For this edition of Business Buzz, we take a look at three businesses that excel in fun and different ways: a teenage jewelry designer, a longtime candy maker and a new approach to making gin.
DIY Gin Kits Bring Success to Young Entrepreneurs
CNN Money brings us the story of Joe Maiellano and Jack Hubbard, two 29-year-old entrepreneurs in Virginia who started HomeMade Gin Kit in 2012. (As you’ve probably guessed by the title, these are do-it-yourself gin-making kits.) The kits come with glass bottles, spices, dried juniper berries and accessories.
The two used Maiellano’s kitchen to put together 250 kits. A buzz began when the kits were featured by websites such as UrbanDaddy and Thrillist. The business has now sold more than 14,000 kits, made more than $500,000 in sales and moved out of the kitchen and into a warehouse.
“We had no idea how many people would be interested in making their own gin at home,” Maiellano told The Washington Post. “It turns out a lot of people do.”
So how does it work? You start with a bottle of vodka as the base, then add the juniper berries. Shake it up, and let it sit for a day. Then add spices and leave it alone for another 12 hours. Finally, strain the liquid into the glass bottles and it’s ready to serve.
Next up on Maiellano and Hubbard’s drink menu, according to CNN: opening a distillery.
“We couldn’t afford it yet,” Hubbard says, “but we’re not giving up on that dream.”
You can find more information on homemadegin.com.
Jewelry Parties Turn Into Multi-Million Dollar Business
Forbes recently featured a teenage success story out of Arizona. Isabella Weems wanted a car for her 16th birthday, so her parents encouraged her to start a business to help raise the money.
“I started researching and looking for ideas,” Weems told the website. “The locket’s been around for a long time and I thought, ‘Well, what if you could make a locket with charms?’”
Her parents matched her babysitting stash ($350) and Weems spent that on making lockets that she sold at jewelry shows and house parties.
Weems’ success led to the creation of Origami Owl, a direct-sales company that now has thousands of like-minded designers having their own jewelry parties. The company website has a “business basics package” for $149.99, a starter kit with lockets, charms, marketing materials and accessories.
In 2011, the company made $280,000. Expectations for 2013 are $250 million.
Those are astounding numbers, but, as Forbes writer Karsten Strauss points out, “those figures are tempered by the company’s need for components and a large personnel roster to keep business flowing.”
Weems has plenty of help from family members, who serve in a variety of leadership roles in the company. The CEO is Robin Crossman, a veteran of Amway Global. And Weems, now 17, is learning the ins and outs of the business.
“She’s definitely hands-on, but we want her to have as normal a life as she can and to have the opportunity of college,” Crossman says.
As Weems says on origamiowl.com: “I have always believed that you can do anything you set your mind to. With a focus in sight, I spent hours hosting jewelry parties instead of hanging out with friends. I wasn’t going to let anything keep me from making my dream a reality. And I did, in the form of a white Jeep I call Alice!”
Candy Company Nears 100th Birthday
A teenage millionaire can make you say “wow,” but so can a 93-year-old candy business. CNN Money recently featured Hammond’s Candies, the longtime Denver company that makes lollipops, taffy and other treats. It’s best known as the largest producer of handmade candy canes in the country, producing a whopping 7 million each year.
Hammond’s was started by Carl Hammond in 1920 and remained family-owned until 1999. In 2007, Maryland businessman Andrew Schuman bought the company and aimed to have it evolve through branding and improved efficiency.
“Hammond’s was focused on being a Christmas candy company rather than a candy company,” he says. “Even though the majority of our business is done later in the year, we wanted to grow our business and be perceived as a year-round company.”
It’s worked. Hammond’s has doubled its sales and size and even become a tourist attraction. Think about the wide-eyed wonder of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and you can see why 100,000 people visit Hammond’s each year.
You can find Hammond’s goodies at Macy’s, Whole Foods and Nordstrom. And you can learn more about the company’s history and candy-making process at hammondscandies.com.
