This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Hey there, what's up? This is Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School, episode 264. I am in California heading to San Diego tonight and then on to Portland, Oregon tomorrow. At least if you're listening in real time, if you're listening later, well, I was in San Diego. I was in Portland and now I'm probably somewhere else.
Now, every day on the show, I'm telling a different story of someone who starts a side hustle without quitting their job. And I try to look at people from all different backgrounds doing all kinds of different projects. Today is kind of an artsy one, and I'll mention etsy.com, which is the world's largest handcrafted marketplace. And a number of our stories have featured Etsy, but I think this is the first time I'm gonna talk about Etsy Wholesale, which is a specialized program they have that helps retailers or other buyers connect with independent designers, people making stuff, basically. It's all about creativity at scale, at least that's what they call it.
And we'll illustrate that through today's story, which is about a father-daughter duo who sells handmade looms for fun and profit. You know looms, those are those things you use to make fabric by weaving yarn or thread. It's almost an unbelievable story, but like everything you hear on Side Hustle School, it is in fact true. The people you hear about in the stories are real people, just like you. And I'll tell you all about selling handmade looms in just a moment.
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Today's story comes from Stephanie Sachs in sunny San Diego, where I just happened to be heading today on my tour. Stephanie manages a customer support team at a mobile app software company. Her side hustle is Wood Creek & Co., an online boutique selling handmade decor and gifts, including weaving looms, wood shelves, candles, and jewelry. In the summer of 2014, Stephanie discovered the art of weaving and enjoyed recreating the unique wall hangings that she saw online. She enjoyed it so much that she started gifting her designs to family and friends, and eventually she saw the potential of turning this hobby into a hustle.
In hoping to expand her craft, Stephanie decided to search for a customized loom that would allow her to do even more. She turned to her dad, Chris, who had a penchant for woodcraft. This became a fun project that allowed them an opportunity to bond over wood shavings and power tools, because you know what they say, the family that stands together stays together. Stephanie had also noticed that weaving classes and wall hangings were becoming a trend on social media. So the father-daughter duo started playing with the idea of making their own looms for purchase.
Their first loom was pretty simple and easy to create, so they decided to see if it would sell. Instead of following the instructions of other looms that were for sale, they experimented on their own with different dimensions and layouts to create a more unique style. That first loom sold almost immediately, and they knew that this was something they could take on more long-term. After they sold a few, mostly using the platform Etsy, which I'll come back to in a moment, they reevaluated their offerings, finding nicer wood options, and began selling painted and stained looms, as well as a higher-priced full weaving package. For research on each new item they want to sell, Stephanie looks to Pinterest and Instagram, and also in magazines and blogs.
They then mock up a few versions and test the sizing and measurements. Once they're happy, Stephanie takes the product and sets up a photo shoot in her home to create images for the store listing. Like many crafty side hustlers, Stephanie decided to launch Wood Creek & Co. on Etsy first. She says the cash register cha-ching notification that you can get when you sell something is invigorating.
She and her dad, Chris, would call or text each other to celebrate each order, and in fact, they still do to this day. In 2016, they discovered Etsy Wholesale, which is a buy-application-only marketplace we haven't really looked at before on the show, and it's similar to the Merch by Amazon program, where you can potentially reach a lot more people. There is some criteria for it. You have to offer wholesale pricing that is 50% or less of the retail value. You have to have a good track record and reviews on Etsy, et cetera, but when you get access, you can reach over 20,000 retailers who are all interested in buying products from independent designers.
In addition to their individual sales, because of Etsy Wholesale, Wood Creek & Co. now sells to 45 businesses all over the world. And as part of this, they had to overcome one big obstacle. They weren't sure how to figure out the best packaging for their weaving looms that would work for retail display. So after trying a couple of things, they created a hang tag and an instructional sheet that would go with every purchase.
Now let's talk about money. Wood Creek & Co.'s revenue has steadily increased from $19,000 in 2015, $37,000 in 2016, and about halfway through this year, they've already brought in $18,000 with the promise of an active holiday season coming up. In fact, you might even say it's looming off in the distance. Startup costs were very low. They used Shopify to make a website.
They spent about $200 to $300 in initial costs. Etsy charges 20 cents a listing for individual listings and a 3.5 transaction fee through the Wholesale program. It did help that Chris routinely received power tools as gifts during each holiday for the first year of the business. Stephanie says the best part of Wood Creek & Co. is working with her dad.
They are in constant contact and always thinking of new creations to add to the shop. In the past couple of years, they've added stained and painted triangle shelves, jewelry stands, among other items. And in 2018, they hope to add side tables, more wall-hanging pieces, and perhaps some planters. Stephanie's mom now helps out with part of the business, including researching new items to develop. They have a family text group they use to communicate throughout the week, to share ideas and excitement about new orders, all those cha-ching notifications.
And Stephanie's goal in the future is to include her husband in the business, too. [Music]
Side Hustle School listeners don't become unraveled in your hustle. Couple things I wanted to mention. Stephanie built her shop's website using Shopify just about every week on average. We have somebody using the Shopify platform to build their side hustle, which is not surprising because it's a very simple, intuitive, and affordable platform.
We have a special trial offer through Shopify, which you can access at Shopify.com/sidehustle. And with that offer, you'll get a 21-day free trial that is not available to the public. Shopify is especially great for physical products like what Stephanie is selling, and it's definitely worth checking out if you're trying to figure out what's set up to use. Once again, that's Shopify.com/sidehustle. And let's talk about Etsy Wholesale.
They use this phrase, "Creativity at scale." On their website, they say, this is Etsy's wholesale marketplace where retailers and designers express their creativity through the buying and selling of things you won't find in your average store. Over 20,000 retailers stock their shelves with goods from the independent designers and makers that sell on Etsy. Their customers get to discover designers who live in the neighborhood and around the world, and designers get to see their creations sold in stores. So if you're thinking about selling individual items on Etsy or another platform like this, you might need to get some experience doing that, but at a certain point, you may want to think about selling wholesale. This does mean you need to be able to offer lower prices since the retail stores that you would sell to are then gonna mark those ups that they profit.
But of course, the upside is you have the potential to sell in bulk and not just sell one loom or whatever it is you're selling, but a dozen or 25 or 50 or even more at a time. And last, I'm always a big fan of regrouping after you make your first sale or at least your first few sales. That's exactly what Stephanie and Chris did. After they sold a few items, they reevaluated, found nicer wood, began offering different products, and also that higher priced full weaving package. You can usually make some huge improvements and be much more successful, have more sales, make more money, by evaluating or regrouping once your product or service is out in the world, having a real life encounter with real buyers.
I hope you enjoyed today's story. As always, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Today's show notes, including links to everything I mentioned are at sidehustleschool.com/264. I am on the road for the Side Hustle Book Tour. I hope to see you somewhere.
All details about that are at sidehustleschool.com/tour. Thank you for listening. You're a rock star. I'm Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School. [Music]
