This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
What's up, welcome back. This is Side Hustle School. I am your host, Chris Guillebeau, bringing you different stories every day of people creating freedom for themselves using the world of a side hustle. Preferably creating assets for themselves so they're not just working harder, they actually truly are creating that freedom. Now there are a lot of benefits to having a side hustle.
It's not just about having more money, although that's awesome. There are some real emotional benefits to getting paid outside your job. It gives you a lot more confidence and security. Sometimes one idea leads to another. And another interesting thing is that a side hustle can be kind of like a hobby in a lot of ways, especially if you choose something that you look forward to, something you enjoy.
But it's a hobby that helps you learn. It's a hobby that brings you new skills or sharpens some of the skills you already have and it gives you experience. So even if one particular idea doesn't work out, what you learn through that process very well may apply for the next round. That was the mindset of the two guys featured in today's story. These guys are from Bulgaria, but we're living in Amsterdam.
They decided to launch an apparel company, specifically dress shirts, with no experience. So they didn't have a background in the fashion world, didn't have a background in manufacturing, naturally didn't want to take a huge amount of risk. That's why they kept their full-time jobs, did this as a side hustle. And in their case, not only did they learn along the way, but it seems like this project is working and customers are responding to it. We'll also talk today about why you should publicly document the progress of your side hustle.
Or at least you may want to consider it, let's say that. I'll have some comments on that at the end of the episode. The story is coming right up after this quick thank you to our sponsor. [Music]
Bulgarian native, Maren Garab has always liked dress shirts. A nice dress shirt can look and feel great, but as Maren discovered, wearing them can be a hassle.
Moving around can feel uncomfortable, many have to worry about sweating when you're on the go. Factor and the time spent ironing are taking them to the dry cleaners and dress shirts become significantly less appealing. Maren knew there were companies in the US which made dress shirts from performance fabrics, but because of shipping and the import tax, they were really expensive for people like him who lived in Europe. So one day, specifically in the fall of 2016, Maren decided that he would make his own dress shirts in Europe. He shared the idea with his high school friend Julian, who was sharing an apartment with him.
Both of them had moved to Amsterdam the year before to explore living in a new city. They were also looking for a fresh challenge, so Julian agreed to partner up. They called their new business DULO and promised less hassle, more hustle, and a better non-iron shirt for both men and women. The thought process was simple. Both Maren and Julian knew that this side hustle could give them new experience and teach them new skills, no matter the outcome.
They thought even if they failed, it would be worth it. And this learning experience was the biggest benefit they had in mind when they started. Still, they were cautious. They wanted to expose themselves to as little financial risk as possible, which is, of course, the side hustle way. So from the very beginning, both of them had calculated how much they were comfortable investing in their idea.
They made a budget before spending a single euro, and having full-time jobs gave both of them security and flexibility. Everything would come down to planning and testing. They began by prototyping their idea and collecting feedback. They looked up potential competitors and discovered trends. For example, they noticed sporting companies like Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour had made headway into casual wear clothing, which proved that there was interest in performance fabrics.
Not only that, but the properties of performance fabrics have become more familiar and more popular among people who enjoy CrossFit, Pilates, yoga, or similar. Simply put, the fabrics that Maren and Julian wanted to work with outperformed traditional cotton. After validating their idea, Maren and Julian reached out to a friend who was a veteran in the clothing industry. That friend who worked with companies like Nike was able to provide a lot of technical expertise. They learned how they should source fabrics, as well as what they should look for in their manufacturer.
Then there was the issue of fulfillment, which Maren and Julian had to resolve early on. They considered multiple options, such as storing their goods close to the manufacturer or using Fulfilled by Amazon, but eventually decided on shipping the inventory to their house in Amsterdam, where they could personally take care of each order. The next step was looking for potential manufacturers. Armed with the information provided by their friend, Maren and Julian put together a long list. This list was comprised of 62 vendors from their home country of Bulgaria.
They emailed them all with their concept, providing sample pictures and an explanation. Then after narrowing it down to 12 potential vendors, they used their vacation time to fly home and spent an entire week in meetings. They wanted to gather as much information as possible. This was a critical decision. So they took their time with no pressure to select a vendor right away.
