24 Oct Of all the things .. why gift-giving?
In the year 2000, as I was finishing up school at BYU, and my roommate Penny was starting her first job out of college. All I knew is that I wanted to start a business. You see, my first passion was business in general and it wasn’t until later that I figured out my second passion. I was researching franchises at the time when a friend of mine, who was a real estate agent, mentioned the need in the market for somewhere to purchase closing gifts for new home buyers.
This was not an idea of which I had ever thought. But it didn’t take long to do the research and find out that he was right. There was a gap in the market, and we started to love the idea of creating a gift company. Nothing seemed much more satisfying than the idea of being able to help individuals and businesses do a better job one at thanking and recognizing the efforts of those around them. We jumped right in and launched our business within five months. While the passion is still the same, the business looks a whole lot differently now.
So why, are we so passionate about gift giving? And how do we maintain that level of passion 18 years later? It’s because the company was founded by a couple of “pleasers”. That’s not a good thing, but it makes sense as to why we love when people receive gifts. As recovering “pleasers” ourselves, we know how important it is that you feel like you’re making a difference and that people notice. What you may not realize is that you’re always making a difference. In everything you do, and every aspect of your life, you make a difference! We soon realized the place where we saw this lack of recognition the most was in the workplace, and we knew our job was to assist businesses in doing more than “pats on the back” and “attaboys”. And we will be the first to say that a gift isn’t always the answer — some times other forms of recognition are better suited. But when a gift is the right choice, we wanted to be the absolute best solution.
In today’s marketplace, in theory anyone who wants a job can get a job, and there are oodles of places people can go for the type of service or product they need. This makes the process of properly thanking people that much more important. I’m so glad Penny agreed to quit her job 18+ years ago so we could start this incredible journey. Eventually we moved out of college housing, (even bought our own homes), and we are so glad we made it through those toughest first years. Looking back, we can now say we were crazy, but I am glad we were young and naive enough not to realize it.
If looking to start a business, ask yourself it it means something, has the potential to make a difference, and if you have enough passion to get through the no income phase. Ugh! If you work within an organization that does a great job at thanking clients and recognizing employees, please share with us how and what they do. Kudos to all companies that have figured that out. And if you own a company or work in one that needs a boost in this area, I hope you’ll look to us as a possible partner in gifting. #giftingisgood