LITTLE CURRENT—Sometimes moms come up with some great ideas, but putting ideas into action is where the rubber really meets the road. Island entrepreneur Vanessa Glasby credits her mother with planting the seed that led to her launching The Good Stuff Box, a monthly subscription service that focusses on delivering a quarterly package of “quality lifestyle” products with positive social origins such as Tumeric Teas, Smear Naturals foodstuffs and Didi Bahini Tibetan Jewelry.
“(The idea) came from my mom,” said Ms. Glasby. “She had purchased a subscription box for me for Christmas. It was a similar concept, but American-based.”
Ms. Glasby really liked the products she was getting in the mail each quarter, but when the import charges, shipping and other ancillary costs were factored in, it proved to be a product too far when it came to renewing the subscription. “For me living here in Ontario, the value just wasn’t there,” she said.
“My mom said ‘why don’t you make a Canadian version of the same design’,” recalled Ms. Glasby. That ignited a flurry of activity by Ms. Glasby as she began researching how to go about creating a “quality lifestyle subscription exclusive to customers in Canada.”
“It’s been an idea for about a year,” she said. “I have been actively working on it for about six to eight months.”
The journey took the 26-year-old entrepreneur, who holds a Master’s degree in philanthropy and non-profit management, on a journey that included meetings with the Regional Business Centre in Sudbury, courses in business and appearing before a panel of four judges who gauged the viability of her business plan. “I applied and was accepted into the Starter Company Plus program at the Regional Business Centre,” she said. “I travelled into Sudbury once a week from August to January.”
She explained that the Starter Company Plus program provides mentoring, training and the opportunity of a grant up to $5,000 to start, grow or buy a small business. The program provides: training and business skills development to help prepare participants in running their own business; advice and mentorship from local industry leaders; assistance in writing a comprehensive business plan to better position participants in obtaining financing; and a micro-grant to kick off a new or expanding business.
Eligible participants for the Starter Company Plus program must be a minimum 18 years of age; proposing a new company, expansion of an existing company or buying a business from a retiring entrepreneur; not a full time student and not returning to school; a resident of Ontario; a Canadian citizen or permanent resident; and prepared to attend weekly meetings for the entire length of the program (approximately four months).
The Grant Committee will determine whether and how much funding the applicant should receive based on the feasibility of the business; quality of applicant—teachability, entrepreneurial aptitude; potential for job creation; start-up budget/financing needs of the business; and cash/in-kind contributions of the participant.
“So I applied for the start-up funding and received a $5,000 grant,” said Ms. Glasby. “The applicant has to come up with one quarter of the amount that they put in, but that can come from my hours (in-kind).” It wasn’t too hard to come up with where she put her own “skin in the game.”
“I did have a lot of inventory to buy, so I have a lot more in it than that,” she laughs.
The first boxes are slated to ship in March and can be ordered online. “The base cost is $54.95 a carton, that’s if you purchase one box,” she said. But the better deal comes when you order a full year subscription of four boxes. “You can pre-pay for the year at $199.95,” she said. “That’s a savings of $20.”
The bonus for Ms. Glasby in the discount? “It helps me better gauge my inventory,” she said, not to mention helping with cashflow.
Shipping comes at a flat rate for anywhere in Canada, but Island subscribers (or others for that matter) can opt for local pickup and save the shipping costs.
Ms. Glasby is the assistant manager at Little Current’s Island Jar and her bricks and mortar location where she assembles the Good Stuff Boxes is located upstairs. With the post office located just across the street, shipping is well facilitated too.
“The Island Jar has been very supportive,” said Ms. Glasby.
As for what subscribers can expect to find in the boxes, “health and lifestyle products,” said Ms. Glasby. “Some food items, tea and coffee.”
“All of the products are Canadian and I did a lot of research to be sure that the companies involved all have a component of giving back,” she said. “I always have intended for there to be a charity portion of the business.” To that end, she is including a “Good Stuff Box” sticker that people can purchase for $1. “You can put it on your phone, laptop or whatever,” she said. “That money will go toward a different charity. I am open to suggestions as to what charity I should pick for that each time.” The first charity will be the ZLT Hope Homes, a Kenyan-based organization founded in 2003 by Jacqueline Villeneuve, a friend of Ms. Glasby. The organization provides a home to 27 orphaned and abandoned children from all backgrounds. In 2019, ZLT Hope Homes plans to expand to provide rescue and a safe home environment to children who are survivors of childhood sexual abuse in an effort to address the alarming numbers of sexual assault cases among children below the age of 11 across Kenya.
Ms. Glasby said that she hopes her business will expand to the point where she will be able to hire employees as well.
So far the Good Stuff Box subscriptions are going well, notes Ms. Glasby. For more information or to subscribe to the program, or even to just snag one of the Good Stuff stickers to support a worthy charity, log in to goodstuffbox.ca online and check it out.
