Sweet-Toothed Dentist Creates Sugar-Free Caramel Company

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

Hey, what's up? This is Chris Guillebeau. Welcome back to Side Hustle School. Want to kick things off right here from the beginning. Got a great story. And let's talk about some principles of

money as it relates to our show and our stories. Now, every day on the show, I'm telling you a different story of somebody who makes money apart from their day job. And for the most part, that person is making real money. Like it has to be at least $500 a month. And very often it's $1,000, $2,000, $5,000 a month, or even more. Now, a number of years ago, I wrote a book called

The $100 Startup. And in that book, I was also featuring people who started a business without spending a lot of money. Like that was the core principle, right? Start a business without going into debt by using the skills you already have and so on, everything that I talk about every day on the show in different ways. But it was funny because I thought that title was pretty good, The $100 Startup. I still think it's good actually, but ever since I get the occasional complaint

from somebody who said like, "Hey, I read the book and you featured somebody's story who started their business with $345." So this is kind of false advertising, you know? And I'm like, "Okay, like I didn't call it the $345 Startup. That's true." But this is really about a principle, okay? Like if you spend $105 on your business, that's still pretty good, you know? So the first concept here is to spend as little as possible. Like that's what it means, right? So there may

be times when you actually do need to invest in your business. And the best time to do that, like when do you actually choose to invest in your business? Well, the best time to do that is when the business is already working. When it has more than just potential, when it has more than promise, it actually has proof. And you also know, or at least you have high confidence that making an investment will likely help you grow the business much further. Okay, so in today's story,

for example, they started with $15,000 and then they later spent up to $90,000 on their business. Now, if you think, "Whoa, those are big numbers," like I totally agree. Again, the point is that this only happened when they knew they were onto something. And then the business went on to make more than $100,000 last year and is on track to do much more going forward. So yes, they are some big numbers, but the same principle holds true, whether you're talking about $100, $1,000 or whatever it is. The first principle is to spend as little as possible. And then the second is to

make sure your success is leading the way instead of you chasing it, right? So if something's not working, don't keep throwing money after it. And the story today is about a sweet tooth dentist who creates a sugar-free caramel company. So let's say a quick thanks to today's sponsor, and then we'll unwrap this episode. Day after day, Manhattan pediatric dentist, Jenny Theca-Candom, heard the parents of her patients talking about the same thing, the distasteful state of sugar-free candy. Wanting to remain on their dentist's good side, they searched high and low, but despite their

best efforts, they couldn't find a sugar-free candy that both tasted good and satisfied the cravings of their pickiest eaters. Almost as disappointing as the taste of sugar-free candy was the fact that many of them were too acidic to be truly good for teeth, not to mention packed to their wrappers with artificial sweeteners, flavors and colors. This was problematic for Jenny, who was in the business of healthy teeth. So naturally she started experimenting, which is, as you know, how many great side hustles began. On the weekends, her tiny apartment kitchen would transform into a small-scale factory of sticky delights. She played around with lots of different recipes,

but where she really found sweet success was in a batch of sugar-free caramels. It wasn't long until her husband Tommy took notice and decided to join in on the action. Countless iterations later, their mission to concoct the perfect sugar-free caramel recipe was still missing something. They wanted to make sure they had both those tooth-friendly ingredients and amazing flavors for their chewy creations, so they decided to look outside of their kitchen for a set of more knowledgeable taste buds. Those taste buds came in the form of professional chef and twice recipient of a coveted James Beard Pastry Award, Michael Lascones. After a series

of tweaks, their recipe was finally complete. The finished product was a delicious caramel that would help reduce harmful acidity and cavity-causing bacteria on your teeth. They were also soft enough not to damage teeth or dental work, and unlike their sugary counterparts, they melted away within minutes. It was now time to see if they had created a product that consumers would really sink their teeth into. Fortunately, this was not their first rodeo. Both Tommy and

Jenny had some previous entrepreneurial experience, Tommy with a catering business and Jenny with a non-profit. They decided to give their small kitchen a much-needed break and rented out a commercial kitchen instead. One weekend, they painstakingly cooked, cut, and wrapped 300 bags of caramel. With the help of Jenny's parents pitching in as volunteer candy wrappers, it was all hands on deck because they were gearing up for the Long Island City winter market, where they had rented a booth. Their first goals were humble. They thought if they could just sell

one third of their product, which was 100 bags, it would be a good sign for their side hustle. However, they were greeted with a decadent surprise. They completely sold out of all 300 bags and were flush with cash. The good news came wrapped with a big challenge. They knew that they couldn't keep producing the caramels on the scale they needed to by themselves, so they searched to find a manufacturing partner. As they quickly found out, though, searching for a partner is not nearly

as clear-cut as their caramels. Their search was exhaustive. Tommy said that they probably reached out to upwards of 100 potential manufacturers. Each time they'd get to a manufacturer who wasn't the right fit or didn't have the capabilities they needed, they'd ask them for more recommendations. When they came to a partner who was willing to spend a significant amount of time talking to them on the phone, going through the process, and asking his own questions about what they would ultimately need, they knew they had the right outfit. This was important to them because it

showed that the company was clearly thinking about how to deliver a great product, not just something they could produce quickly and cheaply. Despite all the research, it wasn't until a year later that they were able to fully utilize this partnership. They ended up in quite a sticky situation initially when their partners struggled to duplicate their recipe. During this time, they continued to produce all of their caramel in their own kitchen, which was exhausting for the couple who had now had a new baby, but their perseverance paid off. In order to get their sugar-free caramels out to the sweet tooth masses, they started selling on Amazon. They also branched

out to wholesaling their product to retailers and other dental practices. The bulk of sales are coming from Amazon about 60%, and then 30% through wholesaling to retailers and dental practices, with about 10% direct through their website. What does it all add up to? Well, this year, Tommy and Jenny are projected to bring in around $100,000 in sweet, sweet profit. Their startup costs were about $15,000, but since then they've also invested almost $90,000 back into the company. These investments only happen as the company became profitable, and it's helped

them create new flavors, including chocolate, ginger, coffee, and spiced rum. With every risk along the way, the couple figured out the fastest and most cost-effective way to validate it, and then moved on from there. This strategy worked out so well that at some point Tommy even quit his job to dedicate his full focus to the business, which is now located in Durham, North Carolina. So they now have a solid recipe and online presence for the business. They're selling through Amazon. They're selling to those other dental practices. The next phase is to start

introducing their caramels to retail stores, particularly the ones with a natural food focus. That way they'll be more likely to make direct connections with consumers without making all the confections in their kitchen. The side hustle journey is not always linear. In fact, it often isn't. It's filled with twists and turns. It's filled with changes, challenges, obstacles,

other things you have to overcome. And the people who are the most successful tend to start with a dream and then turn that dream into practical reality as soon as possible. They ask hard questions of themselves. When they encounter obstacles, they look for solutions. They start with a problem, but they're willing to consider different solutions. And of course, they're

willing to work hard. If you'd like to check out some of these amazing sugar-free caramels, just search for Tom and Jenny's on Amazon, or of course, check out the links in our show notes page. As always, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better. Those show notes for today are at www.sidehustleschool.com/514. That's a wrap for episode 514. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow.

My name is Chris Guillebeau for Side Hustle School.