On-the-Go Mouthwash Gets Mini-Makeover

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

[Music]

When mouthwash was invented more than 100 years ago, nobody wanted to buy it. They were happy to chew on peppermint, eucalyptus, or vanilla beans. It only began to sell when the mouthwash manufacturers began to actively market it. Now, as I said, that was more than 100 years ago, and mouthwash hasn't seen much innovation since then. It's pretty much the same product, or at least it was until now, until today, or not quite today, but earlier this year.

I mean, recently. Welcome to Side Hustle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau. In today's story, I'm gonna tell you about two Florida State graduates who create a mini mouthwash empire, bringing that long overdue innovation to the product and selling 3,500 bottles in less than a year. It is a big success story in the making, and of course, it started as a side project.

Freshen up and stay tuned. [Music]

We've all been there where bad breath can rear its ugly, bacteria-ridden head in the most inconvenient of times. Mike Brockielli found himself in one of those moments while cramming for a big organic chemistry test. As most college students do from time to time, he was pulling an all-nighter, which meant copious amounts of coffee and food that should only be consumed with caution after age 25. He could have braved the storm, but as fate would have it, Anne walked his crush and fellow organic chemistry classmate.

Since tables are often in short supply around midterms, she opted to share his. Any other time, Mike would have welcomed such an opportunity, but that evening, things were just a little too close for comfort. Fading a desperate need to head back to his place just off campus, Mike dashed home to freshen up a bit and then headed back to the library. The crush didn't last, and Mike didn't end up getting the girl, but he might've walked away that night with something even better, an idea. Around this time, students all over campus were walking around with these small little bottles of something called Mio.

It's a concentrated flavored liquid that you could use to spruce up water, or perhaps vodka. While the bottle contained roughly 1.62 fluid ounces, it included enough concentrated flavor to add to 24 eight-ounce servings of water. With the struggles of bad breath fresh in his mind, Mike couldn't help but wonder why no one had thought to do the same with mouthwash. Being on a pre-med track with several years of chemistry under his belt, he knew that the bulk of your everyday bottle of mouthwash was mostly just water. If he could find a way to take the water out of mouthwash, he could create a product that didn't yet exist.

He'd also be able to save a ton of money on shipping, reduce the amount of plastic needed per unit, and target a group of people who were constantly on the go. Despite his excitement about the idea, Mike didn't end up acting on it right away. He continued with his studies, and after he finished, he went to South Florida for graduate school, then quickly realized this was not a path he wanted to be on. That's when he started looking back at his college day's idea with fresh eyes, not just fresh breath. Now this project would take some work.

Just as Rome wasn't built in a day, neither is an innovative mouthwash empire. While Mike felt confident in his abilities, he had no desire to go it alone. Enter Nick Telford, Mike's fraternity brother and fellow mouthwash enthusiast. Nick loved the concept and wanted to help Mike go from idea to action. They divided responsibilities with Nick working on financing and brand development, while Mike focused on the product itself.

So what about that product? Well, Mike had the undergraduate background in chemistry, but he knew he needed to get some expert eyes on his idea. Searching through the third or fourth page of Google search results, he came across a former Colgate executive with multiple decades of experience under his belt. When this guy heard Mike's idea to innovate a product that hadn't seen much change over the last century, he was eager to schedule a meeting. As luck would have it, this guy, Dr. Martin Ginniger,

was located in Delray, Florida, about 20 minutes away from Mike, who was now working as a physician recruiter during the day. Once a week, over the next nine months, Mike would put in an hour of personal time before his hour lunch break, drive to Delray and work on developing the formula. When they had a new iteration, and Mike says there were roughly 50 of them, they'd send it up to Nick who was wrapping up his last year at Florida State. Nick would then test the product with the help of his fellow classmates. With each test run, they were able to get feedback, take it back to the lab and pump out a new and improved version, swish, rinse, repeat.

After months of testing and revising, they ended up with a concentrated formula that actively fought bacteria, plaque and tartar for up to eight hours. They'd be able to pack 60 uses into a single 1.62 ounce bottle, and of course, it tasted fantastic. Since they were transforming oral care by making it accessible on the fly, they decided to call this product Fly Mouthwash. The name is also a nod to the fact that it's a TSA approved product and perfect for those who travel. Although they did their best to keep startup costs as low as possible, they still had a lot to put in place with this kind of product.

In addition to their first manufacturing run of 7,000 units, they also needed a patent because they were the first on the market. They needed FDA compliant labels. They had to do a clinical trial to prove that the claims they were making were legit. They needed a business license and product liability insurance. All in all, $20,000 of their hard earned cash went towards getting Fly Mouthwash to the masses.

