When mother-and-daughter team Kellie and Kristi Wright founded Golden Hello in April 2019, they envisioned a company that would take the guesswork out of gifting while elevating the gift. Today, they offer high-quality, exciting, and relevant items presented in their signature Golden Hello gift boxes for corporate clients and special occasions.
Here’s how an SBA Microloan through Pursuit is helping them take their vision – and their sales – to the next level.
Blending skills and experiences
As family and business partners, Kellie and Kristi are as close-knit as a team can get, but it wasn’t just a desire to work together that led to Golden Hello.
“Kristi and I were successful in our previous roles, but we also experienced firsthand the shortcomings of climbing the typical corporate ladder as our lives evolved,” Kellie says. Together, they brought years of design insight, sales experience, and business and financial management to the table. Kellie’s husband, Leonard, also helps with shipping and logistics.
Although they’d initially launched a different business in 2017, it wasn’t long before they identified an unmet need: From their corporate jobs, they knew that many well-intentioned employee-appreciation programs lack consistency, relevance, and style. They also projected tremendous opportunities in gift-box services – and when they created Golden Hello to fill this niche, they knew they could deliver a vastly improved experience.
Creating and curating a gift-box niche
Kellie says that today, about 80 percent of their business comes from corporate clients who find them online through their website and social media channels. Once the initial contact is made, though, Kellie says, “Kristi and I work personally with each client to build a custom-curated gift-box strategy.”
Their hands-on attention receives rave reviews and great publicity, which has helped to get them to this next stage of business development.
“This is our planned year for growth,” Kellie says, “and that’s what motivated us to seek out a small business loan, because to secure large corporate contracts, we had to scale up our inventory.”
Leveraging networks
Kellie says that networking and consistent involvement in local, national, and international business-development organizations have been essential to growth. She cites their participation in BNI (Business Networking International), for example, as both a source of information and a source for business leads.
Involvement in the local business community is also how they met Pursuit Vice President Jim Bilotta. “Jim and I served on the Fairport Chamber of Commerce together. When he joined Pursuit, he reached out – and when we needed a loan, we didn’t hesitate to contact him,” Kellie says.
Great terms for growth
Kellie and Kristi were familiar with the advantages of SBA loans for small businesses, and when Jim introduced them to options available through Pursuit, they knew that the SBA Microloan would be a great fit. SBA Microloans offer financing from $10,000 to $50,000, quick turnaround times from application to funding, and terms that make it easier to budget for repayment.
“The loan terms were so much better with the SBA Microloan than other loans we explored, and the loan process was easy and fast,” Kellie says. “It was only about 10 days from when we submitted our application to when we had funds in hand. And Pursuit was terrific to work with, too. Jim’s communication and follow-up were excellent, and he kept the process on track.”
With funds in-hand to increase inventory and working capital for additional opportunities, Kellie says they’re already pitching and securing new accounts.
Pursuit can help you position your business for growth
Knowing many entrepreneurs are reluctant to apply for funding, Kellie says, “Don’t be afraid to take on a loan to make your dream a reality – it’s a sign of success. And don’t give up even if you get turned down – keep trying because someone is there to help you. For us, that was Pursuit, and we won’t hesitate to go back when we need financing again.”
With loan options from $10,000 to $5.5 million, Pursuit can help you get the funding you need to succeed. Take a look at more than 15 small business loan programs, then contact us to learn more.
