In our How I Make My Money series we aim to find out how people in the UK are earning their cash and making a living.
This week we speak to Nicola Wordsworth, 56, who lives in Minnis Bay, Kent, with her two dogs, Bertie and Mabel. Nicola has one daughter, Emily, 29. By day, Nicola is a graphic designer, but she’s also running a blossoming side-hustle shampoo bar business for dogs, Pup Suds. She used to make 100 shampoo bars a night in a tiny household kitchen and has ambitions to get on Dragon’s Den and secure an investment from multi-millionaire businesswoman Deborah Meaden.
Monthly Budget
Income: I make £2,500 a month from my job as a senior graphic designer and studio manager at Whybrow Studio. I make about £1,500 a month from my side-hustle business, Pup Suds.
My main monthly outgoings: Mortgage, £550; groceries, £300; utility bills, £300; council tax, £145; car fuel, £100; car lease, £150.
By day I work as a senior graphic designer and studio manager at Whybrow Studio in Margate. I work four days a week, earning £2,500 a month. I work on large-scale jobs, often pulling together tenders for projects worth more than £400,000, and work with clients like the British Library and Castle Howard.
I’m also a massive dog lover. My eldest dog, a Tibetan Terrier, Bertie, is divine. He’s totally zen and makes me late for everything as people are always stopping to tell me how gorgeous he is; and, boy, does he know it! Recently, I’ve got Bertie’s niece, Mabel, who is eight weeks old. She is causing me many sleepless nights as she settles in.
Up to three days a week, including weekends, and three evenings a week, I work, along with my daughter, on my burgeoning side-hustle business, Pup Suds. I set it up during lockdown as most of my work dried up and I wanted to keep busy. I make solid vegan shampoo bars for dogs. Naturally, Bertie was my inspiration for the business, as he is always up to his belly in seaweed, sand and water and sometimes rolls around in stinky stuff. Most of the products I tried on him weren’t very good or eco-friendly. He’s become the poster boy for Pup Suds.
I managed to save myself about £20,000 in set-up costs as I was able to do things like get a website going and sort out the branding for the business myself.
At the moment I make about £1,500 a month from my side-hustle and can sell anything from 10 solid shampoo bars a week to more than 200 a week. The best seller by far is the “Massaging Anti-Stink Anti-Fox Poo’ bar, which is £10. My costs have been rising so I might have to increase my prices, but I don’t want to. I like the fact I don’t have to deal with pitches or proposals all the time. People either buy the products or they don’t. I get a real buzz getting up in the morning and finding orders in the online basket. We also go to fairs and dog shows.
Wholesalers have become involved, and we sell products in some overseas locations too now. We have even secured a potential listing with a UK-based retailer in Dubai to sell our products in fifteen stores out there. However, this deal is, for one reason or another, in limbo.
When I first started my side-hustle, my family and friends were a little sceptical and thought it was just a little hobby. But since making lots of sales and even winning awards, they are now fully behind it and proud of my achievements.
Getting the production line in order at the beginning was a challenge. I used to make 100 shampoo bars a night in a small standard kitchen in my former house. I had the best smelling house for miles, but it was tough juggling a production line and cramming worktops, a desk and dining table with the moulds needed.
Bringing in extra income from Pup Suds has been really helpful. I moved house, to what I call my “Old Lady Bungalow”, in December last year. With additional income coming in I was able to sort out a garage conversion for my new home, at a cost of £15,000. I’ve created a bespoke production line and manufacturing space in the garage. I’ve gone for the industrial look and have a commercial microwave and mixer, which I use for some of the products. I can now grow the business, before eventually taking the plunge and renting a unit somewhere.
I’m so tempted to get on the BBC television show Dragon’s Den and try to secure an investment for Pup Suds. I think my products are right up their street, particularly for Deborah Meaden. The prospect of investment is somewhat daunting as it’s not something I have experience of, but it’s an exciting proposition.
It would be great to be able to make about £100,000 a year from my business. I don’t necessarily want the stress that goes with having a multi-million pound business, as I have run a large business before, and it is very stressful and can stop being fun. But I still want to make Pup Suds into a decent business and even better than it is now.
I would love to be able to give up my day job as a graphic designer and focus on my side-hustle business full-time. I’d be able to work with dogs every day, and having the opportunity to run a family business with my daughter full-time would be a dream. If we secure more retailers this could happen sooner rather than later!
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