A trip to China helped a Hoosier couple build their family -- and a new family business.

While there in 2005 to pick up Josie, their adopted daughter, Robin and Shannon Wise bought 17 pairs of locally made shoes for her. The stylish footwear was such a hit back home in Fishers, the Wises decided to return to China a year and a half later to ship some of the shoes back to Indiana to sell. The result of their unlikely retail success story is Bugaboo shoes.

"We thought it would take a year to sell them," said Robin of their initial order of 1,000 pairs of the shoes with the ladybug logo -- a good luck symbol in China. Shannon nodded in agreement, then shook his head. "We sold out in six weeks," he said.

Bugaboo Shoe Co., launched in July 2006 with $8,000 of the Wises' own savings and based in their home, is booming. The staff of seven -- including the Wises and five sales reps -- hustles to fill orders for stores as well as on their Web site: www.bugabooshoes.com.

The shoes -- which come in 17 styles and different colors and cost $28 to $45 -- are sold in more than 100 stores in three dozen states, as well as the United Kingdom and Australia. That initial order of 1,000 pairs turned into 12,000 the first year of business.

"We are growing at such a rapid rate that all revenue is immediately put back into new shoe designs, or more orders of our current styles just to meet demand," Robin said, although she declined to release revenues.

This kind of sudden success is rare. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, seven of 10 small businesses fail within the first three years.

Susan Davis, regional director of the Hoosier Heartland Small Business Development Center and the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship at Purdue University, warned not every new business owner should expect the same success as Bugaboo.

"This is a great success story. I congratulate them. But I wouldn't recommend it for most people," she said. "It is highly important to have a plan. . . . It's easy to jump in, but it doesn't mean you're doing it right."

Before launching their business, the Wises did some research and consulted a focus group. They learned what was needed: a breathable, durable and affordable shoe that moves naturally with the foot.

So what did they do next? They hopped on a plane to Shanghai with loose plans to meet suppliers. The next day, they found themselves in a 10-by-10 room for three hours while wading through shoe samples.

Californian Rebecca Wolpinsky said she "instantly fell in love with the shoes" after meeting the Wises while in Indiana this year. Her daughter has worn them ever since.

That love-at-first-sight reaction has made the shoes an "easy sell" for Kathy Riley, a sales pro with 28 years of experience, who has been selling Bugaboo Shoes as the Indiana sales representative for about a year.

"It's been wonderful," she said. "I just take all the samples into the store, and they fall in love with them. They're too darn cute."

About 90 percent of Bugaboo's revenues come from wholesale sales to clients such as children's boutiques, hospital gift shops and even a few Hallmark stores.

Jackie Pantella, owner of Little Women on Indianapolis' Northwestside, said she never planned to sell shoes in her children's clothing boutique. But when she saw the products and met Robin Wise, she knew the shoes would be a good fit.

"First of all, they are priced really well," Pantella said. "I also loved giving recognition to someone in town. . . . My customers love them."

It's been a lot of work running Bugaboo, especially since the Wises have full-time jobs: Shannon, 35, owns his own business, Core Wellness Center in Fishers, and Robin is a special education teacher at the Carmel High School Freshman Center.

Some days last 16 to 18 hours as the Wises struggle to run their startup, juggle regular jobs and be good parents for Josie, now 4.

"We come home, eat dinner, put Josie to bed, and then we pack and fill orders at night until about 10," Robin said. "Owning a small business means a lot of work, period."

It's a lot of work all right, but it can be exciting, too.

"It's fun to get a sale online," Shannon said. "I'll run downstairs to grab the shoes, and Robin will yell down, 'We just got another one!' "