This Facet Hustle Highlight Q&A options Nikki Seaman, the 29-year-old, Atlanta, Georgia-based entrepreneur behind olive model Freestyle Snacks. Study extra about her work trip, right here. Responses have been edited for size and readability.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Freestyle Snacks. Nikki Seaman.
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What was your day job or main occupation while you began your facet hustle?
I used to be on an externship from my administration consulting job at Bain & Co, main particular initiatives at Whisps Cheese Crisps.
When did you begin your facet hustle, and the place did you discover the inspiration for it?
The concept of Freestyle Snacks took place in 2021. I discovered inspiration through the pandemic, as olive bars in grocery shops shut down, and I used to be pressured to get my olive repair from the normal olive aisle. The “eyeballs” in a jar simply weren’t reducing it for me when it comes to high quality and comfort. So I made a decision to create a neater, extra gratifying strategy to eat olives.
What have been a number of the first steps you took to get your facet hustle off the bottom? How a lot cash/funding did it take to launch?
I began by specializing in shopper information. I lived in Mintel studies, and I ran a bunch of surveys to pressure-test if there was actual demand. I’d stand within the olive aisle on the grocery retailer and interview olive-lovers about their preferences. After calling over 200 co-packers, I used to be capable of finding a companion to carry my imaginative and prescient for Freestyle Snacks to life. Together with our packaging design, supplies and first manufacturing run, I spent round $50,000 in financial savings to get to market.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Freestyle Snacks
Are there any free or paid assets which have been particularly useful for you in beginning and working this enterprise?
Regardless of the business, discovering a group and different founders to speak with is invaluable. Once I was first getting began, I’d stack my Fridays with conferences with different CPG founders to see what I might study from their wins and their errors. For my business, the Startup CPG group is a superb place to seek out different like-minded people who’re keen to assist and help. In working the enterprise, one useful resource that has been unbelievable for us these days is TikTok — it’s free natural attain to thousands and thousands of potential prospects, and we’re investing loads of time on this platform.
When you might return in what you are promoting journey and alter one course of or strategy, what would it not be, and the way do you would like you’d completed it otherwise?
I’d have taken extra time to construct a stronger bench of part-time assist earlier. To start with, I used to be doing all the pieces from transport samples to managing QuickBooks and answering buyer emails at midnight. It was, after all, scrappy, but it surely was additionally draining and unsustainable. Wanting again, I might have introduced in inexpensive help sooner to unlock my time for the highest-impact work. A few of my greatest hires are my digital assistants; they honestly save me a lot time, and the enterprise could not run with out them.
In the case of this particular enterprise, what’s one thing you have discovered notably difficult and/or stunning that individuals who get into such a work ought to be ready for, however possible aren’t?
Retail distribution sounds thrilling, however it’s extremely operationally intense. From logistics coordination to managing distributor deductions to planning for promotions, it’s a fixed problem. It may be costly to get your product on the shelf, and that is only the start. The actual enjoyable is available in ensuring the product is definitely promoting off the shelf.
Are you able to recall a selected occasion when one thing went very mistaken? How did you repair it?
We had a couple of operational hiccups very early on. One nightmare was once we obtained our newest packaging order from our provider, and there have been holes within the packaging close to the resealable zipper. We did not understand this till after we would packed hundreds of merchandise. Fortunately, we have been in a position to expedite a brand new order of packaging and examined it totally, and now we’re hypervigilant about all suppliers we work with.
How lengthy did it take you to see constant month-to-month income? How a lot did the facet hustle earn?
Since I did not go the farmers market path, we examined product-market match by placing the product on-line and seeing if it bought. Inside our first two days of launch, we bought over $10,000 price of olive snacks. I began seeing constant income solely after the primary yr, as soon as our merchandise landed in main retailers and demand was a bit extra predictable.
Picture Credit score: Courtesy of Freestyle Snacks
What does progress and income appear like now?
Freestyle is now in about 5,000 retail places, together with Entire Meals, Goal, CVS, Harris Teeter and Big Meals, and we’re simply getting began. We have now seen sturdy retail velocity and six-figure month-to-month gross sales, with progress pushed by expanded retail distribution and a excessive repeat buy price in our present retail footprint.
How a lot time do you spend engaged on what you are promoting on a every day, weekly or month-to-month foundation? How do you construction that point? What does a typical day or week of labor appear like for you?
This began as a facet hustle however rapidly changed into a full-time job and extra. I now work on Freestyle full-time, usually from my dwelling workplace and typically out of our storage, which has change into overflow storage. I work just about seven days every week, with the weekends being lighter. I like to make use of the weekends for catching up on admin work or inner initiatives and conducting retailer visits. My days differ however often embody a mixture of operations, gross sales outreach and technique, content material creation and staff administration. I additionally attempt to carve out time for inventive and strategic pondering so I don’t get caught in execution mode.
What do you get pleasure from most about working this enterprise?
I like creating one thing from nothing and seeing individuals genuinely get pleasure from it. It by no means will get outdated when somebody discovers Freestyle Snacks and shares what an important snack it has change into for them, whether or not they’re diabetic, searching for a low-calorie snack or simply craving an excellent olive. The most effective is all the people we have transformed to the darkish inexperienced facet, who used to hate olives till they tried Freestyle!
What’s your greatest piece of particular, actionable enterprise recommendation?
So as to succeed, you have to have grit, ardour and perseverance. You’ll face many rejections, must navigate operational challenges and typically really feel just like the world is crumbling round you. Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster. I like to remain grounded by specializing in being 1% higher every day. These incremental enhancements to the enterprise really add as much as one thing unbelievable.
This text is a part of our ongoing Younger Entrepreneur® collection highlighting the tales, challenges and triumphs of being a younger enterprise proprietor.
