Paralegal Starts Side Hustle During Maternity Leave

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

Hey there, what's up, side hustle school listeners, friends, and community. Welcome back. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is episode 355. Now, long ago, episode 255, 100 episodes ago, in fact, we had the story of a lawyer who creates an online course for mothers returning to work.

Well, today we've got another story of a woman who is a paralegal by profession and starts a side hustle during her maternity leave. There are a lot of lessons in this story, including how to scale a business on Etsy, maybe to actually get off Etsy, as well as a reminder about partnerships. I talked about this a couple of times before in the past, but my position on partnerships is a bit unconventional, or at least it might be, and that position is you should be careful of them. There are some amazing partnership side hustle stories we featured on the show, but I also hear from a lot of people who realize, perhaps a bit late in the game, that their friend or their colleague, maybe even their spouse, might not be the best side hustle partner. So that position is, don't do it unless you need to.

Well, fortunately, in today's story, our featured side hustler is able to turn around a negative experience and create something that's working really well for her. So I'll bring you that story in just a moment after this quick shout out to our sponsor. Bibs, pacifiers, rattles, heating accessories, well, there are an abundance of items you need when you start building a family, and this fact was not lost on Linda True and new mother on a four-month maternity leave from her day job as a paralegal. Like many new parents, Linda wanted the absolute best for her son, but while shopping online for unique handmade toys, it dawned on her that not only was she spending a lot of money and time looking for these items, she could actually make a lot of the products that she was interested in. Since she had always wanted to start a side hustle of her own and there was no time like the present, this new mother decided to do a little something extra with her four months off from work.

She'd craft her own line of baby products and sell them on Etsy. After enlisting the help of a friend, the duo got down to business, discussing how much they were comfortable investing and painting a picture of what their overall vision for the company would be. After much hemming and hawing, they agreed to invest a total of $10,000 for startup cost and they put that into a joint business account. They decided to launch Three Hearts Apparel on Etsy and created a timeline for when they wanted to go live. Linda was in charge of operations and both her and her friend lent their creative talent to designing their products.

Since Linda already had an accountant, the rest of the business setup was quick and easy from their end. While their accountant was working on the legal aspect of turning Three Hearts Apparel into a real business, Linda did a ton of research by looking at trendy baby stuff that she would want to buy and then working backwards to figure out if they could make it themselves. She searched Pinterest, Etsy, Instagram, and popular baby blogs to explore current trends. She would then send everything to her partner so that they could discuss and decide what they wanted to focus on. Between sewing machines, fabric, teething rings, and snaps, they were spending quickly and Linda was eager to see some return on their investment.

So in March 2016, they launched their brand with braided pacifier clips, bib danas, bunny ear teethers, graphic shirts, and of course, onesies. Initially, they tried to use the advertising options available on Etsy, but they weren't able to make that work. There were so many similar items that were sold at cutthroat pricing. And since success on Etsy is all about the photos, it was hard for a customer to differentiate between a cheaper mass-produced product and Linda's handcrafted product. Linda realized that they needed to sell their products in person so that people could touch them and just see how unique and cool they were.

She thought they could start at street markets in the Houston area since there was such a strong buy local community, but Linda's partner disagreed. She wanted to focus on building their website and pushing online sales. The partnership quickly disintegrated from there. Unfortunately, by the end of summer, they had stopped talking to each other. Linda was discouraged at the thought of losing all the money she'd invested, not to mention losing her friend, but when October 2016 rolled around, her friend and partner reached out and asked if she was interested in renting a booth at a Halloween market.

Linda jumped at the idea. For a $25 fee, they were able to sell $300 worth of products. It was a relief to get rid of some of their inventory, and perhaps more importantly, because of the great feedback they got in person from customers, her partner seemed open to the idea of selling at more markets. Linda started applying to more markets in her area. In just a few weeks, she was selling at her first street fair.

She got three hearts of peril into as many markets as she could. She also turned her attention to applying to as many holiday fairs as possible. Since it was pretty late in the year already, Linda knew she wouldn't be able to get into that many, but she felt she had to try because Christmas sales could be a big boost to their business. She was able to get into a few holiday markets, but in total only managed to grow $1,700 in 2016. Womp womp.

At the beginning of 2017, a couple of big things happened. First, Linda got laid off from the law firm, and she bought her partner out of the business for her original investment. According to Linda, this was quite the steal since the company had operated at a loss the previous year. Without a full-time job, and now with the freedom to fully control the business, Linda got to work revamping product offerings and put together a new business plan. She started off 2017 with a bang by closing down the Etsy shop and setting up a Shopify website in its place.

Since her partner had been in control of the graphic design elements, Linda decided to focus on her own design strengths. She rolled out silicone teething pacifier clips, teething rattles, and jewelry for moms that double as teething toys. She also quickly ramped up the number of markets she was attending each month to an average of eight per month, which, depending on the day of the week and location, could bring in $600 all the way up to $5,000 per week. After six months of selling at markets, Linda had outgrown the production and operation space in her home. She moved into a new space that was half production, half showroom.

At that point, she realized that she needed some help. She brought on part-time contractors in the form of an operations assistant, a sales manager, and a marketing coordinator. This allowed her to focus on product design and development. This new space also allowed her to try something else new, DIY workshops. Linda brought in a local crafter, provided light bites and champagne, and the guests got an opportunity to create a fun toy with their baby, all while socializing with other mothers and shopping.

Linda saw this as a unique way to build community, connect with her customers, and provide a little exposure for upcoming makers and crafters. In 2017, Linda has managed to turn her struggling side hustle around. It's now a growing and thriving business. After bringing in less than $2,000 in 2016, she averaged $10,000 a month in sales in 2017. The best part about that is that since she gets her materials straight from manufacturers, forgoing those third-party seller markups, she's been able to consistently bring in upwards of 75% profit margins for all her products.

This helps her cut costs drastically, and she says that many of her products can be produced for less than $3. Since everything is handmade, the biggest investment for Linda is her time, but that's time she's happy to spend since this side hustle is giving her something she'd never thought she'd be able to have—financial freedom and opportunity to be in control of a growing brand. Linda has a lot of new plans in the works for next year, including increasing the wholesale side of the business and developing her own line of baby clothes and shoes. It started with a struggle, but now that she's firmly in control, three hearts' apparel is thriving. All right, so just consider this.

Last year, the business did a little more than $1,500 in gross revenue, but actually had no profit whatsoever. This year, 2017, she's doing an average of $10,000 a month with a 75% profit margin. Such a difference. I mean, I even have a note here that in November, she did something like $18,000 in sales. Now, the obvious commentary here, like what I mentioned at the top of the show, choose your business partners carefully, and in fact, ask yourself, "Do you need to have a partner for your side hustle?

You might need to get help with somebody. You might want to get some advice from somebody. You don't necessarily want to go into business with someone." I also think it's always good to try different stuff at first, because in this story, it was obviously a smart move for Linda to pursue those markets that she was interested in, but that her former partner was hesitant about. Turns out that Linda was right, and then those DIY workshops that she did in the new space she opened. Like, there's no guarantee that either of these strategies would work.

In this case, they did, but in plenty of other stories you hear on the show, not every new idea or expansion strategy does, but even so, you should still be open to experimentation, especially when you're getting started. Well, whether you're just getting started or if you've been with us for a while and you've got your hustle going, hope you enjoyed this episode. As always, remember, inspiration is good, but inspiration combined with action is so much better. Today's show notes are online at sidehustleschool.com/355. Thank you so much for listening.

I'll be back tomorrow. I'm Chris Guillebeau for Sidussle School.