It starts with an idea. A product or service that you think would be cool. Then the search to see if it exists. You just don’t find it. Not there. Or, what is there is nothing like the picture you have in your head. So, you think through what it would take to create it. Most people get exhausted by what it would take. An entrepreneur gets excited.
So, it was for Samantha Sirota (nee Kaplan) in 2010. She was bored and restless in her job after college as a graphic designer and thought back to her high school days when she volunteered at a local farmer’s market. She believed that all kids should eat more organic fruit and vegetables. She knew a few farmers. She figured she could deliver boxes to schools weekly and the parents could take them home at pickup time.
She started from a card table in her parent’s house, with $10,000 in savings, a pretty good plan and lots of grit. She grew Good Box Organics into a thriving business delivering hundreds of boxes each week to schools through out the L.A. area. Along the way, she married her boyfriend Mark who of course got drawn into the business, expanded to 12 employees, bought 5 vehicles, added more refrigerated space to her location, got a line of credit and was profitable every year.
Then COVID hit and schools shut down. They pivoted. They had begun to deliver boxes to individuals who were not school related, so they had some idea of cost, but now had to completely revamp their delivery system. Samantha found the software, got home addresses from her billing software and worked and reworked the routes. Would families accept a delivery fee? Could they get everyone their boxes?
The business did not just continue, it flourished.
Friday, they celebrated their 15th anniversary with their team and a few supporters. As her coach for the last 15 years, I was delighted to attend.