Dog Lover Fetches $250,000 in Canine Clothing

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

where were you 700 days ago 700 days ago was January 1 2017 and I know where I was I was debuting the Side Hustle School podcast some of our listeners actually joined us then on day one or shortly thereafter and have been listening ever since you guys are amazing and everybody else who is joined in along the way you're amazing too for 700 days I've been telling you stories of different people who you know are not entrepreneurs who don't have a ton of money who aren't taking big risks they're just following a dream they're creating more freedom for themselves they're creating security for themselves through the form of an income generating project which may go on to be a big business or maybe it's just gonna keep bringing them some extra money which is also really good that is what it's all about here on Side Hustle School a very different kind of podcast for anyone who is new and if you're new welcome we have been doing this now for 700 days alright today's story I'm excited about it it features a dog lover who fetches $250,000 in canine clothing for everybody out there with a dog wouldn't it be cool if your dog could do that personally I am more of a cat person no no disrespect no offense to any dog lovers and I will say if there was a dog that could fetch money maybe I would change my ways I mean I would just figure it out you know if I had a dog that could just like go and get that money until then I'll just keep telling you these stories of people creating freedom for themselves through a money-making project all right this Minnesota woman turns her design hobby into trendy duds for the whole family including furry companions that story is coming right up Gina Davis has always had an eye for fashion as a design student in college she sold vintage clothes for quick cash and tried her hand at creating clothing of her own her favorite model was her very patient Pomeranian poodle mix Thomas crafting custom outfits for this furry family member seemed to be just a quirky hobby especially in Long Lake Minnesota where Thomas's trendy wardrobe stood out as an oddity apparently no one in Minnesota dresses up their pets and more on that in a moment while stitching together a new outfit for Thomas behind the counter at her women's clothing pop-up shop a stranger with a connection happened to stop by this woman instantly recognized the true potential for coordinated attire and accessories for pups and their humans this woman also had a valuable connection she introduced Gina to the curators of the popular dogs of Instagram account which has something like four point three million followers who also retail pooch apparel at their online store their quick request for inventory was the final nudge that Gina needed with just one thousand dollars to invest in their side venture Gina and her husband Scott quickly hired a few local seamstresses and they stock the first few hundred dog thread shirts ranging from extra smalls for Yorkies all the way up to a just right extra large for bigger hounds catching up as sales took off Gina quickly put up a rough website and made her own Instagram account shop dog threads to show off new designs and bark up demand more than a year into it sales were enough that Gina took the risk and quit her day job to focus entirely on the new business when she turned in her notice Gina's boss put her nerves into words do you have any idea how many dog shirts you'd have to sell every day to pay your salary well that comment sparked a stubborn determination to put in the hard work dog threads revenue has doubled year after year and Gina and Scott are projecting total sales of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in 2018 while Gina is grateful for the warm reception from dog owners all over the US she credits her success to starting slow and getting the product just right she knew that overproduction would be an expensive mistake with that first retail partnership Gina committed to just dipping her toes in the water after initial confirmation from those first sales then she went on to test a number of designs and patterns she wanted to invest in what her future customers would actually buy love and share now recently Gina and Scott brought home a new less furry family member their first child Ziggy the non-existent maternity leave of a new business has presented a new challenge fortunately Scott has kept his day job and was able to take advantage of three months of paternity leave to tag team the demands of their business and baby as true animal lovers Gina and Scott decided early on to donate a portion of profits to secondhand hounds a Minnesota based animal rescue thanks to Scott's full-time income they were able to put the remaining profits back into the business continuing to design hip sweaters knits and button-ups for classy dogs and their humans of course the business is doing much more than just sustaining itself these days it is a prime puppy profit center go fetch that money well as i said 700 episodes for 700 days we've been bringing you these stories do we have any plans to stop of course not we're going to keep rolling along i'm going to have an announcement for you very soon about the future of side hustle school but hey for now i just want to say thank you so much for listening i'm so excited so honored to be able to bring you these awesome stories hopefully it provides some inspiration perhaps also some action hopefully it gets you thinking about what you could do for yourself my friends we are living in a new age a new frontier there's so many possibilities and opportunities that never existed before the only questions are number one what are you going to do about it and number two what are you waiting for i love this story 250 000 this year in dog threads i was taking a look at their instagram account which has more than 50 000 followers that's actually more followers than i have but i should know since i have used the internet for a while that i should never be jealous of a dog instagram or a cat instagram or anything similar because one of my favorite cat accounts has more than half a million followers and this is not even a curated account this is just one cat it is amazing what that guy can get up to i got to show you this video where he gets in a box and it's like he just kind of scrunches down in the box you're like how did he do that to watch it over and over okay i can tell that it's time for me to wrap it up because i do want you to come back for episode 701 today's show notes are at sidehustleschool.com/700 how about that 700 you are a rock star once again my name is Chris Guillebeau and this is side hustle school