“Leah, you’ve got to read this book. You’re about halfway ‘there’ with your business.”
The book? 12 Months to $1 Million (obvs)
Plateaus can be so painful. A good friend with a good book recommendation can set off a chain of events that catapults us forward.
That’s what happened with Leah Boomsma.
Waaaaaay back in 2013, she took her almost-one-year-old on a plane. Seeing as babies can’t eat peanuts (and as tasty as Biscoffs are, probably not a great baby snack), Leah packed those squeezy packs of baby food so she could feed him.
The tensile strength of these packages is no match for the grip on a hangry baby.
Translation: Baby squeezes food. Food goes EVERYWHERE. Like, on baby, mom, and (yay) also on nearby passengers.
If you’re thinking, “Hey, that’s why God made juice box holders,” you’ve clearly never used one. It takes a toddler maybe 7.3 seconds to disarm them.
And thus, the idea for the Flipping Holder was born.
Birth of the Flipping Holder
Leah, a corporate attorney, happened to know some folks who could help her file for a patent. But then what? She didn’t know how to get a product manufactured and certainly didn’t know how to market it.
But she figured it out. By 2016, she made a prototype and then inventory, and then started selling on Amazon by 2017. Parents everywhere rejoiced.
Ok, ‘everywhere’ is an overstatement. But Leah was selling $3,000 per month, so she was off to a good start. Except that $3,000 per month streak ran for the next three years, running in the background while Leah kept practicing law (she’s still doing it, btw).
In 2020, she came to a crossroads. Her manufacturer stopped manufacturing. Switching meant reinvesting. So Leah had to make a decision: Am I going all-in on this or am I done?
All-in meant restocking inventory and building an audience. Leah’s groove is Facebook, so she learned ads and it’s worked well. (BTW, that drive to find the “right” way to build an audience? How ‘bout just choose A way that you stick to.)
Parents took notice. They’d post about the Flipping Holder and every time their posts took off, Leah saw a surge in sales. Influencers message her asking, “Do you think I could share about your product?” (Um, nahhhh.)
6 Figures in 2020
She finished out 2020 as their first year of 6-figure sales. Halfway through April 2021, some TikTokking parents posted vids that went viral… and the business exploded.
She joined the Capitalism Incubator in September 2021 to fast-track this bad boy. Just a few months before, Leah realized she was on track to hit 7 figures.
And then… they didn’t. They fell $20K short.
So, she quit. (j/k silly - read the title again)
What really happened is that Leah remembered some solid advice: You don’t have to use the calendar year for your statistics! Any 12-month period will work just as well.
7 Figures in 2022
Drum roll… by the end of January 2022, The Flipping Holder finished just north of $1M in sales for the past 12 months! Did we mention she’s got FOUR kids? And a law career?
Since then, she also launched the next version of her hero product, and this time added removable covers. Sales of the new version have already smashed sales records for the OG holder.
Then, Leah collaborated with artist and fellow Capitalism Incubator member, Gayla Ranf, to create a whole new product. It’s a reusable food pouch featuring GORGEOUS art made by Gayla.
And to round off the year, Leah was picked to pitch on Pitch Week and secured an investment from the Capitalism Fund.
I asked her for some parting advice, and Leah did not disappoint. Here it is:
“Just take action. Nothing ever goes perfectly, but imperfect action still works. Don’t worry about the little details, just execute. You don’t have to have it all figured out. You don’t even need to know where to start. You’ve just got to do something.”
We’re on a mission to create one million millionaires.
Chalk up one more! Will you be next? Watching this free video series to help you find your million-dollar idea is a great first step.
Oh yeah, a little while back, Ryan and Leah sat down for a chat about audience building. Bet there’s some gems in there for you, too. Give it a listen here.
The post After 7 DIY Years at $3K/Month, Leah Boomsma Joined Cap Inc and Crossed $1M, and That’s Flipping Awesome appeared first on Capitalism.com.
