Marine Goes “Under Cover” To Create Eyewear Protector

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

[Music]

What's up friends, listeners, community? So glad you're here. I feel so honored and privileged to be able to bring you this program every single day. The program is called "Sidus of School" and my name is Chris Guillebeau. I also wanna give a shout out to our service members in the US military and also our allies, wherever you are, as well as family members of those who serve.

We have a number of active duty military service men and women listening to the podcast. So I salute and acknowledge you. And I also think you'll like this story. When a US Marine scratches his sunglasses after placing them in his pocket, he solves the problem with a 3D printed solution. In less than a year, he has nearly matched his salary with his side hustle income, building a stronger financial foundation for himself as he continues to serve.

Like I said, a great story. I really enjoyed working on this one. We're gonna call it "Marine Goes Under Cover." Under cover, you'll hear more about that as it goes along, to create eyewear protector. This story is coming right up. [Music]

It was a glaring sunny day in Hawaii.

And Victor De La Flor, United States Marine, put on his brand new sunglasses. It's common for military personnel to carry glasses with them everywhere they go. Because unlike office workers, they spend long stretches training outside. Later that day, when the glare had died down, Victor placed his beloved sunglasses into the pocket of his uniform, safely squared away. It wasn't until the next morning that he realized the mistake he'd made.

The lenses were scratched by some loose particles and his glasses were ruined beyond repair. He was upset, but Victor was also intrigued. Neither had to be a better way to carry around prescription eyewear or sunglasses. Something that kept them safe and secure, but also neat. Marines take great pride in wearing their uniform.

So simply hooking them on the shirt somehow wasn't an option. This became a battle between Victor and the problem of scratched sunglasses, one in which he was determined to emerge victorious. He spent the next year brainstorming solutions and eventually came up with a novel one. You see, Marines wear their hats, which they call covers, whenever they're out in public. He noticed there was plenty of space underneath the cover, guess you could say the cover of his cover, enough to safely stash away his glasses.

So he devised a small clip. This clip would sit inside the hat and hold the glasses when he wasn't wearing them. Seems like a simple solution, right? Well, that simple solution actually took over a year and a half to create. He came up with seven different prototypes in that time, all with varying degrees of success.

Part of the problem was when it came to prototyping, Victor was no seasoned veteran. In fact, he had no experience at all. He knew he'd have to create a 3D model, but wasn't quite sure how to go about it. It became trench warfare. Every time Victor came up with a concept, he was hit with counter fire that made it impossible for him to progress.

As a last ditch effort, he utilized the services of a designer to help him convert his drawings to a model that could be used on a 3D printer. He took the models and made use of a 3D printer at his local library to turn those designs into reality. When he finally had a version that fit his requirements, he called it the undercover clip. You get it, undercover, like under the hat. Victor had won the battle, but little did he know that his side hustle war was just getting started.

Because up until this point, he'd only made the clip for personal use. It wasn't until a fellow Marine asked him about it one day that the war took on a new dimension. His colleague wanted to know where he could buy a clip of his own. Victor acted quickly. If a clip worked to scratch his own itch, of not scratching his own sunglasses, many other military personnel probably had the same problem.

They needed undercover clips too. He did one more round of prototyping to make those clips stronger and suitable for rigorous military training. He also launched a website and began the process of patenting his idea. Then in March, 2019, he launched undercover clip to the world for the modest price of just $11.99 or $12. He was incredibly confident in the concept.

Victory was all but assured. And if you expect me to say it didn't work out that way, well, in this case, at least it did. Victor posted the details in a few military Facebook groups and the response was overwhelming. He began receiving orders right away. In some cases, people even ordered multiple clips.

Customers began sharing his posts with friends and family and orders ramped up. They continued to come in daily for the first few weeks. It was the toughest training drill ever and Victor could hardly keep up. By this point, he had purchased a 3D printer for his home, the biggest expense of his $1,500 startup cost. But it turned out that one printer couldn't make enough clips fast enough.

At one point in the first month, he had no choice but to shut down orders on his website for a few days to try to catch up. When he announced the pause on Facebook, he was flooded with messages from customers wanting to know when the clips would be back in stock, which by the way, is an interesting strategy. To get more orders, say that you're not taking orders for a while. And all of a sudden, everyone wants to order. Victor had found true product market fit.

When things became overwhelming, he remembered an old Marine mantra that said, improvise, adapt and overcome. So that's exactly what he did. He set aside a room in his home he called The Lab and purchased three additional 3D printers. They would do nothing but print clips all day, which was a good thing because order volume only increased with a new deal that came through a couple of months later. Victor was approached to supply military shops throughout the nation, which gave him another huge batch of orders.

As the months went by and up until today, Victor has sold hundreds of clips to personnel all over the country. In less than a year, he's now nearly matched his salary as a Marine. For the rest of 2019, he's working on deals to get in several more military shops across the country. And he still plans on doing this while being the sole employee and maintaining his work and training in the military. What else would he do?

He is a US Marine. Victor, thank you for your service. Congratulations on your hustle and Semper Fi. [Music]

Well, what an awesome project. Such a practical, simple thing.

Something that anybody could have come up with, but it's not just about having the idea, it's about making that idea happen. As you may know, if you've listened for a while, ideas are everywhere. It's all about the implementation. So I'm so glad he was able to do this. My only comment is on his website, it would be great to have a photo of him.

It's a really simple website, which is totally fine. It's a simple product. You don't need to have a fancy website. And it tells a little bit of the story on the website in just a couple of short paragraphs, which is also fine. You don't need to go into a huge amount of detail, but it would be great to just have a photo of him.

So you kind of see like, oh, here's the person who's making this. And I realized there could be some regulation against him, like wearing his uniform to promote the product, but presumably there's no regulation against him, just showing a photo of himself in some fashion. So just a small suggestion, but again, amazing project. I also wanna give a shout out to Phil Randazzo. Phil is the founder of the American Dream You.

It's a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping our military get the education and access to resources they need to find their dream job or start a business of their own. I've been talking to Phil for years about doing an event with him and the stars have not yet aligned. But I'm hopeful that at some point in the future, I'll be able to speak to some veterans groups of folks who are all interested in like, what's their next chapter? How can I create more freedom for myself after having served the country? All right, listeners, that is all for me today.

Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. Come check out the undercover clips. Anything else I mentioned in this episode, the American Dream You, whatever else, come to sidehustleschool.com/968. That's where we'll include all those notes and links. And of course, come back tomorrow.

Be sure you're subscribed, tell your friends a new story every day. My name is Chris Guillebeau and this is Side Hustle School. [Music]

From the Onward Project.