This month I talked to Amy from Party in the Box. Amy shares how her enterprise came about and gives some valuable tips to other work at home entrepreneurs!
Tell us a little about the person behind the business?
My name is Amy. I’m married to my best friend Cal, who I adore, and we have 2 boys, Jesse and Elijah. I enjoy being with my kids, hanging out and celebrating life with friends. I love saving money, ticking things off my to-do list and cooking for my hungry family.
And now a little about the business itself?
Party in the Box launched with a vision to provide Australian families a convenient resource when running birthday parties for their children. Our experiences in hosting parties for our children have been fun, energetic and filled with memories. We remember the hassle of hitting the shops with a theme in mind and finding you can’t find matching invites and plates and you have to buy 50 blue balloons when you only wanted 15. So we decided to do the leg work for families and sell a ‘Party in the Box’ so all you needed to do is add food!
How did you come up with your business name?
We were talking about the concept over dinner with friends and I was saying how I wanted our product to be so simple that it was like a party was in the box. Everything you need to host a party simply delivered in a box to your front door. Working or stay-at-home parents are busy enough, so we wanted to be their hands and feet so birthdays are enjoyable and not stressful.
What made you want to begin a WAH business and how did you get started?
Working from home is the best solution for our family. I love being able to walk my 6-year-old to school and take my 4-year-old to swimming lessons while still running my own business. Flexibility is huge and I also love being my own boss so it’s worked out perfectly for us.
How did I get started? Hundreds of hours of research into our concept, business management, product development, budgets, advertising… and then just taking the risk and investing our money and time into what we believe is a great idea.
What inspires you to keep your business going?
I’m an optimist, so once I came up with the idea for Party in the Box I couldn’t wait to get it off the ground. When I have tough days I ask myself two questions: “Do I believe in our product?” and “Am I enjoying myself?” As long as the answer is ‘yes’ to both of those questions, I know I’m heading in the right direction.
Do you have a current best-selling product or service? If yes, tell us about it.
The beauty of our business is that we don’t sell hundreds of different items that you have to sift through on our website. We sell party supplies in the simplest way we know how. You pick the theme, then your party favour set and the rest is done for you. We’ve spent hours making sure that the balloons match the tablecloths and the invites match the tableware for each theme. We even have game and recipe suggestions as well as themed blogs to make throwing your party as easy as possible. Our most popular themes at the moment are probably Ben 10 for boys and Princess for girls.
How do you advertise your business and which methods have proven more successful?
My favourite is word of mouth. We have given lots of boxes away in competitions because we believe once you experience the simplicity and value of Party in the Box, mums will tell others about it. We also use social media (Facebook and Pinterest), online advertising and I’ve had a few party themed blogs published which has brought new traffic.
How do you juggle your family and your WAH business? Any tips for other WAHPs?
It’s a constant learning curve for me on how to get this balance right. I want to involve my kids in my work. They love it when we get stock deliveries because opening boxes of party supplies is a lot of fun. They make suggestions of new themes to add or new party favours to include. My husband and I work most evenings once they’re asleep (he does all our design) and we make sure we get Tuesday nights off to spend together. I work during the week when the kids are at kinder/ school and sometimes sneak in some work while they’re playing after school or on the weekends.
What advice would you give to anyone wanting to start a WAH business?
Ask yourself the same questions I ask myself – “Do I believe in our product?” and “Am I enjoying myself?” If yes, then take a risk and give it a go!
Do you offer any discounts to Support a WAHP members?
All our games, recipes, blogs and party resources are free on our website. Like us on Facebook to keep up to date with our specials and new party themes.
Name
Amy Revell
Business Name
Party in the Box
Website URL
Facebook URL
Pinterest URL
Location
Beautiful Melbourne, Australia
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