Launching A Business

July’s GLOW event, led by BOXFOX Co-Founder @itssabena was focused on launching a business. Sabena and her two friends started BOXFOX in 2014 with a clear mission: to bring gifting into the 21st century—creating stronger relationships through personal gifts, powered by the simplest user experiences. Flash forward to today, the startup has shipped over 75k boxes, generated $2.2m in annual sales, is widely recognized within the consumer and corporate gifting world, and most recently, Sabena and her 2 female co-founders were named to Forbes magazine's 30 under 30 list. Sabena shared her story and journey of how she got started and what she’s learned along the way.

As a business owner, you have decisions to make: Do you perfect every detail or only the things that really move the needle? Do you focus on what your competitors are doing or what your clients need? Do you raise money or do you bootstrap?

“Don’t focus on competitors stealing your ideas. Focus on how you can continuously innovate & stay market-leading - then, they’ll never catch you”

—Sabina Suri

Taking the first step can be the hardest part to starting a business, but @itssabena laid out 4 simple steps to follow when getting started:

Just start

Build a business plan - even if you don’t use it - it creates accountability and focus.

Hustle

Keep it a side hustle until you hit your inflection point. Do what feels right to you, not what others think is right.

Focus on action, not perfection

Know that you won’t get everything perfect from day one, just get started. Part of being an entrepreneur is going with your gut, then if you’re wrong, you have something to fix.

Surround yourself with people you trust

You can hire for skillset, so pick your co-founders and early employees based on a shared belief, culture and vision.

In addition to insights, strategies and learnings from the past 5 years, Sabena shared her one piece of advice she would give to her younger self if she did it all over again: “Don’t only focus on what’s next, enjoy every step of the journey.”