Notes from Chris

Episode 360

When Steve Jobs quoted Picasso saying “Good artists produce; great artists steal,” Wyatt Thompson took it to heart, and it was the influence behind his side hustle, RomperJack.

Following Picasso’s lead, Wyatt decided to make a side hustle out of something that already existed rather than taking the time to invent something new. He invited his friend Justin to join him in the search for one.

They thought Kickstarter would be a good place to find out what was coming onto the market, and it was. They found a campaign for men’s rompers that was going viral. It had raised $300,000, but the product wouldn’t be available for four months. Four months seemed like a long time to wait for rompers, and the two figured they could start selling them sooner than that.

Until then, Wyatt didn’t even know there was such a thing as men’s rompers. In fact, he knew little about fashion in general.

In spite of that, Wyatt and Justin saw that this was a great opportunity from a strategic perspective:

1. There was only one company selling this product for the market.


2. The barrier to entry was low. No one can copyright the design of a romper because the outfit has been around for decades. 


3. The Kickstarter campaign wouldn’t deliver the product for four months, leaving a window for someone else to make it first.


These three indicators led the two to believe it was a great market to test a Side Hustle. He wasn’t thrown by their lack of knowledge or experience because they had a blueprint in front of them—the Kickstarter campaign from the other guys—and Wyatt had the confidence in their ability to find out what they didn’t know.

Within 26 days of first finding that Kickstarter campaign, Wyatt and his friend were selling RomperJacks. And within ten minutes of making their site live on Shopify, an alarm went off indicating a sale was made. Wyatt and Justin assumed it was the other one testing if their PayPal options were linked correctly, and then they realized it was an actual sale. They screamed for joy, and then terror, because their rompers hadn’t yet arrived from AliExpress.

Within a few weeks, the two began designing their own style of rompers in Photoshop and sending them to manufacturers on Alibaba. While AliExpress sells existing products in small quantities, Alibaba is a group of manufacturers and resellers who trade in larger orders and do custom designs.

The company grossed $100,000 in sales from July - October! Now they sell RomperJack in five countries and enjoy a growing number of brand partnerships.

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• RomperJack: Romp on over to Wyatt's website to see the full lineup on his website!
• Kickstarter: The crowdfunding platform that Wyatt used to find trending side hustle ideas
• AliExpress: An online retail service owned by Alibaba that is made up of small, international businesses offering products to online buyers with wholesale options
• Alibaba: The platform that Wyatt and Justin used to locate a manufacturer for their man rompers
• Shopify: Wyatt and Justin used Shopify to set up their store for RomperJack, and right now, they're offering a 21-day trial and exclusive discount for all Side Hustle School listeners!
• Dollar Shave Club: The personal grooming ecommerce store that Wyatt scored a job at after using his experience building RomperJack as leverage

SEE ALSO:

• Alibaba 101: How to safely source products from the world's biggest supplier directory
• College Buddies Create $15,000 Bow Tie Hustle: After making the decision to upgrade their wardrobes, two Virginia college students start a bow tie side hustle
• Corporate Employee Makes $350,000 Selling Mosquito Wristbands: When mosquitos attack, this marketing manager creates a wristband to ward them off. The project is a swarming success!

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

Yours in the revolution,

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