Minnesota

From leashes to harnesses, sweatshirts and bandanas, Lucy & Co. gives Ahmed El Shourbagy and Ashley Paguyo’s customers all the joy of dressing up their fur babies. They built their high-quality dog gear and apparel business, Lucy & Co., to appeal to their “Dogs of Instagram” community on social media. As sales increased, the husband-wife pair turned to Amazon as a selling partner.

“Amazon creates a fair playing field,” said El Shourbagy. “You don’t have to have an enormous ad budget or a big name. If your idea’s good and priced well, it will succeed.”