Today’s guest launched a custom gift boxing company alongside two friends in LA after struggling to find a personalized gift for an unexpectedly hospitalized friend. Since 2014, she and the other founders of Boxfox have distributed over 30,000 gift boxes to recipients in more than 20 countries and are on target to hit $2 million in 2017. They feature gifts for all occasions, including a variety of brands and even give the option to build your own box! So welcome to the podcast, Chelsea Moore!
WHAT YOU WILL HEAR IN THIS PODCAST:
- First steps to starting a company
- A few mistakes that have been made throughout the journey of BoxFox
- How to get large brands to partner with your company
- How to stand out against competition
First steps to start a company
When Chelsea and her co-founders knew that they had to make their vision of BoxFox come to life, they began to take steps to starting the company. First, they bought a domain began to work on a website. Once Chelsea quit her full-time job, things began to move quickly and she was able to get all of the correct licenses and insurance that was needed. It is best to get all of your ducks in a row as the first step. Sometimes going back and doing things the correct way can be a headache and take hours of extra work. After getting all of the business side organized, then they decided on a launch date, perfected the website, and began to reach out to form relationships with vendors to provide products for the boxes.
Mistakes throughout the journey of creating BoxFox
In the beginning, before all three co-founders were able to quit their full-time jobs, Chelsea hired temporary help to assist with extra tasks. However, this was difficult because sometimes the person hired was not cut out for the job. Chelsea has since then changed the way she hires new members to the team. Now, a slower hiring process and vetting each and every applicant has proved to make sure the people that are hired are the best fit for the team. With a team of only 12, hiring is so important because people are not just motivated by money, they are motivated by feeling cared for a committed to a team. Chelsea also made the mistake of taking customer service complaints personally. Now, Chelsea and her team are not feeling bogged down by complaints, although they care so much about their product, they now focus on working hard to please their customers and make sure they feel heard.
How to get large brands to partner with your company
Kate Spade, Rifle Paper Co, and Sprinkles are just a few of the products that BoxFox offers as options for their products. After getting a few smaller companies on board, Chelsea began to send a presentation of their overall vision to larger companies and then a few big name companies were on board to partner with them as well. It is important to build the relationships with the reps for each of the different companies. Another idea is to hold interviews with the founders of the companies, because most companies have great stories! BoxFox chooses the brands they work with based on gifts they would like to give their friends, products that are well-designed, useful and pretty!
How to stand out against competition
With more and more custom gift box companies out there, BoxFox does a great job of standing out. BoxFox was first to have the Build-A-Box BoxFox platform, a way customers could pick and choose which products to send as a gift. Chelsea and her team also really wanted BoxFox to be elevated by the brands that they carry, but at the same time accessible to everyone. The boxes range from $25-$500 and all still maintain the aesthetics and presentation of high quality, thoughtful gifts. Hand-written notes are also a great personal touch that makes BoxFox stand out!
“True kindness lies in the act of giving without expecting anything in return.” Thanks everyone for listening and always remember that Mistakes Make Magic.
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