17-year-old Student's Side Hustle Hits $921K

Occupying a niche, this 17-year-old student did it by selling pet cages. Today, I’m excited to share her startup journey, which started with just $2,000 in savings, and now she averages $71,000 a month. First, let’s dive into some key points:

Founder: Bella Lin
Status: Chinese American, living in SF
Site: GuineaLoft, Amazon store, TK
Product: Small pet cage
Sales Revenue: $921,000 by July 2024

Next, I’ll share this story from a first-person perspective:

Where my idea come from?

My product idea came from my firsthand experience. As a veteran guinea pig owner for six years, I know that cleaning their cages regularly is a exhausting but necessary task. Traditional guinea pig cages are made of bars, a roof, and a waterproof base, always get hard-to-reach spots that are tough to clean. When I was 12, I needed at least an hour every week scraping, scrubbing, and using a pressure washer just to clean the cages.

Traditional guinea pig cages are usually made of metal bars, which I think makes them feel like a “prison.” I don’t want my pets to live in such cramped spaces. So, I wanted to create a more comfortable and spacious environment for them to live freely.

How I make GuineaLoft version1 by myself

At first, I tried using different materials and mesh them toghther. I combined crates, bricks, and plastic trays and made different versions of cages in backyard. However, they were all difficult to clean. I realized that this method didn’t work.

So, I decided to sketch my ideal in a notebook first. That’s how I came to the first version of GuineaLoft.

My initial idea go with glass panels to improve visibility and mobility. The bottom is two-level with a removable plastic tray. But glass is too expensive and hard to ship, most importantly, the guinea pigs’ feet could get stuck. So I switched to acrylic. I also used biodegradable wax paper for the bottom lining, like airplane vomit bags.

Struggles in launching products?

Next step is develop the first product prototype. My dad helped me find a factory in Hangzhou, China. I spent almost a year test and modify the samples with factory. Finally, we launched the first batch of 100 cages on Amazon in November 2022. Without any marketing, they sold out in just two weeks.

First, I totally get it—working directly with Chinese factory can come with a lot of challenges, especially the time zone differences and, of course, the language barrier. I handle most of the basic communication myself, but for some of the more detailed parts, my dad occasionally steps in to help. Since my parents are immigrants, their Chinese is way better than mine.

As our product line expand, new challenges show up. When testing new products at the factory, we would put four or five hamsters in the cages, but we still got negative reviews. Customers said the hamsters would escape, so we made at least five upgrades to the cages before launching them.

When orders kept rising, we couldn’t stock up fast enough, so I knew we had to find ways to boost our production capacity. Last year, I won $10,000 in a startup competition. I bought three acrylic laser cutting machines, which greatly sped up production.

How I juggle school and My Business?

I’m in school during the day, so I stay up late to get my work done.

Once sales orders were steady, I put together six full-time workers at the China factory to deal with supply chain issues. They handle development, sourcing, production, testing, and packaging, while I focus on design, pricing, marketing, and strategy.

Right now, while I’m completing my university courses, I spend around 30 hours a week on GuineaLoft.

How do I expand the product range?

The guinea pig cage sold really fast, and later I launched compatible accessories like hay feeders and no-drip water bottles.

As sales kept climbing, I realized our cages were perfect for other small pets too. So, I created new designs based on the original cage, and now GuineaLoft’s product line includes hamsters, rabbits, and birds.

In the future, I want GuineaLoft to be the go-to brand for small pet products.