KIM Vaccarella was fed up with countless beach bags she had tried while on family beach trips to the Jersey Shore when she realized there was only one solution: she had to make the bag herself.
It was 2008 and Vaccarella was looking for something specific that would work perfectly for all her needs as a busy mom of two boys.
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It had to be durable, water resistant, washable, sandproof, and big enough to carry everything she needed.
While sitting on the beach one day with her husband, she was inspired by Crocs.
“I liked the material, how it got warm and pliable in the heat but it didn’t get hot and if you got sand in it you could just hose it off or wash it in the shower,” Vaccarella told The U.S. Sun.
“It was the perfect idea for my dream beach bag.”
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And so the idea of the Bogg Bag was born.
There was only one problem. Vaccarella didn’t have any manufacturing or production experience, and she was a busy mom with a full-time job as a commercial real estate lender.
But Vaccarella was determined.
It was the perfect idea for my dream beach bag
Kim Vaccarella
“I went ahead and drew out the exact Bogg Bag and started the patent process and thought I would sell it for a bazillion dollars,” she said.
With her design ready to go, she reached out to a number of different handbag companies, and quickly got a resounding ‘No’ from all of them.
Frustrated that the potential buyers “didn’t get the vision,” she plowed on and decided to make the bag herself.
After finding a manufacturer in China, Vaccarella decided to order 300 bags, then 600, which all flew off the shelves.
The early success gave her the courage to go all in, putting all of her cash including $60,000 of her children’s college savings into ordering an entire container full of bags.
“We used the $60,000 to fund the dream knowing one way or another we would make it back,” she said.
“I grew up waiting tables and bartending so I thought if worse comes to worse I can get that money back.”
But her worst nightmare occurred, after the massive shipment of bags arrived all defective bearing ugly black steaks.
CALM BEFORE THE STORM
Downtrodden and frustrated, Vaccarella had nothing to do with hundreds of defective bags.
The East Coast was hit by Hurricane Sandy, and Vaccarella decided to donate all her defective Bogg Bags to help people carry home supplies.
Six months later, she had people knocking down her door asking where they could get their hands on another Bogg Bag.
“I knew right there we were onto something. People wanted another bag, saying they didn’t collapse and the sides were sturdy. It was one of those ‘ah ha’ moments, people are getting it now!” she said.
Vaccarella and her husband flew to China to find another manufacturer and the business snowballed from there.
Side hustles and tax implications
Extra income you make from side hustles may need to be reported to the IRS.
If you receive more than $600 in gross payouts from a selling platform like eBay, the site will issue you a Form 1099-K to use in your tax return.
Individuals should calculate their adjusted gross income, taxable earnings, and deductions for the year.
Once they have that, they can use the 1040-ES form to calculate estimated taxes.
BUSINESS IS BOOMING
It’s now been almost ten years and the business has exploded.
She is on track to hit $100 million in revenue this year and the brand has sold three million bags to date.
It has become a cult favorite, available in over 40 colors and even has a strategic partnership with Target.
Vaccarella said Covid helped the business go gangbusters, with a lot of nurses and teachers purchasing the bags due to their durability.
“We also got creative with wholesalers and always wanted to foster those relationships so they took a page out of our playbook from Hurricane Sandy using Bogg Bags for gift packages,” she said.
LOYAL FANS
The company is still focused on cultivating strong relationships with their customers, often reposting them and their Bogg Bags at the beach.
She said they did not spend any money on advertising up until 2023, and relied on user generated content which was “very real” and the customers loved it.
“People would tag us on the beach, and we would repost them expressing our thank you,” she said.
“We could get 20 pictures a day in the heat of summer and it was very real, our customers loved it.”
The U.S Sun covers all things side hustle, and recently revealed how Mark Cuban thinks business owners are doing them wrong.
The U.S. Sun also recently reported how a couple turned their $50 side hustle into a $25 million company.
