$500,000 in Hamster Ball Sales? The Journey of a College Student in Launching a New Product

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      Half a million dollars worth of hamster balls. Imagine identifying a market gap that hasn’t evolved in 50 years and transforming it into a rapidly growing product business while still in school. That’s precisely what Ethan Haber accomplished with Happy Habitats, a small pet products company he initiated as a sophomore at Wake Forest University.

      While playing with his hamster Mooksie on campus, Ethan noticed someone walking a dog. This sparked a question for him: why can't I walk my hamster? That simple inquiry led to a product line now set to reach 1,500 stores nationwide through a significant retail partnership.

      Ethan’s journey includes everything from cold-emailing a design firm and managing COVID-related shipping delays, to succeeding on Amazon and securing a mentorship with the founder of PetSmart — all from a niche that many overlook.

      Tune in to Episode 729 of the Side Hustle Show to discover:

      - How to enhance an existing product to establish a sustainable business

      - What it truly takes to get your product into retail outlets and online platforms

      - Why patents, packaging, and finding the right partners are more crucial than most first-time founders realize

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      From Idea to Patent: Redesigning the Hamster Ball for Safety and Function

      The traditional hamster ball has scarcely changed since its introduction in the 1970s. Ethan viewed this as an opportunity rather than a challenge. The standard design presents real issues:

      - Ventilation holes that are large enough to trap a hamster’s paw

      - A quarter-turn friction lid that can warp over time and may pop open during use

      - Inexpensive plastic materials

      His product line was developed to address these issues:

      - Roam – features a two-millimeter paw-protection ventilation design and a two-step locking lid that keeps pets securely inside.

      - Halo – is an orange ring that attaches to the ball for easy carrying, allowing users to walk their hamsters.

      - Burrow Bricks – is set to launch with a new retail partner. These are transparent three-by-three plastic squares that snap together to form hides, mazes, and enclosures, similar to LEGO for small animals.

      Happy Habitats has obtained two utility patents, both dated 2025 — one issued in February and the other in November. In Ethan’s LinkedIn post, he noted that he incorporated the company in October 2019 and filed provisional patents in 2021. Although this process was lengthy, the protection is substantial. A utility patent protects function, not just appearance, meaning competitors cannot legally copy the core innovations.

      As Ethan explained, if you capture market share in a niche area and a competitor considers buying you out, your utility patent becomes very appealing since they would be the only ones allowed to produce the product.

      How to Develop a Product Business Through Strategic Partnerships

      After conceptualizing the idea, Ethan joined an entrepreneurship incubator at Wake Forest that provided initial funding and assisted him in forming his LLC. He then pitched his idea to P9 Design, a product design firm in Edgewater, New Jersey, recognized for collaborations with major consumer brands like Honeywell, OXO, and S’well. P9 Design agreed to partner as an equity collaborator.

      Currently:

      - Ethan, his father, and P9 Design each own a third of the business

      - P9 contributed work equity through design and engineering

      - The partnership has grown into a consistent weekly collaboration

      Ethan shared his views on giving up equity: “Cash is what you need now, but equity is what grows.” He pointed out that by the time most entrepreneurs sell a business, they typically own around 7%. Therefore, trading ownership for a top-tier partner early in the venture is often worthwhile.

      Manufacturing is managed in Mexico through a connection made via a guest speaker at his university incubator — sparking a long-lasting production partnership. The product molds are manufactured in China and then shipped to the factory in Mexico. Although this logistical chain posed initial challenges (more on that later), the operation now runs smoothly on a bimonthly production schedule.

      Startup Challenges: Manufacturing, Packaging, and Pricing Errors

      Ethan humorously remarked that “anything that could go wrong, did go wrong,” and he wasn't exaggerating.

      - Manufacturing delays: Molds produced in China were stuck outside the Port of Los Angeles for over nine months during COVID, completely halting production.

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