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This Facet Hustle Highlight Q&A features Maura Duggan, founder and CEO of Fancypants Baking Co. The CPG cookie business sees top-line annual sales ranging from $5 million to $10 million and is available in over 1,750 retailers, including Central Market, Gelson’s and Mother’s Market. Responses have been edited for dimension and clarity.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fancypants Baking Co. Maura Duggan.
What was your day job or primary occupation in the occasion you started your aspect hustle?
After earning my bachelor’s in neuroscience and master’s in education from Harvard, I worked as a researcher for an education nonprofit. While it was rewarding, I ignored having a creative outlet where I could continue to challenge myself and learn in a totally different way.
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When did you start your aspect hustle, and where did you find the inspiration for it?
Baking has always been a way for me to reconnect with recollections of my mother and grandmother, so once I wanted to bring in some extra income, I naturally gravitated toward the kitchen and my favorite dessert — cookies. In 2004, I started Fancypants in my tiny apartment kitchen. What began as a small endeavor rapid turned into something more, and quickly, I chanced on myself asking, Why can’t I flip this into a real business?
What had been a few of the first steps you took to procure your aspect hustle off the ground?
In the evenings, I baked batch after batch of cookies and enlisted associates and family as taste testers. While refining the product, I simultaneously targeted on the business aspect — securing a kitchen license, setting up a bank account and getting insurance. Determining my pricing was also critical since I wanted to employ top class ingredients however wished a label point that would allow for sustainable increase. It was a balance of being accessible and ensuring shall we scale effectively.
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Image Credit: Courtesy of Fancypants Baking Co.
What had been a few of the largest challenges you faced while building your aspect hustle, and how did you navigate them?
Managing a long to-enact listing was a constant challenge; it will probably rapid procure overwhelming if I did not break it down into smaller tasks. I worked 12-15 hours a day, seven days a week, with one and then two adolescents, so I leaned heavily on associates and family for serve, whether delivering cookies or offering moral pork up.
I will be sincere. Early on, my self assurance may have been boosted by not absolutely realizing the complexities of manufacturing. But once I saw the challenges, I leaned on my education background, reaching out to industry specialists, suppliers and store householders for guidance. While that feedback was incredibly functional, there was a lot of it! I realized I also wished to accomplish my maintain self-self assurance and learn to trust my instincts.
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How long did it take you to peek consistent monthly income? How noteworthy did the aspect hustle earn?
Things picked up fast. Fair three months in, I left my stout-time job to focal point on Fancypants, and within the first 10 months, we earned shut to $100,000. It was clear this can be more than steady a aspect hustle and was a sustainable business.
You may have since turned the aspect hustle into a stout-time business. What does increase and income scrutinize appreciate now?
Over the years, Fancypants has advanced from a primarily wholesale mannequin to incorporate user-facing products. For years, we targeted on iced decorative cookies sold in bakery departments, with top-line annual sales ranging from $5 to $10 million. This year, we launched a unusual line of crispy cookies for center-store grocery aisle placement, and we examine to exceed $1 million in 2024 for steady those products, with projections to double or triple that over the following five years.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Fancypants Baking Co.
What enact you revel in most about running this business?
The variety retains me engaged and meets my initial wish to always be learning and growing — one day, I am working on a sales deck, and the following, I am overseeing a photo shoot or testing a unusual recipe. But what I appreciate most is working with stakeholders, from customers to store patrons, and building a stable team. We’re proud to manufacture our cookies in Massachusetts and supply our manufacturing team above minimum wage and advantages appreciate 401k and health insurance. It feels lawful to champion small business manufacturing when the industry usually relies on co-packers.
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What’s your advice for others hoping to start successful aspect hustles or stout-time businesses of their very maintain
Find your area of interest and lean into it — your belief in what you may very smartly be doing will inspire others. Originate a community of advisors and peers; do not be afraid to lean on them for advice. We location up a board of directors in 2022, and their guidance has been invaluable. While it be easy to procure tunnel imaginative and prescient, investing in relationships and face-to-face connections has been one in every of probably the most rewarding parts of the sprint. Networking not most interesting brings practical advantages however also helps minimize the isolation that usually comes with entrepreneurship.
