I had this idea in mid-April, as there was not yet a subscription box specifically for rock climbers on the market. I immediately went to work choosing a name, creating a logo, and a website. I set a hard launch date for June 3rd with a promise to ship by June 15th. From there, I began designing and curating products.Once I had all the products sourced, I hit the ground running with getting the word out. I went to 8 different climbing gyms in my area demoed the box to climbers while collecting emails and getting feedback.Our June 15th ship date was fast approaching. I converted my basement into a home office and shipping facility entailing a shipping station that included label printers, scales, and very organized shelving for all our products. Once the official launch occurred on June 3rd, I was blown away! We received over 50 orders in the first few days and by our June 15th launch date, we hit 80 orders. Safe to say I had my work cut out for me.The night of June 13th, my girlfriend and I proceeded to pack and label 80 subscription boxes. This is where the story gets dramatic. I was still missing a shipment of inventory from one of my suppliers, worth around $1000. This was a crucial piece of inventory for the box and I could not send them out without it. Come Monday the 14th, I was getting worried, so I checked the tracking for the shipment and it said Fedex delivered it to my door on Friday at 4pm. Recently, in my part of town, there have been a lot of thefts. I did not want to assume the worst, so I left notes on my neighbors’ doors describing what I was missing and asking if they had received it by accident. One neighbor texted me saying he saw an open box next to the creek by my house with my inventory in it. He showed me where he saw it, but by that time it was gone. This was around 11pm. I came to the conclusion that it was probably stolen and discarded in the area because whoever stole it saw no value in it. So I searched a few dumpsters in the area but couldn’t find it. I went back to the spot where my neighbor said he saw it and heard voices from the homeless encampment 50 yards away. I figured there's a chance someone in this encampment has it, so I had to bargain with them to get it back. I went to the nearest ATM and got out some cash. I then walked into the grouping of tents, trash, and discarded bikes and yelled “who wants to make $10”. Two men and a woman emerged from the tents and asked how. I described the inventory that was stolen from my porch and told them I’ll pay $10 to help me find it. One of the men proceeded to pull the entire box of my inventory from a cooler next to his tent, completely unscathed, and all accounted for. I gave him the $10 and went on my way just thankful that I got my shipment back. By this time it was almost midnight. I was up until 2am packaging the rest of the boxes and delivered all of them to the post office in the morning.Month 1 we did about $5000 in revenue and even turned a profit, and I am very optimistic this will keep growing.Thanks for listening I would love any feedback you have or ideas for growth.Check it out here: theclimbingbox.com see hubwealthy.com/wealthy
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