Next week is National Small Business week, and to celebrate we're interviewing successful entrepreneurs to hear their stories. We sat down with Paul Goodman, CFO and co-founder of
Pura Vida Bracelets to find out what inspired him to start his business, what challenges they faced and overcame, and what advice he has for other aspiring business owners.
Q: What inspired you to start your business and how did you come up with the idea for it?
A: My business partner, Griffin Thall, and I started Pura Vida Bracelets in 2010 after a trip to Costa Rica. While traveling through the country, we met Jorge and Joaquin, artisans who made these beautiful, colorful bracelets. At the time, they were living in poverty, sleeping with three other people in a 10'x10' room. To make money they traveled from beach to beach, selling their bracelets to tourists. Obviously, their sales were limited to whoever walked by them.
We thought we could help them market their bracelets to a much larger audience, so we asked them to make us 400 bracelets. We took the bracelets home to sell to friends and family and started placing them in stores on consignment.
Five and a half years later, we support about a hundred artisans in Costa Rica. We sell our products in 2,500 different retail stores, distribute them in several countries, and process a thousand orders a day on our website. Our annual gross revenue is about $15 million.
You started Pura Vida Bracelets right out of college. Can you tell us how you turned it into a full-fledged business?
At the time of our trip to Costa Rica, Griffin and I were still in college, working out of Griffin’s apartment. We would order a thousand bracelets, put them in a jar, and when the jar got half empty we would re-order.
Our first real marketing efforts were to build our website and then attend trade shows. At our first event, we sold 30,000 bracelets, and we thought, "Woah. We've really got something here."
What were some of the challenges you faced as you started growing?
At first, growing the business was a lot of trial-and-error, especially working with a developing country to set up an import business. We had to figure everything out for ourselves, from regulations to logistics.
In the end, we decided to outsource what we could to experts, from shipping to our ecommerce platform, so we could focus on growing the business.
How has PayPal helped in that process?
We use
PayPal Express Checkout, so our customers can choose to pay with
PayPal instead of a credit card. PayPal accounts for about 30 percent of our total transactions – and about 70 percent of those transactions are on mobile devices. It’s just simple and easy, the statements are easy to read, and our account manager, Paul, is one of the best I've ever worked with.
Also, our customers' information is stored with PayPal, so at checkout they're reassured the process is secure. We're doing more and more international business—Canada, Mexico, Japan, the UK, and Australia—and having PayPal for international sales is a huge gain, again because of its reputation for trust and security.
Your business was founded on a charitable act, and you continue to give back to the community. Could you tell us a bit about that?
Sure. As you said, our reason for starting Pura Vida Bracelets was to do good, to help others. Our company's mission is about reminding people to live in the moment, slow down, and be charitable to each other.
As we started to grow, we were contacted by organizations asking us to make bracelets for their charities and causes. To meet those needs, we started our Charitable Collection. With each purchase, 10 percent of the proceeds are donated back to the charity. We’ve partnered with almost 200 charities and have donated more than $877,058 to date.
We are also a member of
1% For The Planet, meaning we donate 1 percent of our annual net revenue to environmental organizations worldwide.
Finally, what advice do you have for someone looking to launch a business?
I would say, make your task list, stuff you want to accomplish every day, and then hit the ground running. A lot of small business owners get overwhelmed with everything there is to do, and all that they have in mind, so you’ve got to put your head down and take it one step at a time.
Also, since mobile commerce is the direction where everything is going, I’d recommend designing for mobile first. Also, try to find people who are doing what you want to do – or something similar. Contact them and pick their brains because they’ve probably already gone through the challenges that you’re about to face. They may be able to help you get there quicker and avoid some common mistakes.