Fortunately, they found one who understood what they needed and connected well. That vendor ended up becoming their manufacturing partner. Upon their return to Amsterdam, the process began to speed up. They chose a fabric to work with and began rapid prototyping their first dress shirt. They also had to figure out how to best ship their shirts around the world.
Both co-founders had been documenting their journey on a blog they'd started, constantly creating videos and writing articles. This helped them consolidate their learning, but also had the added benefit of attracting the first batch of early adopters who wanted to try out the shirts. With testers in the US, as well as several countries in Europe, Maren and Julian decided on using DHL as their career of choice. However, frustration quickly mounted as they learned that delivery could take a long time. Customers were complaining that their products took up to three weeks to arrive, and the tracking system didn't always accomplish its purpose.
Tracking system, you had one job. Maren and Julian took in this feedback and decided to utilize different careers based on where their customers lived. While it made some things more complicated, they wanted to provide the best possible customer experience, especially in the early days, and they needed to rely on people to spread the word. 14 months after first getting the idea for performance fabrics, Maren and Julian launched their online store. In order to raise awareness, they doubled down on producing content for their blog.
They also published articles on Medium, as well as videos on Facebook and YouTube. Not only that, they decided to start their own podcast. They called it the DULO Show, and they approached CEOs of small and medium companies to be their guests. All of these efforts paid off when DULO generated 2,000 euros in their first month. It wasn't a fortune, but it was proof of concept.
At the time, they only had 30 subscribers on their email list, but the hustle was real, and they also ran a four-for-three deal, which encouraged people to purchase more shirts in the beginning. This Bulgarian duo, who had never worked in fashion before, never owned a business, weren't familiar with manufacturing, made up for their lack of experience with strategic planning and rigorous testing. They're now trying to figure out how to raise more awareness to attract more customers. They say they're gonna keep trying multiple initiatives, taking what works and discarding what doesn't, and if all goes well, their hope is that they'll be making and shipping dress shirts full-time within the next nine months. [Music]
Congrats to these guys.
I took a peek at their website, and the shirts look really nice. As mentioned, they have them for both men and women. So if you're in Europe in particular, but also in the U.S. or elsewhere, they're shipping worldwide, you may wanna take a look. And this story reinforces the principle that even if you do eventually want to go full-time with your side hustle, you don't have to quit your job to start it.
In fact, it's kind of the opposite. Your day job can provide you the support and stability you need to be able to start new things and take small amounts of risk without feeling a tremendous amount of pressure. We've seen this over and over in lots of different stories. Now, I also really liked how these guys documented their progress publicly, first on a blog and then later with articles on Medium, videos on Facebook, et cetera. This was really smart because if you don't have a following and you go into a cave for six months and work on your project and then come out and you're like, "Hey, everybody, here it is." Well, who are you showing that to?
You basically have to start from the ground up in terms of attracting attention and interest, potential early adopters. Whereas if along the way, during those six months when you're in a cave or whatever it is, and of course by that, I don't mean you're working on it full-time just whenever you're able to fit it in. But if along the way, you can be sharing about it, documenting the process, like what have you learned? How did you figure out how to choose that manufacturer? Why are performance fabrics better than cotton?
What are the shipping challenges of being based in Amsterdam and shipping to several countries in Europe but also to customers in America? What about stuff like how do you have a day job and work your side hustle? How do you have time for yourself or your family or other things you're interested in? All of those lessons would be really interesting to a lot of people. So whatever your hustle is, like you're probably not manufacturing dress shirts in Europe, but a similar model might be worth pursuing or at least considering.
That's my encouragement for you today. I hope you enjoyed this story. Don't forget, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better. To find the show notes for today's episode, learn more about the dress shirts known as DULO, just come to sidehustleschool.com/383. While you're on the site, you can also pick up a free five steps to hustle course.
I would love to send that to you to support you in your side hustle goals, whatever they may be. And of course, I'll continue to bring you the show every single day. I'll be back again with you tomorrow. I'm Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School. [Music]
