When Sydney man Jacob Leung proposed to his girlfriend Sarah Jane, he’d been envisioning a dream wedding in their near future.
But Covid had other plans. It was a delay, food stylist Jacob told Yahoo Lifestyle, that changed everything.
As the couple navigated the first lockdown, their work dried up, which meant that when a male friend’s “not-so-special” birthday came around they needed “a nice, small gift for around $50”.
They couldn’t find it.
“It was all same same and lame,” Jacob said.
“Things like shortbread, cellophane and wicker baskets. Something your nan may like but not us Millennials.
“We wanted to gift something that we would want ourselves.
“We noticed a lot of other companies were offering quantity, not quality.”
The experience sparked an idea in the young couple’s minds.
A plan for a range of gifts that supported Australian businesses and were “boutique and unique”.
With no wedding to plan for in the near future — and with their day jobs “really diminished” thanks to Covid — the pair started planning for a side hustle with their $15,000 wedding deposit instead.
Their project?
The couple put their $15,000 wedding deposit toward a side hustle that paid off before their vows. Picture: Good Day People
Good Day People – a range of thoughtfully curated gift hampers in reusable and recyclable packaging.
“Just before we launched the business, we said we would love to sell 365 hampers in a year – one a day – from our spare cupboard to pay for a holiday,” Jacob said.
“In the first year we did over 7,500 gifts from our rental house.”
The first order came from a friend of theirs and was delivered to Melbourne.
But soon word was spreading.
“After a few months things were getting crazy and what was originally a spare cupboard took up a spare room, to eventually the entire home,” Jacob said.
“It was crazy. We had stock being dropped off daily, Australia post picking up hundreds of gifts a week and family coming to help us pack orders.
“After three months, our neighbour put a complaint into council for getting too many deliveries…. Is that a crime? Turns out, it’s not.”
Because the couple was still in lockdown, Jacob says it got to a point where it became “really stressful”.
“Cashflow was tight as we were just reinvesting any profit back into inventory,” he said.
“Some of the small businesses we started worked with decided to stop supplying us as they couldn’t keep up with the demand which was a real shame.
“Also, as we can all probably recall, all couriers were struggling with demand which meant some of our deliveries were taking up to two to three weeks.
“It was pure chaos.”
The pair realised that the huge growth they had experienced so far was very much due to the pandemic, so any scaling needed to be done very cautiously.
Instead of taking a long lease on a commercial warehouse, Jacob and SJ moved to a bigger rental home — filling its six bedrooms with stock and packaging in the process.
“It was half the price of a warehouse, a one year commitment and a home to live in during lockdown,” Jacob said.
The decision paid off.
These days Good Day People is a “million-dollar” company, having grown by over 98 per cent from last year and sold more than 70,000 boxes.
Bestsellers in the range include the Jolly Holly Christmas hamper and the Gourmet Greg which has a whole heap of goodies including gourmet pepper and rocky road, although Jacob admits you “can never pick” which is going to be the next big thing.
“All we know is people love wine and chocolate,” he said.
And what about working and living with SJ?
Have there been any bumps in the road?
“Well, we got married in November 2020 so it’s safe to say we made it,” Jacob said.
“We really like working together, there are times that can be stressful but we are both pretty supportive of each other when needed.
“We have very clear lanes on what we both do and we really trust each other so that really helps the process.”
The pair also both feel the same enormous sense of pride when they meet shoppers who have used their brand.
“It’s really rewarding to see how much a gift can make for a good day,” Jacob said.
His advice for anyone thinking of embarking on a side hustle themselves?
“We would say what Nike has told us …. ‘Just do it’,” he said.
“We are really decisive, we make decisions quick, when we make mistakes we readjust even quicker,” he says, adding that taking small steps is important.
“We boot-strapped Good Day People with $15,000 of wedding savings and we just had to make it work.
“Having less resources makes you more resourceful.”
Finally, Jacob advised would-be entrepreneurs to keep supporters close.
“Don’t do business by yourself – it can be a lonely place so surround yourself with either a good mentor, team or network of other business owners so you can laugh and cry together through it all,” he said.
You can shop the Good Day People range here.