This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
Hello and greetings. What's up? Welcome to Side Hustle School. Hey, guess what? If you're listening to this episode the day it's released, today is a special day. It is National Pancake
Day. That's right. True story. It is National Pancake Day. I believe this is a holiday sponsored by IHOP, the International House of Pancakes, because if you happen to visit IHOP today, you can get a free pancake. True story. Not fake news. Like you can actually go in and get a free
pancake courtesy of them. Maybe some other places too. I have no idea. And by the way, IHOP is not a sponsor of the show, but if anybody wants to give out free pancakes, then I will gladly mention you. If you're listening later and you miss today, well, presumably National Pancake Day will return one year from now. Make sure you have that calendar
marked. And it's also a great day because I have a pretty cool story for you. This is about a high school student. Love featuring teenagers and other young people who are getting into the world of side hustling early. And by the way, young people who are side hustling, they're not just opening lemonade stands. You know, nothing wrong with that, but we've got some people who are being
really creative and sometimes making a lot of money. So this story is about a young woodworker who receives a wooden bow tie as a gift. And as a woodworker, he's unimpressed with what he receives. So he learns to make his own, creates his own brand and ends up earning $20,000 in a single year as a high school student. He's now in college and his brand continues to grow. I'll
tell you how this came to be and what he learned along the way, how you might be able to apply it to an idea of your own in just a moment. So let's say a quick thank you to today's sponsor. When 12 year old Paul Caster was first introduced to woodworking, he had no idea how big a role it would play in his life. Paul's love of this craft came about after watching popular YouTube woodworkers like The Wood Whisperer. Yes, this is a thing. There's a whole genre of YouTube woodworkers.
And that show and others encouraged him to continue to push the limits of his abilities. While plugging away at the craft, Paul began to experiment with different ideas. He would scour the web to learn as much about woodworking as he could and developed a considerable skill in the process. He learned to make cutting boards, bottle stoppers and bowls. Once in a while he'd list them on Etsy or he'd sell them to family and friends. His first customer was his mom who bought
a cutting board from him. It wasn't a lot of money, but that was okay because at a time when most teenagers would be developing and pursuing new interests all the time, the encouragement that Paul received helped him stay the course and he continued working on this hobby. And it was mostly a hobby until a few years later, at the old age of 16, Paul received a wooden bow tie as a gift. He liked the concept. It was a good idea, but the only problem was that the tie he received was chunky, unattractive and poorly finished. In other words, a good idea, not so good execution.
From his years of experience with woodworking, Paul knew he could do better. So that's what he decided to do. He had that initial experience of selling a few things on Etsy. So he was familiar with the marketplace. He took a look around and most of the wooden bow ties he saw were large and chunky, just like the one he'd received. While some others were flat and they lacked contour.
Paul knew the ideal bow tie would be somewhere in between. He was looking for the Goldilocks of wooden bow ties. He loved the feeling of classic fabric ties. So he crafted a wooden one that emulated this look in style. And these wooden bow ties took off. The natural search and discovery
features of Etsy drove initial sales. And Paul quickly realized that these bow ties were selling a lot better than everything else he'd listed from time to time. In fact, in order to keep up with demand, Paul needed to invest in some machinery that would allow him to scale up production. He didn't require a ton of money for that, but he did need about $1,500. So to raise that money, Paul turned to Kickstarter. He didn't have a huge campaign, but he was able to cover those costs.
And building on that success, Paul branded his products Crooked Branch Studios and decided to create his own website instead of just relying on Etsy to sell his products. This gave him additional reach and also allowed him to direct the publicity he received to his site. At age 17, Paul reached out to the popular podcast, How I Built This, and they decided to feature him. That was a big tipping point because it led to about $6,000 in increased sales. It also gave him additional credibility because people would email him to say they'd heard about his work on NPR. After that, Paul was also interviewed by the local newspaper and TV station, which didn't
help a lot with sales, but the additional coverage raised greater awareness of Crooked Branch. All the while, Paul didn't let his attention wander. He continued to focus on the product. He continued to focus on serving his customers well, and he began to think about how he could build this for the future. So how did it work out financially? Well, Crooked Branch
Studios made $20,000 in profit on the back of $40,000 in revenue in 2016. In 2017, the revenue held strong, but Paul's profits dipped a bit because it was a year he made another big change. He went from high school student to college student. He was smart about this too. He realized he would be better off hiring people to assist him because going it alone could be doing a disservice to his customers who were eager for these wooden bow ties. And besides,
he needed to study at least once in a while. With three private contractors and two manufacturing partners, Paul has now managed to sell over 2,000 wooden bow ties at prices that typically range from $40 to $50 each to both retail and wholesale clients while staying in school. There can be a unique set of challenges you face when you're young. Some people won't take you seriously, and it can be hard to do things like open a business bank account in your name. One of Paul's friends said to him early on, "You know, when you're young, people assume you don't know anything, but then you just have to prove them wrong." While $40,000 in revenue from wooden bow ties two years in a row should be enough to prove anyone wrong. And presumably
it will continue to grow. At the same time, Paul's got other ideas he wants to pursue. While he's going to college full-time, he's also got his eye on something new. You see, this woodwork fashion item has clearly been a big success, but he also doesn't want to get tied down. Okay, tie one on for freedom and for the young entrepreneurial spirit, congrats to Paul. Love this story. And you should check out the design of these wooden
bow ties, by the way. We will link them up in the show notes and include an image. They look really, really nice. And the other day I was talking with someone about Etsy and they were complaining and they were like, "You know what? I tried to sell stuff on Etsy, but it's such a crowded marketplace. There are so many people trying to sell the same
thing." And I was like, "Okay, wait, hold that thought. Just think about that there. There are so many people trying to sell the same thing." Well, yeah, that's the problem. Before Paul stumbled on this market, he was making and selling general woodcrafted items there. He had the cutting boards, the bottle stoppers, and the bowls. And it was going
okay, like he was able to list them up and occasionally someone would buy them. And that was still exciting. That was still a success when you were just getting going. But he started making real money and actually building a brand, something that people would pay attention to and NPR would feature once he identified something to focus on. I really think that's the key. If you're trying to sell the same thing as everybody else, well, don't be surprised
that it's a challenge. But if over time you can figure out, "Okay, here's the thing I'm going to focus on." Maybe I'm not even sure at first, so maybe at first I am just selling a bunch of stuff. That's okay. But somewhere out there, there's something I'm good at and something I'm going to have a vision for that other people haven't tried, at least not in the same way. Or I'm just going to do it better or differently from what other people are doing. I really think that's the key to developing this kind of item. And of course, it's worked
really well for Paul. So that's my encouragement to you. Don't be afraid to try stuff. And sometimes it's through the trying of stuff that you're going to find that thing you're going to focus on. So you don't always have to have the answer in the beginning, but I do think it's important to work toward that answer, whatever that answer is for you.
Well, thank you for listening today. I hope you enjoyed this episode. As always, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better. If you want to see today's show notes and check out those wooden bow ties, just come to sidehustleschool.com slash 423. That's 423. Happy National Pancake Day. I'll be back tomorrow. I'm Chris Guillebeau
for Side Hustle School.
