The founder of runaway brand success "The Oodie" started and failed in six business ventures before stumbling upon the wearable blanket that would soon become a multi-million dollar empire.
Davie Fogarty, a 26-year-old entrepreneur from Adelaide, tried everything from selling headphones on eBay to punching out Vietnamese rolls before he created what many have labelled to be the ultimate COVID lockdown accessory.
Now, having captured a market using prolific social media ads, Fogarty says his group of brands. including the Oodie. is on track to turn over $200 million this year.
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"I was selling weighted blankets at the time and wearable blankets is a pretty close iteration of that," Mr Fogarty told 9News.com.au.
"The success was pretty instant. When you hit a product that's pretty popular and you have the right timing and good digital marketing, success can be pretty easy to come by."
Retailing for around $109 (discount codes and bundle packs excluded) the Oodie essentially replicates what it feels like to be in bed while you're up and about.
Complete with a hood and pockets, the Oodie features a Sherpa fleece interior and a flannel exterior.
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For Mr Fogarty, commercialising winter comfort is simply another upside of building a brand that people seem to connect with.
"One of the Oodie's main goals is just to make people happy and smile," Mr Fogarty said.
"I love seeing people walking to their local Hungry Jacks wearing them, it's great fun."
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While the Oodie's success story is more or less an overnight explosion, the road to entrepreneurial achievement has been one of hardship and failure.
"I was baking cookies and going next door to my school and trying to sell them to the teachers, I was selling pencils at one stage and that flowed to trying to sell on eBay," Mr Fogarty, who is only 26, tells 9News.com.au.
"I had a couple of businesses in school and then after I left I tried all sorts of things from headphones to iPhone cases. I launched a Vietnamese roll shop which failed.
"In all I failed about six businesses and that pushed me to this journey of learning new skills, of learning digital marketing and giving me the tools for better businesses."
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Rather than be deterred by these false starts, Mr Fogarty used them as learning opportunities to build the foundation for what would later become the Oodie.
"Failure is less important than success. Unfortunately you do have to fail a few times. Failure creates feedback which allows you to improve," Mr Fogarty said.
"I have a list of failures in my notepads with the corresponding lessons I learnt from them. The key is to keep your head up and not be discouraged."
Despite admitting to being "on the phone 24/7", Mr Fogarty said the next challenge was building a system that would allow him to launch the next "big thing".
"We know what we're good at and now we're just working on creating a system out of it. You end up compartmentalising tasks where need be," Mr Fogarty says.
"I am on the phone 24/7 but with a high degree of delegation. People come to me and get feedback on what they want to do, and then you've got to trust that they can deliver."
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When asked what advice he would give his 20-year-old self, Mr Fogarty said he would remind himself that failure is not the be-all and end-all of business.
"I would say to myself to just focus on learning, You're not always right. Learn the basics and focus on providing as much value to people as possible," Mr Fogarty muses.
"For people who are daunted by starting a business, I say just do it. There's no time like the present. Action creates information and you'll find out your passion pretty quickly."
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