When Tracy Turnbull decided to start a gift box business, there was no lightbulb moment or midlife crisis spurring on the idea.
Turnbull had a degree in economics and law, a good job and all was going well for the 40-something entrepreneur.
“It was a crazy idea,” says Turnbull from her North Adelaide office. “But life’s always easier from the cheap seats. I decided that the risk of ridicule and failure was easier to live with than regret, and let’s face it, I wasn’t getting any younger.”
Even a crippling fear of failure didn’t stop her and at the end of 2016 Turnbull launched her boutique gift box studio, Bundle + Twine.
While business plans, legal structures and financial forecasts were child’s play considering her background, getting her head around the whole social media thing turned out to be her biggest challenge.
“I had to Google everything… how to post a photo, how to delete a photo, how to ‘follow’, how to ‘unfollow’, what’s Snapchat? It was a living nightmare. I thought I had a ‘hater’ once and I didn’t sleep for days,” she says.
Turnbull’s mission is to ‘shake up’ the traditional hamper business and after six months in business she is well on her way, gaining a reputation in the industry as a ‘gift studio with creative flair and vision’.
“Bundle + Twine’s latest personalised timber boxes are the ultimate in keepsake packaging. Filled with items hand chosen for each recipient, these environmentally friendly boxes are designed to surprise and delight.”
With the option of full customisation, the boxes make ideal real estate settlement gifts (featuring addresses), new car gifts (featuring licence plate numbers) and bridal party thank you gifts with bridesmaids’ and groomsmen’s names.
By Marion Gerritsen
