Box of Protein

My wife and I formed Box of Protein (or BOP as we've been known to call it ourselves) in December 2015 when we saw a gap in the market generated by our own lifestyle and interests. Protein bars and snacks were becoming increasingly popular and occasion gift boxes were everywhere, but there was a gap in the market for a gift box for your friend or family member who eats well and prefers not to receive high-calorie gifts. Or a thank you present to your personal trainer, coach or client. Or even a Father's Day present that isn't socks, chocolate or a mug!

I saw an opportunity to create something I hadn’t seen before and i also wanted to learn about eCommerce and running a business.

Due to its success, my wife and I can no longer continue with the business at its current pace as it is becoming difficult for us to manage in the space we have in our home. We still fulfill all the orders ourselves from a spare room, whilst having full time jobs and other businesses. We are also planning to start a family soon which would impact on our time and space even further. We feel it would be best to sell at this point so that someone else can take it to the next level.

This business is ready to go for anyone; you can still run this from your home part time, and even better, full time but progressing to a small unit/warehouse would capitalise on its current progress and easily increase order capacity. Having more space (than a small second bedroom like we do) would also significantly reduce your costs as you would be able to buy stock and packaging materials in much bigger quantities at better prices.

The running of the business follows a simple model:

1. Preparation (quarterly)
2. Bulk purchase stock from the wholesaler (we have accounts with three)
3. Pre-make XX amount of S,M & L gift boxes.
4. Hold back a range of items for adding to Shopify stock inventory for build-your-own boxes or individual item purchases.
5. Update gift box inventories and product inventories on Shopify.

6. Add new items to Shopify (if required).

7. Sale

8. Package gift box with relevant gift paper, message (if selected) and front of box design label. (Gift paper and label can also be added at step 1 if preferred.)

9. Or pick items selected by the customer for a build-your-own or individual item(s) purchase.

10. Package and label ready for shipping.

11. Drop to preferred parcel handler.

12. Administration

13. Check and respond to emails from customers.

14. Mailshot promotions to the mailing list (seasonal gifts or new items)

15. Automate Ad Campaigns (already in place)

16. Social posts (optional)

17. Ordering of packing materials (boxes, gift paper, mailing bags etc)

Time commitment to the business:

1. Preparation time
2. Ordering stock - 1 hour every quarter
3. Pre-make gift boxes - approx. 2 hours to create 50 gift boxes
4. Update gift box Shopify inventory - 5 minutes
5. Update product Shopify inventory - 5-60 minutes dependent on inventory quantity.

6. Add new products to Shopify - 30 minutes per product.

7. Sales time

8. Sale of 20 pre-made gift boxes per day - 45 minutes to pick and pack.

9. Sale of a build-your-own box - 5-8 minutes to pick and pack depending on the number of items.

10. Administration time

11. 0-20 minutes per day

There is so much this store can achieve! Simply upping the ads would increase the daily sales. Having a small unit or an extra person on board would allow this to skyrocket, but there are also many other things that can boost sales:

• More social media presence – competitions, engagement, more use of stories (we just don’t have enough time at the moment due to our full-time jobs and personal lives.)
• SEO tweaks (there may be a lot more ways to boost organic reach)
• The use of influencers
• Increase ad spend
• Utilise Facebook ads
• Utilise a unit/warehouse to increase the volume of stock/sales
• Grow the team to allow for a higher volume of sales

Not really, just the basic skills of customer service, work ethic and maybe some knowledge in creating images for the site. (However, this can easily be achieved using a simple white backdrop and Canva if you're not skilled in Photoshop.)

The Shopify store is set up so that only minor amendments are required to keep the site current.

The beauty of this business is that the majority of it works for itself.