Polly and James, owners, Tastely Box
Polly and James are the owners of the newly established Tastely Box. Tastely Box was an idea born out of a simple family tradition that started after their two kids were born. Every Christmas Polly would build several surprise-date-night-boxes for the year to come with unique new treats to try. Their love for sweets is almost comparable to their love for each other you could say. Their interest in these new unique candies and snacks they were finding started budding the idea of growing a business together someday, but life continued to get in the way and halt their plans for years. After the pandemic hit, they decided to take a leap of faith and take their someday plans and turned them into reality. During a time when travel was and still is restricted, Polly and James wanted to bring one of the best parts of traveling right to your home — the food! James and Polly’s main goal with their business is to find unique and international candy that isn’t always easily found within Canada. Originally Tastely Box started selling only their uniquely themed curated candy boxes, but since starting six months ago, they have grown into offering a wide selection of individual international goodies and have even opened a storefront of their own.
A few sentences on how you’ve used TikTok for your business and the success you’ve seen because of it
From the moment Tastely Box was officially born, Polly jumped onto TikTok to see if she could use the app to get the word out about their new business. Polly was hesitant as she was concerned, she would be too awkward to make waves for their business on such a rapidly growing platform but was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly TikTok helped them grow and how user-friendly the app was. Within their first two months, TikTok had helped them grow a following of over 10k people. As of today, Polly’s quirky taste test videos and box packing videos have grown their following to over 200k people and counting.
What was your motivation for starting your small business?
We were motivated to start our business because we had grown tired of saying “someday.” When the pandemic hit, we figured it was another setback, but we chose to look at the positive side and take a leap of faith. We knew we had a unique idea, we just never imagined in such a short amount of time it would grow to the lengths it has!
What are some strategies you have found helpful when it comes to running a small business?
Staying on top of your content. Obviously being organized and keeping your mind open to more fun ideas is important but keeping up with your content and social media is super important. People are quick to forget about a business if that business doesn’t find a way to stay top of mind. It also takes a delicate balance when doing this, as people do not like being sold to all day or being annoyed by a business trying to sell to them constantly. You want to make sure when they see your face or brand, they are eager to stop and see what you’re talking about/doing that day.
Which, if any, of the following has been the most difficult aspect in handling your small business over the past year: Marketing/Brand Strategy, Passwords/Security Passcodes, Employee Policies/Relationships with Other Employees
I personally didn’t find any of these things super hard. We’ve been on top of branding and building that brand from the moment we talked about starting this business. We love our employees dearly, and they are wonderful. They know we are beyond grateful for them, respect them, and show our appreciation for them. We knew what kind of bosses we wanted to be because we know if we take care of them, they will look forward to coming to work and enjoy being here.
What are the benefits, both in terms of marketing and resources, of having an account on TikTok?
The biggest benefit to TikTok is that you don’t need a huge following to land on people’s For You pages. Small accounts can blow up with just a single video.
Do you have any advice for people who want to start their own business?
My advice would be to get on TikTok and start growing your brand before you even know your launch date. Let people get to know you, let them see what you’re planning to offer them, and just make it as natural and authentic as possible. Be easy on yourself though! You may not blow up overnight and that is okay! Learn the app, take inspiration (don’t copy), don’t push sales by throwing pity parties, and let videos fail – it’s going to happen.
Share some of the best and worst parts of being a small business owner!
Best part of being a small business owner is being your own boss – BUT it’s a double-edged sword too. You will be working ALL. THE. TIME. There are days where you start running on empty and must learn to take a step back and breathe – even when a customer is demanding your attention in that moment. You must take time for yourself but finding that balance is a huge challenge.
