have to shut down my company.
Finding a similar substitute that not only tasted the same but was in the same price range with the same type of reliability seemed like an impossible task. I began spending several hours emailing, calling various suppliers trying to figure out a solution to this. My friend in Japan also helped by reaching out to farms trying to secure samples and pricing information in order to send to me. During this process, although none of the suppliers were the right fit for me, my friend was able to find a matcha farmer whose products blew me away. I loved it so much, I actually became the first company to import his product out of Japan. Luckily, things were
resolved just in the nick of time with my previous supplier and I was able to import my shipments again. What I learned through all this was, as a business, you can't always rely on anything staying consistent. And with every negative situation, something great might come out of it. If it wasn't for this dilemma, I would have never tried this farmer's matcha. Our company wouldn't have even had this opportunity to import a new product, one that we're extremely proud of. There will
always be situations beyond your control that might threaten what you do. The most important thing is just to be prepared. Look for alternative options just in case the worst happens. It'll cause much less stress if it does. With every negative situation, something positive can come out of it. That was one of the takeaways
from Luciana. And I agree, but I also think it feels tough when you're in that negative situation. It feels scary. It's like, what am I going to do? Like she also said, for the past four years, I have relied on this supplier so much, I never even had a backup plan. So obvious lesson there,
can the bulk of your business be threatened overnight? Well, if so, never rely on a single supplier. Or let's say this, because in some cases, that's just kind of how it works. That is your core business model. You have to rely on something, whether it is a vendor or a supplier or some other strategic partner in the supply chain. Let's say this, if you do rely on a single supplier, be very
aware of it. Be very aware that this is potentially a weak link that could take down the death star, so to speak. So be aware of it. If you don't have a formal backup plan, just even ask yourself theoretically, okay, if something went wrong here, do I have options? Like, are there things I can do?
If you don't have a good answer to that question, maybe it's a good thing to think about. But also never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat. That is our theme for failure Friday. So glad it's worked out okay for Luciana and Three Leaf Tea. I want to encourage you, if you'd like to learn more about matcha, check out her website. It's really cool.
Threeleaftea.com or follow her on social at Three Leaf Tea. Threeleaftea.com, Three Leaf Tea on social. While I was working on this story, I picked up my friend's coffee by accident and then I put it back because it wasn't my cup of tea. All right, that's it for today. If you have a question, if you'd like to update us about your side hustle, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions.
This has been episode 1665. Thank you so much for joining me. I hope you will subscribe, follow, come back tomorrow, and tell your friends. My name is Chris Guillebeau, this is Side Hustle School.
