“We went from $49,000 in revenue in 2024 to $500,000 in 2025, and we’re pacing to $1.5M for 2026. With that rate of growth, we were taking time away from the producer’s other clients,” Benbenek says, partly attributing the acceleration of growth to the launch of Facebook and Instagram ads. “They just couldn’t keep up with production.”

With Christmas looming, Benbenek’s emergency response kicked in, and she reached out to nearly 50 other U.S. manufacturers to find a stopgap for the holiday season, Googling for partners that had a CNC woodworking machine and the ability to cut and finish Baltic Birch. After multiple denied partnership proposals and rejections, even from producers that were too costly for the young business, she found a producer who was able to produce some inventory quickly — with a caveat.

“They couldn’t do fulfillment yet, so I was having them ship to my house and enlisted my neighbor and babysitter to help me package and send product out,” she says. “These are expensive products, and I wanted to have that extra quality assurance. But that’s how we got through Christmas.”

That Ohio-based producer is now the company’s long-term partner, and they’ve invested in more efficient ways to produce Blueberry and Third’s products and have taken on fulfillment as well, though Benbenek is still not letting her guard down.

“This [experience] shined a light on the fragility of our supply chain, and how we shouldn’t have all our eggs in one basket,” she says. “We’ve since focused on backup plans and diversification.”

Here’s how she’s worked to future-proof the way Blueberry and Third businesses:

1. Have a plan B.
   “In case we ever encounter another manufacturing issue: We now have another producer in Milwaukee. Their facility is one million square feet, so they can handle a lot of manufacturing. It would require a higher quantity order, and it was expensive to onboard with them as a very small, three-year-old bootstrapped business, but now we’re covered.”
2. Start keeping inventory.
   “Because we’re still a young business, we didn’t hold any inventory until recently. Everything was made to order, so when our manufacturer terminated us, we really had nothing. It wasn’t until April 2026 that we started holding inventory. We pride ourselves on our quality products, and we didn’t want to make any sacrifices.”
3. Prepare for the next phase of growth — now.
   “I feel settled now, but there will always be some new problem. From what I hear, the work that gets you from zero to $1 million in revenue is not what is going to get you from $1 million to $5 million in growth, or from $5 million to $10 million. So while I don’t know what the path forward looks like, I already have a job description written up, so I’m ready for the next step whenever it’s time.”