by Start a secondary agitation? It might be advantageous for you to find co-founders who have something you don’t.
Courtesy of Platterful
That’s what Ryan Culver, Caroline Elston and Lowell Bieber, the Indiana-based friends behind deli subscription service Platterful, discovered when they teamed up to launch their business last year — and made $40,000 in the first month.
Culver and Bieber previously teamed up on a health and wellness subscription box, which they successfully scaled and sold in September 2020.
This time around, Culver’s experience in logistics and shipping and Bieber’s expertise in operations proved to be the perfect combinations with Elston’s experience in digital marketing and business. boom in charcuterie.
Entrepreneur sat down with the trio to learn how they built their meat and cheese side-hustle — and continue to fuel its growth.
Related: Meats, Cheeses and Olives, Oh My! How this veteran started a successful deli franchise
“We really had no idea how to put things together properly – certainly not how to create a board.”
Culver and Bieber wanted to launch another subscription service after their first sold out, and recognizing the gap in deli offerings, saw a prime opportunity.
“We definitely wanted to repeat the subscription model,” Culver says. “We could have created this brand [that had] standalone products that you could buy, which we also offer. But the heart of the business is really tied to this subscription model. We were both always very interested in the recurring revenue generated each month. It’s almost like a guaranteed buffer to cover the base cost of the business.”
The only problem?
Culver and Bieber knew nothing about the meat and cheese business.
“We had no knowledge of deli meats,” Bieber recalls. “We just knew it was a growing space and we liked to eat meat and cheese. But we really had no idea how to put things together properly – certainly not how to create a plank.”
Image credit: Courtesy of Platterful
Related: How subscription services are changing brand and consumer habits
“Meeting Ryan and Lowell [who already had] all that operational context about the subscription boxes and the execution was like the perfect timing and the perfect marriage.”
Culver and Bieber started looking for someone to help them start their business. Their search led them to Elston, a marketing professional who also operated a pasture table bustle serving events like weddings, birthday parties, bridal showers and more.
“I also like meat and cheese – no surprises there,” says Elston. “I loved cheese platters and bought them in restaurants. They started to spread two or three years ago, so whenever people came to my house or there were family gatherings, I always made a set.”
Elston continued to get creative with her boards in 2020 for her college friends’ 30th birthday celebrations, and when people suggested she go into business for real, she decided to do it. From there, he “caught fire”; Elston made 10 to 15 small boards each weekend in addition to five to six pasture tables for larger events. She was also about to become a mother.
She knew it wasn’t sustainable.
“Meeting Ryan and Lowell [who already had] all that operational context about the subscription boxes and the execution was like the perfect timing and the perfect marriage,” explains Elston, “because it was a way for me to continue this creative outlet that I found and whose I fell in love, but I didn’t. I don’t have to run all over Indianapolis to do it.”
Image credit: Courtesy of Platterful
Related: 12 Highly Rewarding Side Hustles For Creatives
“We took about a month to build our website, and it exploded in December, which was great to see.”
Platterful planned a crowdfunding initiative on Kickstarter to gauge market interest, but had to cancel the campaign at the last minute when the co-founders learned that their business was considered a “resale” – “even though it is much more than that,” Elston says.
But with a quick pivot to Indiegogo, Platterful was back on track.
“Indiegogo has done well,” Bieber says. “And then we took about a month to build our website, and it exploded in December, so it was great to see.”
Platterful made $40,000 in revenue in its first month, and despite being a “very seasonal business” with spikes in popularity around major holidays, it was able to maintain that growth. In December, the company is on track to at least double last December’s earnings.
Culver’s logistics company, Lessgistics, fulfills Platterful’s orders. “So I kind of see both sides of [the process]which is interesting,” he says. “It gives us full control over the shipping experience, which we love.
Image credit: Courtesy of Platterful
Related: Here’s How You Can Grow in the Logistics Industry
“One of our big goals for 2023 is just to make sure our packaging and presentation looks great when customers open it.”
But Platterful’s journey has not been without some challenges. Even though Culver and Bieber had subscription experience, the co-founders faced a new complication: cold shipping.
“Some of the meats are shelf stable, but all of the cheeses need to be refrigerated,” says Bieber. “So we have to make sure they arrive cold, and that [brings] a whole new set of challenges that are frankly quite costly. We had to find a way to still provide good value to customers at an affordable price.”
That means constantly refining Platterful’s packaging.
“We’ve been through six or seven iterations of packaging so far,” Culver says, “and we’re still working on it, continually improving it. One of our big goals for 2023 is just to ensure the look of our packaging and presentation.very pleasing when customers open it.so it has always been kind of a work in progress.
Image credit: Courtesy of Platterful
Related: 5 Creative Packaging Ideas to Delight Your Customers
“[With co-founders] you have other people to lean on – if you’re having a tough day, maybe someone else is having a good day.”
Of course, balancing full-time jobs with a fast-growing side business is no small feat either. But having reliable partners to fill the gaps makes all the difference.
“We all have our main jobs, but there’s also still plenty of free time, pockets at night or between lunches, breaks, whatever,” Culver says. “So we keep in touch throughout the day, every day. Not Saturday and Sunday, that would be a bit too much. But Monday to Friday, of course.”
Platterful also has two employees in the Philippines who handle a significant portion of customer service and outreach for the company.
“We’re all in and out all day,” Elston continues, “and very stressed with a lot of things to balance. [But it’s] an explosion and stuff that I really want to do. So we’re all making time for it because it’s like our baby, and it’s going very, very well, and we’re all very committed to making it work.”
Bieber agrees.
“I feel like it would be really hard to do [these things] alone,” he says, “because you don’t have a support system. [With co-founders] you have other people to lean on — if you’re having a tough day, maybe someone else is having a good day. That balance between three different people, plus the rest of the team, is what makes it enduring.”
So for those getting into the subscription box industry? Find yourself a complementary set of trading partners first.
