Notes from Chris

Episode 612

Dean Roller and Andrew Adams are two best mates from Australia. They met through Dean’s now ex-girlfriend over 10 years ago and bonded over a shared interest in self-improvement. When they met, Dean worked as an Adwords campaign manager and Andrew in real estate. They both describe themselves as being terrible employees. They’d spend half their working hours daydreaming about business ideas they could start on the side.

As the years went by, they dabbled in a few ventures—mainly affiliate marketing and foreign currency trading. While they generated a bit of side income, neither of them made enough money to put a dent in their bills, let alone think of quitting their full-time work.

That brings us to 2013 when both guys felt it was time for a change of careers. Dean began managing an online bean bag store (as one does) and Andrew, seeking more fulfillment, started work in the disability support field. Luckily, they both landed in jobs they enjoyed. With the baggage of a daily grind off their shoulders, their minds became a little more creative. They’d regularly meet up and brainstorm side hustle ideas.

But it wasn’t until one day in late 2015 that the right concept came along.

Dean’s mom is a dentist, and they stopped by to say hello one afternoon at her clinic. While there, they struck up a conversation with a patient in the waiting room. She told them about an amazing toothbrush she’d found on a recent trip to the U.S. It was called Mouthwatchers. It had thousands of bristles, was soft on the gums, and had a unique selling point: the bristles had antibacterial silver embedded in them that killed 99% of germs on the brush.

The patient’s enthusiasm for the product piqued their interest, so Dean and Andrew decided to each order one online and try it for themselves. After using it, they were all smiles! They loved the brushes and thought they‘d try selling them locally. After all, Dean’s own mom was a dentist and knew the drill!

They placed an order of 1,000 toothbrushes to start, at a cost of just over $4,000. They were now officially in the toothbrush business.

With inventory in hand, they hit the pavement and spoke to local drugstores, offering them to stock toothbrushes on consignment. A consignment deal meant the stores would only pay if the brushes sold. In other words, the stores had no risk—and because of that, many of them took the offer.

They selected a distribution model over direct sales for a few reasons. They knew they’d be able to build a website to showcase the toothbrushes but weren’t convinced they could generate traffic at a low enough cost to make the margins work. The toothbrushes were only $9.95 each which didn’t leave much wiggle room. The idea was that by cutting reps in on a deal to sell the brushes, there’d be no additional costs other than to the rep, who was essentially on commission.

So far, this strategy has worked well for them, although hasn’t been without its problems.

However, those ups and downs have been nothing more than small cavities in an otherwise perfect smile. Things have gone very well so far. So well that over the last 12 months they have generated $30,000 in profit selling the Mouthwatchers toothbrushes to the local market. Some of that money has been spent on creating a locally targeted site for Mouthwatchers with a subscription toothbrush model.

They both still enjoy their current work and aren’t in any rush to leave, so, for now, they’re not concerned with paying themselves more of the profit. They are putting their money where their mouth is.

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Mouthwatchers: Brush up your oral health game! Learn more about Dean and Andrew's toothbrush company over on their website
• Dental Aware: An Australian dental resource website that Dean and Andrew are planning on adding content to in order to help drive traffic to their website

SEE ALSO:

• Luxury Toothbrush Hustle Produces Polished Profits: Introducing the high-end toothbrush with low startup costs: this man earns $1,000 a month on the side. Total startup costs were just $760!
• Brand Strategist and Dentist Team Up To Sell Coconut Oil Mouthwash: Two friends draw on their combined skills and understanding of an ancient Ayurvedic practice to launch a natural mouthwash product, building a $7,000/month side hustle
• On-the-Go Mouthwash Gets Mini-Makeover: Two Florida State grads create a mini-mouthwash empire, selling 3,500 bottles in less than a year

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

Yours in the revolution,

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