Our lives have all been flipped upside down lately due to the global pandemic. Parents who normally send their kiddos to school are especially feeling overwhelmed. While we all love our children and would do anything for them, figuring out how to work a full-time job and tend to every "look mom, look dad" while also ensuring school work is completed and everyone is fed and entertained throughout the day can be quite the challenging balancing act. That's why when we came across sixteen-year-old Myles Ramsay's business, we knew we had to let parents of the BOQ know that there is a solution to help encourage kids to use their imagination and have fun while staying safe at home.
We met up with the FUN-trepreneur himself along with his family to get to know the business and what they offer.
When did you start your business?
Before COVID-19 started, I came up with the idea, then right when the pandemic happened, I thought it would be the perfect chance to get things up and running. I started Buzzbox Fun Kits to solve a problem in the community. I noticed kids were bored and had nothing to do while staying home and I wanted to help.
What was starting a business like?
I thought it would be much more difficult to get started than it was. I learned to take things one step at a time. Our first step was coming up with a name and that only took us 20 minutes. After that, we researched suppliers and went from there. There will always be challenges that come along with being entrepreneur, but you just have to keep going and take it one day at a time.
It's also been helpful that the community has been really supportive. I've gotten some great direction from Luc Fournier at Small Business Centre. I was also accepted into the 2-week online business program in Kingston last summer.
How do you source everything in your boxes? Most items come from wholesalers and the rest from local stores. Right now, we have two wholesale retailers that we order from. Once the items are shipped to us, we pack boxes once a week.
How much do your kits retail for and where do your sales come from? Boxes are $24.99 each. 40% of sales are derived from our Facebook and Instagram traffic to our website. The other 60% is directly from the website. When people visit the website, they can join our mailing list that will send subscribers updates on our new boxes.
How many units have you sold since your business began? We just surpassed 150 boxes so far. What themed boxes do you currently have? We have Unicorn Wishes, Mermaid Magic, Be Your Own Superhero, Backyard Bug Safari, Campfire Kids and our latest box, Trash Can Treasures.
What are the next steps for your business? We have the 7 themes right now, but coming up in the fall/winter, we will be releasing holiday and birthday themed boxes.
Come late August, we are also going to test out shipping. We have requests from local grandparents who want to send kits to their grandchildren who live elsewhere. We currently deliver to the BOQ area with the help of my family. We want to eventually ship all over Canada and the US.
The Side Hustle Market has been a great supporter and we hope to start selling Buzzbox Fun Kits there soon.
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Myles is living proof that you can pursue your dreams at any age. His business came just in time for kids (and parents) in need of a solution to boredom. We wish Myles all the best in developing his business further. Keep up that FUN-ERGY!
If you would like to purchase Buzzbox Fun Kits, visit their website: https://www.buzzboxfunkits.com/
-- Rebeka Roberts