Pricing took a bit of deliberation, but they figured that since each of their 1.62 fluid ounce bottles contained 60 uses, it made sense to price it around $10 each or 16 cents per use. Next, they decided to test their metal with Amazon's Marketplace. Fly Mouthwash officially launched in February of 2018 and within the first six weeks, they'd already sold 1,400 bottles. These sales happened without a real marketing campaign and without any real ad spent. Getting started on Amazon was an excellent way for them to prove their concept, but it also came with challenges.

For starters, there was really no way for them to collect any data on the people who were purchasing, making it then impossible to narrow down their ideal customer and understand how to better reach them. They wanted this success to be not only repeatable, but also scalable. So they created a website using WordPress in combination with WooCommerce. The month of March was dedicated to building their e-commerce infrastructure and customizing all the elements to suit their needs. And by the time of this episode, they've sold more than half their stock of Fly Mouthwash.

That is 3,500 units all within their first six months. They've also added a subscription option at $8 a month, just $5 for your first month, that will ensure that your breath is fresh all year long. They weren't sure if anyone would even want a mouthwash subscription, but they knew if they could make it work, it would be a great way to ensure repeat business. To their surprise, 50 people signed up on the first weekend they offered it in early July. And now Mike says that for every one-off sale, they're bringing in five new monthly subscribers to their Fresh Breath Club.

With such a unique and innovative product, we had to ask Mike what kind of advice he had for those looking to create products like this in other markets. And guess what he said? He said, "You shouldn't hold back from sharing your idea with others." Bam, I love that. He knows that some people keep their ideas really close to their chest. He even had a friend asking to sign a non-disclosure agreement before he'd even tell him what his idea was.

But that was completely different from the way that he operated. As he said, you may have an innovative idea, but you're never gonna be able to validate it unless you ask for the honest opinions of those around you. Sure, you may run the risk of someone trying to beat you to the punch, but these kinds of ideas take a long time to develop. Don't discredit all the hard work and effort that you've put into building something. Others are much less likely to do it themselves.

I love that so much. Thank you, Mike, for making that point for me. Last but not least, Mike stresses that there are few overnight successes. The people who are successful are the ones who get up every day and keep grinding along instead of rolling over and quitting. These days, Mike and Nick are looking to move away from marketing Fly Mouthwash as merely a portable option.

They want to replace your traditional mouthwash altogether. They've recently secured funding from an outside investor, and they're hoping to scale. Mouthwash greatness seems to be inevitable. They are restoring confidence and freshening up the world one mouth at a time. So this kind of project has to scale because it's so low cost.

When Mike and Nick first went looking for a manufacturer, all the companies they talked to first would only make their mouthwash if they ordered 25,000 units or more. So they even order 7,000 units, which is a lot of mouthwash. That was the lowest possible amount. So for this to succeed, it has to scale. You need thousands of customers, and ideally I feel like eventually you're gonna need retail partners.

Like it's called Fly Mouthwash, which does fit perfectly for travel. So just imagine seeing Fly Mouthwash at the airport gift store. It's almost like an easy impulse purchase. And what I liked about this story as well is it's not just a gimmick. Like they clearly focused on product first.

Mike had this idea and he spent years kind of thinking about it just on the back burner. And then when he got serious about making it, he made 50 different iterations. He goes and seeks out a former toothpaste executive and then sends it to Nick at Florida State University to go out and test all these different iterations with his fellow students. So clearly it's a high quality offering. It's an innovative idea, high quality offering, and it's got a great name.

So I'm gonna be on the lookout for Fly Mouthwash when I travel. I'm gonna take a peek at it on Amazon and at their website as well. Big congrats to Mike and Nick for pursuing those fresh breath dreams. It's really exciting that they've been able to sell 3,500 units in such a short period of time. And the subscription model is also smart.

So what's not to like? It sounds like a great side hustle. Looks like it's on track to becoming a pretty legit business. So well done, guys. Thank you for inspiring us.

And everyone, let's remember, inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better. What is your fresh new idea? What's on your back burner? What's something that you're thinking about? You're not necessarily sure where it's going to eventually lead, but slowly but surely you are advancing in that dream to go from idea to action.

Thank you for listening today. If you'd like to learn more about Fly Mouthwash, our show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/572. I will be back tomorrow. So fresh and so clean. My name is Chris Guillebeau, and this is Side Hustle School.