A snack-related business that relied on subscriptions quickly became a cult success
Quitting our day jobs to start our own business is something that many think about doing. However, few have the courage, much less the determination and perseverance to make it happen.
Read on to find out how one couple turned the cost of a modest investment into a truly unique monthly subscription. why they think the little particulars distinguish them from the other food subscriptions along with their suggestions on how to begin your dream business.
A basic snack subscription that has a an innovative twist
Universal Yums bills itself as an organization that provides "snacks from a different country that are delivered every month." The monthly subscription boxes filled with snacks might not be different, but the main difference in this case is that every month, the boxes are designed with food items that come from different countries.
For example, some of the past boxes have been stuffed to the brim with hand-picked chips, cookies, and chocolates made from Italy, Thailand, Germany, Japan, and France. According to Monique, more than 20 containers have been delivered to date. On the subject of returning to other countries, she states:
It is inevitable that we'll have to repeat some nations. If we have to repeat a country, we'll search for new products, so that although the nation is identical, the product are different.
To find snacks for their boxes of subscription, Monique and Eli go through reputable sources that they've found over their time. Once they've acquired samples, they and their staff taste-test each product to decide if they think it's a good fit for a themed box. It's not possible to guarantee that they'll please everyone's preference, but they will decide between themselves if the product is an accurate representation of the country's flavor and design.
Delicious and tested snacks from the team come together in an annual subscription box that is available in two sizes (minimum of 6 or 12 snacks) accompanied by an informative booklet Monique creates. After that, it's over to subscribers for food enjoyment.
The way a $1000 investment turned into a successful business (and why suited them best)
We asked the owners what inspired them to come up with the idea of Universal Yums, and it was Monique who developed the initial idea. In June of 2014 she created a list with ten business ideas on the lunch break she had at work. Both she as well as Eli were drawn to one of those concepts -- a global snack subscription box -- so much that they decided to start working with it the next night following dinner.
Every one of them put $1,000 from their savings accounts in the beginning of their business which was put towards the site, hosting, initial inventory and also a unique stamp that was used to identify their boxes for shipping. The group "basically did not have any overheads to start," claims Monique.
A post shared via Universal Yums (@universalyums) on December 8 Dec 8 at 2:02pm PST
While researching the various platforms that would be suitable to host the site Eli said he spent quite hours looking for a platform that offered the recurring billing features and front-end control that he was looking for. He eventually found it , and the rest is history:
Eli's greatest challenge was customizing the website to suit his preferences and preferences. He "spent an extended time writing bits of PHP and Javascript as well as a lot of HTML and CSS" But in October of 2014 Universal Yums launched for pre-orders, and the very first shipment was sent out the following December.
Since then, both Monique and Eli have quit their jobs to work on their idea full-time. Universal Yums eventually grew too huge for Eli's house in Cincinnati which is why the duo moved from there to manage the company from a brand new facility in New Jersey. The company now has many employees and Universal Yums has hit seven figures of revenue by the end of this year.
What they've learned from a million in sales, and the reddit hug of death
Growing to one million dollars of sales wasn't easy it took time and lots of work. But the business did have a little help from an unexpected source: Reddit.
Eli posted the site to r/shutupandtakemymoney in 2014, resulting in roughly 200 orders almost immediately -- what Monique later called her first "this is going to work out" moment.
In the latter part of 2016, Monique ran an AMA ("ask me anything") regarding the company. The influx of visitors as well as new users completely wiped out the site in about 30-minutes (jokingly called the "reddit embrace of death"):
It's funny, because I was so caught up solving the first question that I didn't even realize the extent of it. [...] I went to Google Analytics and saw that there were thousands of concurrent users.
The website was (and it is) hosted with WP Engine; even with only a little notice, they managed to complete an emergency transfer to bring the site in operation. Good on them!
Apart from being well-prepared for the crushing flooding of visitors when posting in popular subreddits Eli states that Universal Yums has learned that it's those small things that differentiate them from other businesses. There are competitors but Universal Yums follows its own unique mission: to educate their customers about countries, cultures, and the world in a refreshing and interesting way.
One of the ways that they achieve this is by providing helpful booklets that are included in each box. Monique is the one who create and design the booklets, which provide historical and trivia about the country as well as details about the food items. Says Eli:
"Monique" wanted to grow her writing skills, and initially, the booklets provided a fantastic opportunity to help her achieve that. Today, they're an enormous asset to our business because they give us an abundance of fascinating and interesting information about our country every month.
Monique also notes that many of the items included in their box were never exported to North America. This exposes their subscribers to foods they may be unable to sample without having to pay for large quantities or waiting for a long time for an import.
The little pieces and bits all add up to something that cannot be found anywhere else that's so delicious and entertaining as it is instructive.
Eli recommends to anyone who's following the same path to pay attention to your own personal details.
You can add your own "unique" touch to whatever you're selling. Anyone can put something into a container and attempt to sell it online. What can you do that will make your business more successful?
Do you create a written thank-you note to accompany each purchase? Wrap your items in white tissue paper? Place a complimentary stick of gum in every package? The tiny details matter - way more than you imagine!
They offer their top advice to potential entrepreneurs
We reached out to Monique and Eli for some more of their top tips for those thinking about starting a business of their own, whether a subscription model or otherwise. The best advice was actually a reddit AMA that Monique and Eli participated in, where Monique discussed savings by using the DIY route in the beginning of their venture:
Find out how you can do it all yourself, unless you absolutely can't. We outsourced almost nothing, as well as saving the company money, it enabled us to make more informed decisions about how to outsource it in the future.
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They both shared some of the mistakes they'd made early on including not communicating with suppliers, to not having any experience in eCommerce. The biggest error Monique made that she learned from was not waiting long enough for someone to be hired to assist in the running of the business:
It took us a long time for our first hire. The result was that we felt like were behind constantly because we didn't take anything off our plates.
There's a delicate equilibrium between the task at hand and having someone help you. Monique's best advice? Do it yourself first to be sure you understand the work entails, then you'll have a better feeling about passing it over.
This subscription-based snack business is an example to all of us.
We're truly amazed by how Monique and Eli took a lunchtime business idea all the way to subscription-based business that has earned Seven figures. If you've been thinking about trying something like this then let the success in the case of Universal Yums be the inspiration you need to give it the chance!
What do you think about what you think of the Universal Yums story? Are you running a subscription company of your own you'd like to share? We're open to comments and we'd like to get in touch with you.
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