Retail Pitch: How Pet Stores Decide

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.

Tune in to Episode 729 of the Side Hustle Show to learn:

• how to take an existing product and improve upon it to create a defensible business
• what it really takes to get your product into retail stores and online marketplaces
• why patents, packaging, and the right partners matter more than most first-time founders realize

Full Show Notes: $500,000 in Hamster Ball Sales? How a College Student Brought a New Product to Life

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About The Side Hustle Show

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