This Facet Hustle Highlight Q&A options Maura Duggan, founder and CEO of Fancypants Baking Co. The CPG cookie enterprise sees top-line annual gross sales starting from $5 million to $10 million and is offered in over 1,750 retailers, together with Central Market, Gelson’s and Mom’s Market. Responses have been edited for size and readability.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Fancypants Baking Co. Maura Duggan.
What was your day job or main occupation once you began your facet hustle?
After incomes my bachelor’s in neuroscience and grasp’s in training from Harvard, I labored as a researcher for an training nonprofit. Whereas it was rewarding, I missed having a artistic outlet the place I might proceed to problem myself and be taught differently.
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When did you begin your facet hustle, and the place did you discover the inspiration for it?
Baking has at all times been a method for me to reconnect with recollections of my mom and grandmother, so once I needed to usher in some further earnings, I naturally gravitated towards the kitchen and my favourite dessert — cookies. In 2004, I began Fancypants in my tiny rental kitchen. What started as a small enterprise shortly changed into one thing extra, and shortly, I discovered myself asking, Why cannot I flip this into an actual enterprise?
What had been a number of the first steps you took to get your facet hustle off the bottom?
Within the evenings, I baked batch after batch of cookies and enlisted family and friends as style testers. Whereas refining the product, I concurrently targeted on the enterprise facet — securing a kitchen license, organising a checking account and getting insurance coverage. Figuring out my pricing was additionally vital since I needed to make use of premium components however wanted a value level that might permit for sustainable progress. It was a steadiness of being accessible and guaranteeing we might scale successfully.
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Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Fancypants Baking Co.
What had been a number of the largest challenges you confronted whereas constructing your facet hustle, and the way did you navigate them?
Managing a protracted to-do checklist was a relentless problem; it might shortly get overwhelming if I did not break it down into smaller duties. I labored 12-15 hours a day, seven days per week, with one after which two youngsters, so I leaned closely on family and friends for assist, whether or not delivering cookies or providing ethical help.
I will be sincere. Early on, my confidence might have been boosted by not totally realizing the complexities of producing. However as soon as I noticed the challenges, I leaned on my training background, reaching out to trade consultants, suppliers and retailer homeowners for steerage. Whereas that suggestions was extremely useful, there was a number of it! I spotted I additionally wanted to construct my very own self-confidence and be taught to belief my instincts.
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How lengthy did it take you to see constant month-to-month income? How a lot did the facet hustle earn?
Issues picked up quick. Simply three months in, I left my full-time job to deal with Fancypants, and inside the first 10 months, we earned near $100,000. It was clear this might be greater than only a facet hustle and was a sustainable enterprise.
You have since turned the facet hustle right into a full-time enterprise. What does progress and income appear to be now?
Over time, Fancypants has developed from a primarily wholesale mannequin to include consumer-facing merchandise. For years, we targeted on iced ornamental cookies bought in bakery departments, with top-line annual gross sales starting from $5 to $10 million. This 12 months, we launched a brand new line of crispy cookies for center-store grocery aisle placement, and we anticipate to exceed $1 million in 2024 for simply these merchandise, with projections to double or triple that over the subsequent 5 years.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Fancypants Baking Co.
What do you take pleasure in most about operating this enterprise?
The range retains me engaged and meets my preliminary want to at all times be studying and rising — at some point, I am engaged on a gross sales deck, and the subsequent, I am overseeing a photograph shoot or testing a brand new recipe. However what I really like most is working with stakeholders, from clients to retailer consumers, and constructing a powerful staff. We’re proud to fabricate our cookies in Massachusetts and provide our manufacturing staff above minimal wage and advantages like 401k and medical insurance. It feels good to champion small enterprise manufacturing when the trade usually depends on co-packers.
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What’s your recommendation for others hoping to start out profitable facet hustles or full-time companies of their very own
Discover your area of interest and lean into it — your perception in what you are doing will encourage others. Construct a community of advisors and friends; do not be afraid to lean on them for recommendation. We arrange a board of administrators in 2022, and their steerage has been invaluable. Whereas it is simple to get tunnel imaginative and prescient, investing in relationships and face-to-face connections has been one of the vital rewarding components of the journey. Networking not solely brings sensible advantages but additionally helps scale back the isolation that usually comes with entrepreneurship.
