BOXING CLEVER

It takes dedication to be delicious, and Gina Boles has made it her business to wrap her customers up in the kind of luxury they dream of. 

 A couple of years ago, the mother-of-four spotted a gap in the market for an Irish brand of luxury natural products and gift boxes and has put heart and soul into getting her venture, Gifted by Nature, up and running.

Giftedbynature.ie is a web-based shop front for Gina’s gift boxes and individual pampering products.  Her range of 25 titled gift boxes for men, women, babies and home offer well-thought out packages of high-quality treats.  Their ‘Treat Yourself to a Candlelit Bath’ set, for example, includes a choice of bath and body oils, scented candles, and a silky bamboo bath sheet.  All the products are natural, organic and eco-friendly.

Gina’s website looks just as sumptuous as her range of gifts, offering a clear and attractive catalogue for internet shoppers and for retailers since the range also sells to wholesale customers.  “The products are tactile and attractive.  I’ve spent a lot of time on how the finished product looks - coloured glass bottles and pots, scented candle jars, vibrant ribbons, boxes and print - all these little details form the essence of our gifts.  The customer should want to touch and hold the products, especially the bamboo towels, they're just incredible, really silky.  We’ve also just developed a new bamboo silk velvet bathrobe - it’s really luxurious, but I know no photograph can do it justice, so I guess that’s where the shops have an advantage.

“They’re just lovely gifts to celebrate something, like Christmas or a birthday or Valentine’s Day.  It’s something to make someone feel good, to make yourself feel good.  It’s not just that the box looks good, but that everything in the box is top quality and will be enjoyed.  We spend a lot of time on the small details that make both the giver and the receiver of the gift feel special.  That feeling is an integral part of our branding. There’s a great satisfaction in giving something wonderful that won’t let you down.

“We pitched our price range where most people will pay on average between €40 and €60 - it’s a significant amount of money, and they want their gift to look good. We give them the wow factor.  We’re also aware of the economic climate and have been working on a series of lower-priced gifts in gorgeous organza bags to satisfy that need.” 

Building the business up from scratch was a tough task.  About four years ago Gina was hunting for products that would work well with another online venture she had, Baby Wish Box.  She was finding it hard to source organic, natural gifts in Ireland, but came across an American firm, Earth Mama Angel Baby, whose range were an ideal fit.  They were so impressed they asked her to represent them both in Ireland and the UK.

She found a natural groove in the wholesale market.  “I really liked the business-to-business aspect of the work.  I liked meeting the same people at trade shows and got a buzz seeing the product stocked.  I was passionate about Earth Mama, but felt they would eventually need a bigger distributor than I could ever be, and I was conscious that I was trying essentially to run two businesses, which was very tough.

“I decided to take a step back. I did a DIT Diploma in Business, a hothouse programme over a year, which was absolutely brilliant for me.  I learnt so much.  You come out of it at the end with a thesis, which is your business plan.  The course forces you to focus on your business and where it’s going and really nail down your products, your idea, your market.  It was fantastic.  The programme is usually for technology business, and I got in by the skin of my teeth in that I was going to be internet based, e-business.”

Gina has been cautious and clear in her strategy, growing the business steadily and with the knowledge that the potential is huge.  “We’ve just moved to a new premises in the KRC in Terenure.  It gives us more space than we had in the enterprise centre, which we needed, but it also gives us more control over the operation.  My house used to be full with brown boxes and it was no way to live.  But this takes us on a step further. We’ve also taken on our first employee, who is really committed to the business and shares my enthusiasm.”

Dublin City Enterprise Board helped fund her web site development, and the business launched almost a year ago.  It’s been a hectic twelve months, with each new day bringing new challenges.  The Christmas craft show in the RDS in Dublin this year will be a good retailing opportunity for Gina: last year was well worth the effort, but this year she will be able to show off twice as many products and will sell in the confidence that her gift boxes are a success.  Meeting customers is also a great opportunity for feedback and product development.

However she has played to her strengths in targeting the wholesale market.  Gina availed of DCEB’s mentoring programme, and with an export grant was able to attend a number of trade shows here and in the UK.  The interest she generated was impressive, with Harrods among the big names keen to see Gifted by Nature box sets on their shelves, as well as stockists as far away as the United Arab Emirates.  The demand for such eco-chic gifts is global and growing, and Gifted by Nature is perfectly placed to tie up a slice of the  market with a well-chosen ribbon.

© 2008 Dublin City Enterprise Board. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without the permission from the D.C.E.B.

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