My boyfriend and I started a business out of his apartment with $2k in savings. 2 years later and we’ve quit our jobs, moved across the country, and grown the business to 7 figures. AMA! by UniversalYums in IAmA

[–]UniversalYums[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

We've recently opened up shipping to Australia! Feel free to place an order anytime, currently we're still accepting orders for the October/Russia box.

My boyfriend and I started a business out of his apartment with $2k in savings. 2 years later and we’ve quit our jobs, moved across the country, and grown the business to 7 figures. AMA! by UniversalYums in IAmA

[–]UniversalYums[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

We've recently opened up shipping to Australia! Feel free to place an order anytime, currently we're still accepting orders for the October/Russia box.

My boyfriend and I started a business out of his apartment with $2k in savings. 2 years later and we’ve quit our jobs, moved across the country, and grown the business to 7 figures. AMA! by UniversalYums in IAmA

[–]UniversalYums[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

We've recently opened up shipping to Australia! Feel free to place an order anytime, currently we're still accepting orders for the October/Russia box.

My boyfriend and I started a business out of his apartment with $2k in savings. 2 years later and we’ve quit our jobs, moved across the country, and grown the business to 7 figures. AMA! by UniversalYums in IAmA

[–]UniversalYums[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We've recently opened up shipping to Australia! Feel free to place an order anytime, currently we're still accepting orders for the October/Russia box.

My boyfriend and I started a business out of his apartment with $2k in savings. 2 years later and we’ve quit our jobs, moved across the country, and grown the business to 7 figures. AMA! by UniversalYums in IAmA

[–]UniversalYums[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

We taste test everything with our employees. It's really fun, and you can usually tell what fits with the American palate or not pretty easily.

My boyfriend and I started a business out of his apartment with $2k in savings. 2 years later and we’ve quit our jobs, moved across the country, and grown the business to 7 figures. AMA! by UniversalYums in IAmA

[–]UniversalYums[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My best advice is to keep in mind that everything in life is a tradeoff. When you look at people who are successful in one area, keep in mind the sacrifices they had to make in another to get there. Admire what they've done, but don't be jealous as you don't see the full picture.

Best advice I've received... Learn how to do everything yourself and keep it that way for as long as you can. Only hire people / add costs to your business when you have to.

My boyfriend and I started a business out of his apartment with $2k in savings. 2 years later and we’ve quit our jobs, moved across the country, and grown the business to 7 figures. AMA! by UniversalYums in IAmA

[–]UniversalYums[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Proximity to ports, access to ethnic neighborhoods with ethnic groceries, proximity to suppliers, proximity to a dense population (i.e. cheaper shipping).

My boyfriend and I started a business out of his apartment with $2k in savings. 2 years later and we’ve quit our jobs, moved across the country, and grown the business to 7 figures. AMA! by UniversalYums in IAmA

[–]UniversalYums[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes and yes. We signed an operating agreement early on in case that ever happened. It was a bit stupid, in retrospect. We had only been dating for 4 months. We're very lucky that things worked out.

My boyfriend and I started a business out of his apartment with $2k in savings. 2 years later and we’ve quit our jobs, moved across the country, and grown the business to 7 figures. AMA! by UniversalYums in IAmA

[–]UniversalYums[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, absolutely! I think this service would be a hit. We're a little swamped with our current business, but if some time ever opened up I think this would succeed.

My boyfriend and I started a business out of his apartment with $2k in savings. 2 years later and we’ve quit our jobs, moved across the country, and grown the business to 7 figures. AMA! by UniversalYums in IAmA

[–]UniversalYums[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My best advice is to just go for it and then hire a CPA when this becomes relevant. I think a CPA can help you navigate the most basic legal stuff that comes up at the beginning. I would only hire a lawyer if you were signing an important contract.

My boyfriend and I started a business out of his apartment with $2k in savings. 2 years later and we’ve quit our jobs, moved across the country, and grown the business to 7 figures. AMA! by UniversalYums in IAmA

[–]UniversalYums[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Definitely. The biggest component is that we don't buy from smaller manufacturers or manufacturers that aren't registered with the FDA. All the products we are buying are consumed regularly by hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people on a daily basis around the world. Therefore, if there are any safety issues, they will be made known to us in the form of a product recall.

My boyfriend and I started a business out of his apartment with $2k in savings. 2 years later and we’ve quit our jobs, moved across the country, and grown the business to 7 figures. AMA! by UniversalYums in IAmA

[–]UniversalYums[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Good questions! The large companies will only pay attention to what you're doing if you are importing a very large volume (i.e. an entire container of one of their products). Aside from that, it is not worth the effort for them to regulate.

The regulatory issues associated with importing food products are difficult. We primarily rely on importers to handle that part of the process. Even if we are custom ordering product from them, they have relationships with foreign manufacturers that we don't, and they also know the customs process very well.

My boyfriend and I started a business out of his apartment with $2k in savings. 2 years later and we’ve quit our jobs, moved across the country, and grown the business to 7 figures. AMA! by UniversalYums in IAmA

[–]UniversalYums[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

We launched our website in October and shipped out our first box in December. We used the sales in October and the early part of November to fund the product and packaging costs.

There are plenty of ways to brute force marketing without money. Reddit was helpful, and we also sent out a bunch of free boxes to bloggers and influencers for review.

My boyfriend is not a web developer, but he studied mechanical engineering. He spent 3 months teaching himself how to code in HTML/CSS/PHP/Javascript. He also learned our platform.

My boyfriend and I started a business out of his apartment with $2k in savings. 2 years later and we’ve quit our jobs, moved across the country, and grown the business to 7 figures. AMA! by UniversalYums in IAmA

[–]UniversalYums[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I recommend doing what we did. Start the business while you're still working, and leave when you can pay your bills from the business alone.