Katia Beauchamp

Your question has been sent to Katia Beauchamp. Ask another

• So did you have any experience in the industry before you founded Birchbox?

  • 

    In the beauty industry? Not really, but I had a great internship at Estee Lauder in college and my partner Hayley had relevant experience from her job as a consultant at Bain. We asked a lot of questions initially and continue to make sure we are learning about the industry dynamics and how we can fit in to the ecosystem.

• What did you do first when you decided to create Birchbox? Business plan? Advertising? Any suggestions on where to start with a business idea?

  • 

    Our path was not typical, but the business idea came first, then we asked friends and professors what they thought about the general concept. After some encouraging conversations we approached brands for products and then customers to sign up and pay. After our beta was in process, we wrote out a formal business plan. For us, actually running a smaller version of the company was important in order to validate assumptions and shape the idea. We are definitely proponents of testing the idea.

• How can a seasoned marketing professional get noticed by Birchbox? Are you guys hiring?

  • 

    We sure are! Send us your resume jobs@birchbox.com

• How do you deal with competition?

  • 

    We really just focus on Birchbox and executing on our vision. Competition can be motivating and certainly validating!

• How do you keep your staff happy and motivated, even when they're working like crazy?

  • 

    ice cream??!!

    In all seriousness, even on crazy days everyone is motivated by what we are building together. We try to laugh, talk about ways not to repeat mistakes but mistakes happen, acknowledge, learn and move on! As long as everyone feels a part of the success, the long/hard days are easier to put behind us.

• I am planning on starting a small business and am looking for inexpensive web developer/s. Any recommendations?

  • 

    oops, put this under the wrong question! For our beta site (while we were in business school) we were very focused on building something simple and inexpensive, just to test the core idea. First we spoke with friends who had engineering experience and they helped us get a sense of how off-the-shelf options could help keep the price low, and what options would work for us. Then we posted the job on craigslist, with an overview of our request and from there selected a small firm to help create the first site

• Which method of social media is the best for advertising a small business?

  • 

    Social media has been a great organic channel for us, but we have not tested much paid advertising via social media. The beauty community on youtube was one that we always hoped to plug in to when we launched, and they warmly welcomed Birchbox- user generate videos on youtube continue to be important for getting our message out.

• What is the best way to attract readers to my blog/magazine, via social networking?

  • 

    For our beta site (while we were in business school) we were very focused on building something simple and inexpensive, just to test the core idea. First we spoke with friends who had engineering experience and they helped us get a sense of how off-the-shelf options could help keep the price low, and what options would work for us. Then we posted the job on craigslist, with an overview of our request and from there selected a small firm to help create the first site…we’ve come a long way from then, but it was a great learning experience

• How can I get press to cover my launch?

  • 

    Press is something we immediately focused on as a priority. We knew we needed the help of media to spread the word. Our initial efforts were through friends of friends, where sent a press release about the launch. Soon after we hired professional help :) our small but effective agency definitely helped us take it to the next level.

• What are the best tips for approaching other companies for partnership?

  • 

    If you have a potential connection to the person or company you want to parter with, it is great to get a warm lead. If you are reaching out cold, best practice is being mindful of someone’s time. Try to explain the idea/request in a short introductory emails (preferably one they can easily read on their phone) that tells them enough to decide whether they want to speak.