Ecommerce

Half a million dollars in hamster balls. What if you spotted a gap in a market that hadn’t changed in 50 years and turned it into a fast-growing product business while still in college?

That’s exactly what Ethan Haber did with Happy Habitats, a small pet products company he started as a sophomore at Wake Forest University.

While watching his hamster Mooksy roll around in a standard hamster ball on campus, Ethan looked over and saw someone walking a dog.

The thought hit him: why can’t I walk my hamster? That simple question launched a product line now heading into 1,500 stores nationwide through a major big-box retail deal.

Ethan’s story covers everything from cold-emailing a design firm and navigating COVID shipping delays, to cracking Amazon and landing a mentorship with the founder of PetSmart — all from a niche that most people overlook.

Flipping furniture for profit is an increasingly-popular side hustle.

You can make $150-250 per flip in your spare time, work with your hands, and potentially save items from the landfill with your upcycling efforts. Here’s how to get started.

When you return a product to Costco, Amazon, or Walmart, it doesn’t always go back to the shelves. In most cases, that product ends up at a local liquidator that resells it to side hustlers, who then flip it for profit.

Jamie McAuley has been doing just that for the past few years, and he’s earned over $25k in profit in the process.

What if you could turn a hobby into a six-figure business, grow it while raising three kids and living overseas, and then sell it for $120,000?

Samantha Hamilton did exactly that with her former Disney-inspired running skirt business, Dottie for Running.

What started as a mom-made tutu she wore to races turned into a thriving e-commerce brand serving a passionate niche community.

In this episode, Samantha shares how she identified the opportunity, navigated the challenges of production and growth, and ultimately prepared the business for a successful sale through Flippa.

What if you could turn a teenage sports annoyance into a $100k business while juggling school, sports, and everything else that comes with being 15?

Harrison Nott has done exactly that. Starting at just 13 years old, Harrison built CoolTowel into a business projected to hit £100,000 (about $130,000) in revenue this summer alone.