‘It is crazy': Melbourne mum builds $100k+ business within two years

News.com.au

a day ago

A Melbourne mum has doubled her income by bucking the beige trend and embracing colour.
Cass Danson, 33, describes herself as a 'visual maximalist' and 'colour junkie', and she's turned it into a business.
The young mum amassed a social media following on Instagram by sharing photos of her bright and cheerfully decorated home.
She has over 45,000 followers and a highly engaged audience. When people started requesting that she design wallpaper because they loved the murals she had painted in her home, she had an idea.
'The wall decals started from the murals that I was painting around my house. People were asking for wallpaper, but wallpaper is so expensive,' she told news.com.au.
'I thought I'd give it a go with the wall decals; it'll look like wallpaper but way cheaper, and I found a Melbourne printer and gave them a trial.'
She launched the business in November 2023, and it couldn't have come at a better time.
Ms Danson had been stuck in a career that she was 'so over' and wasn't particularly lucrative.
Even when she was working full-time before having kids, she was only making $55,000 a year as a retail manager.
The idea of turning what she loved into a business was thrilling but, at first, she was concerned it wouldn't be profitable.
Once the business launched, Ms Danson started making money from it pretty much straight away and it was heartening to see that there was an appetite for her designs.
'I was surprised because we're living in the beige era and I didn't know if people were going to vibe with what I was doing,' she said.
Customers loved the colourful designs, though, and pretty quickly she was getting messages from people sharing how she had helped them embrace colour.
It's been a genuine thrill for Ms Danson, who grew up believing she wasn't 'good at anything' because she was more creatively inclined than academic.
She initally started her Instagram account as a way to share her creativity, but she never dreamt it would turn into a business.
'I didn't really set out to do anything but just share what I love,' she said.
In the first financial year of her business, Ms Danson cleared $70,000 in profit, but now she's finishing off her second year, which is well over $100,000.
She puts the extra cash down to the success of launching her own apparel line, where she sells boldly printed T-shirts and dresses that are both comfortable and fun.
'It is so crazy,' she said.
'Having apparel has taken it to the next level. I don't know why.'
Ms Danson said she was nervous to launch it because she 'wasn't sure' if everyone would love it, but the people who do have found her.
When she launched her first T-shirt line, the 33-year-old told her husband she'd be happy if she just sold 20 in the first week.
Then, on the night the T-shirts went live, she had over 200 people on the website and her phone was blowing up like crazy.
'I was dying! I was like holy sh*t,' she said.
Ms Danson said her brother, who helps run the website, actually rang her and said, 'What the f**k is happening?'
'It has taken off,' she said.
It's been a massive 12 months and she doesn't often sit back and think about her success, but when she was getting ready for tax time, it really hit home.
'The last few days, I was going through my figures, and I get so anxious about the ATO because it is so different because a business is not paying me,' she said.
'I was working out what I had left, and I was like 'holy s**t'. I said to my husband, 'I can't believe I haven't just sat down and looked at how much the business has profited and how many sales we've done in just one year',' she said.
'I'm excited for this next year because I'm excited to push myself and see what else I can do.'