CandySwag - Sell Project

CandySwag is a unique personalized candy gifting business serving corporate clients as well as B2C customers.

With $23,224 in TTM revenue and $3,587 in TTM profit, this is a business that we started in December 2021. This a simple and fun way for companies to send gifts to their employees, suppliers, or customers. By providing gift-recipients the ability to select the candy of their choice, we are able to ensure that the gift is personalized and thus appreciated. Not only does this deliver high ROI to the gifter, but it also leaves us with attractive margins.

-> $23,224 in TTM revenue

-> $3,587 in TTM profit

-> $1,426 in revenue last month

-> $301 in profit last month

After six months of research and testing during the soft launch, we revamped our custom-built website in July 2022 and have quickly seen the success of our business model through the positive feedback received from our customers. Most of our business has come from corporate clients.

In the six months of July to December 2022, the store generated a total revenue of $19,710 and a gross profit of $9,517. These trial orders included clients in different industries including large companies like Baker McKenzie, Oracle, JLL, Merck, Verizon, Northwell Health, and more. We also established revenue-sharing partnerships during this time with leading companies in the employee appreciation and rewards industry, such as HALO, SnackMagic, Wishlist, Xoxoday, Perks Showcase, and more. We also were exhibitors at PERKSCon - The Employee Experience Expo in San Francisco in September 2022. These initiatives have helped us build our pipeline for future revenue opportunities by integrating us deeper into the industry.

We have established relations with a wide network of suppliers from the US and Europe to ensure a reliable and constant supply of gourmet candy that is receiving high compliments from customers for the exotic flavors and premium quality that clearly makes it stand out against alternatives. As compared to competitors, our focus on positioning our selection more towards gourmet European flavors which makes us stand out in the market. Our supply chain allows us to be very responsive to customer feedback and be agile with our inventory management, which means we can keep updating our catalog while avoiding wastage.

Within the corporate gifting space, we have created a niche that allows us to operate with limited warehousing and capital requirements. Because gifts are ordered before they are redeemed, we have ample lead time to prepare for incoming orders. We thus operate without the pressures typical within e-commerce. Moreover, our return rate is 0% (no gift recipient ever returns a box of candy) and that means we have eliminated something that is a major drag on operations and profitability for most web retailers.

After a decent start with the holiday season in 2022 we, unfortunately, had to pause since one of the primary business partners who manages operations cannot continue due to a sudden health episode in the family. Instead of looking for a new operations partner, I as the financial partner have decided to sell the business to someone who can take over the operations and help the business achieve its full potential. We have set an asking price based on the growth potential and replacement cost. But we are open to negotiating if we find the right buyer.

Business model and pricing:

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We generate revenues through sales of our gift-boxes on our website and through sales on partner networks.

We offer 4 gift sizes -

2-pick: $25

4-pick: $35

8-pick: $60

16-pick: $100

While individual gifts can be purchased and sent, our primary customers have been businesses that place large orders for corporate events, employee appreciation days, birthdays, holidays, etc.