One in three Americans have a side hustle and almost 20 percent hope to turn it into a full-time business.
In Anderson, where entrepreneurship is on display every Wednesday morning at The Brew, seasoned, new and would-be business owners from all sectors come together to help each other navigate the waters of owning and operating a business. Speakers at The Brew – many of whom are looking to turn their side hustle into a full-fledged business – receive honest feedback on their ideas and qualified opinions on how to market them from those who’ve been there.
A recent Brew featured Julia Ranucci who has launched a new clothing line called Crowned. A full-time employee in Anderson County’s Parks, Recreation & Tourism Division, Ranucci designs and markets custom jackets, shirts and sweatshirts for her online business at night and on weekends.
A portion of every Crowned sale goes to an area nonprofit that Ranucci has hand-picked to appear on her website. Buyers get to choose which nonprofit they wish to support.
“I’ve always dreamed of being a clothing designer. As a little girl, I would draw dresses,” Ranucci recalled. “A couple of years ago, a friend called out the potential he saw in me and I began to entertain the idea of owning a business, a clothing company.”
For now, Crowned remains a side hustle, but Ranucci’s business plan calls for the opening of a screen printing operation in 2022 and an embroidery business in 2023.
Offering feedback to Ranucci during The Brew, small business owner Lauren James advised that the best small business loan is a full-time job.
“I can’t take credit for that, but it’s some of the best advice I received when I was considering opening my business,” said James, a Myrtle Beach native who moved to the Upstate to attend Clemson University.
James established The Olive Shoe in downtown Anderson in 2015 after a 10-year stint at TTI where she designed warning labels for tools in English, French and Spanish. Her side-hustle-turned-retail-store happened by accident when a co-worker asked her to design a shower invitation.
“A friend asked me to design a baby shower invitation in 2014, then someone asked if I could design some notes cards, then a wedding invitation and it just kept going,” she said.
With more than 500 designs and growing, James says her clients drive the business. And she encourages clients and the community to be creative, as well.
For example, on Fridays during warmer months, James places a canvas outside her store and invites anyone walking by to paint something on it. When complete, the canvas is auctioned off, with half of the proceeds going to an area nonprofit.
James believes that the trailblazing spirit that made Anderson one of the first U.S cities to have electricity and the first city in the world to supply a cotton gin by electricity remains today.
“That pioneering spirit is an undercurrent that has stayed in the community,” she said.
For Anderson business owner Jeff McElhannon, making videos was a hobby. The former UPS store manager produced a commercial for the store and numerous music videos for his online Madden league. After leaving his job last year due to COVID, McElhannon turned his side passion into a new business, Symphonic Productions LLC.
“After a year, I have some steady clientele. I’ve done wedding videos and some work for local businesses, and I have a blast doing it,” said McElhannon. “It’s really fulfilling to create something for someone else and seeing their face light up when they see it.”
Being in the middle of Anderson’s downtown revitalization adds to the excitement of his new business, says McElhannon, whose office overlooks Mural on Main on Orr Street.
“To be down here and to get to see it on a daily basis is awesome,” he said.
Despite COVID, 12 new businesses have opened in downtown Anderson in the past year, with an ice cream arcade, bridal salon, co-working space, brewery and an axe throwing business scheduled to open this year.
Back at The Brew, entrepreneurial participation has exceeded expectations, the City’s Gaddis said. Since its launch in 2017, more than 3,500 existing and would-be business owners have attended 121 sessions. And The Brew is catching on across the Upstate, with Greenville, Greer, Spartanburg and Greenwood all launching The Brew or some form of it for their own communities this year.
For information on entrepreneurial programming, click HERE.
The Olive Shoe video courtesy of Symphonic Productions LLC.
