How clever Sydney woman, 30, turned a dog accident into a booming business that’s made as much as $5,000 in one day

When Sydney woman Olivia Tilley’s beloved dog Piper rolled in a smashed bottle of expensive perfume, she initially had every reason to be horrified.

But after realising her spoodle smelled surprisingly good, the mishap planted the seed for a business idea that is now helping the 30-year-old pay for her dream three-day wedding.

Liv launched dog fragrance and grooming brand Pawfumery in mid-2024 after the accidental encounter with a bottle of Le Labo Santal inspired her to create a luxury perfume experience specifically for pets.

What began as a passion project has since grown into a thriving side hustle, with Liv selling at markets across Sydney, online and through wholesale customers, including a growing customer base in the US.

On her best day online, the business turned over $5,000 after being promoted in an online dog group.

And with Liv and her fiancé James preparing to tie the knot in May 2027, the extra income has come at exactly the right time.

The couple are planning an elaborate $130,000 celebration in regional Queensland, and Liv said the business has given them the extra cash flow to cover everything from vendor deposits and decorations to their platinum wedding bands.

‘Rather than us constantly just depleting a savings account, or waiting for that next pay check to hit, we just get that rhythm to be able to sustain it,’ she told Daily Mail.

The accident that started it all

Before Pawfumery, Liv was a director of a contract manufacturing company specialising in private-label skincare and fragrance products.

Despite running her own company, she said there were weeks when she wasn’t earning enough herself because she was focused on paying everyone else first.

The demanding role was also taking its toll, and she craved something fun and positive to work on outside her high-pressure day job.

‘My spoodle, Piper, walked through a smashed bottle of Le Labo Santal, which broke my heart in different ways, because it was so expensive,’ Liv recalled.

But Piper smelt so good for the days following that Liv, who already had experience in fragrance manufacturing, immediately saw potential.

Working with dogs was ‘fun’ and offered an escape from the pressures of her existing business while potentially bringing in some extra cash.

And even though her partner thought she was ‘crazy’, Liv was convinced there was a market for pet owners wanting something more elevated than traditional dog grooming products.

How she got her business off the ground

While dog perfume might sound like a simple novelty, getting Pawfumery off the ground was anything but cheap.

Liv poured $15,000 of her savings into laboratory testing, formula and fragrance development and ensuring the products were shelf stable and suitable for dogs.

‘I say it’s a passion project. It was a passion project that took, honestly, at that point, all my savings.’

Creating the perfume spritz proved particularly difficult because Liv wanted it to resemble a luxury fragrance while being formulated differently from perfumes designed for humans.

Rather than relying heavily on ethanol, which Liv said could dry a dog’s skin and coat, the spritz is primarily water-based.

Getting it right took ‘blood, sweat and tears’, with failed samples arriving cloudy, containing visible oil droplets or smelling too strongly of alcohol.

There were expensive mistakes too, with Liv estimating one failed batch could cost around $2,500 in wasted product, packaging, time and labour.

But once the base formula was perfected, she was able to develop new scents.

Pawfumery currently has four fragrances, with the range set to double to eight this year, alongside dog washes and its hero perfume spritzes.

From Sydney markets to the US

Liv initially focused on wholesale but later pivoted towards selling directly to customers after finding the retail model was creating more stress than she had anticipated.

She currently still works as a digital marketer in the fine jewellery industry by day before switching her attention to her side-hustle after hours and on weekends.

Markets have become a major part of the business, allowing Liv to meet customers and their dogs face-to-face and receive instant feedback.

The unusual concept is also finding an audience far beyond Australia, with her products now selling into the US and enjoying particularly strong interest around New York and Boston.

How it’s helping fund her three-day dream wedding

The timing couldn’t be better for Liv and James, who met on Bumble almost a decade ago.

They will marry on May 28, 2027, exactly 10 years after their first date.

With family scattered across the UK, US and Australia, the pair decided that if loved ones were going to travel for their wedding, they wanted to turn it into a proper celebration.

They settled on a three-day event in near Toowoomba in Queensland’s Darling Downs, where they are planning a ‘festival vibe’ celebration complete with guest accommodation, entertainment, food, drinks and shuttle buses for guests.

‘We knew we wanted to make it a really awesome three-day kind of festival and get everyone together,’ Liv said of the extensive planning.

Of course, three days of celebrations also means three days of expenses.

Pawfumery’s earnings have helped provide a financial buffer without forcing the couple to continually dip into their wedding savings.

Liv recalled recently finding a good price on the platinum wedding rings she and James wanted and being able to purchase them immediately using money from a market.

The additional income also means they haven’t had to completely put their lives on hold while saving for the wedding.

‘We didn’t want to have to say no to everything,’ Liv said, adding that the side hustle has allowed them to ‘have our cake and eat it a bit’.

Liv’s grand plans for the business

Despite its growth, Liv isn’t necessarily dreaming of quitting her day job and turning the business into another high-pressure company.

Instead, she wants to see how far she can take the brand while continuing to enjoy it as a passion project.

Eventually, she could even see herself handing the reins to someone equally passionate who could bring new energy to the brand.

For now, she is expanding the fragrance collection and developing a broader grooming range, including brushes and more of the brand’s unexpectedly popular dog bathrobes.

And for anyone sitting on an unconventional side-hustle idea, her advice is simple.

‘Give it a go,’ she said.

‘I think we all care too much what our friends and family or those closest to us think… If you’ve had an idea, probably someone thinks the same as you, so just get there first.’