the brisbane edit: q&a with sheldon hikaiti from yummbox
Here at Lip, we have been super excited by the buzz around Pozible and their new hyper-local projects in Sydney and Brisbane (so far!). This week I cyber-met Sheldon Hikaiti, the founder and director of YummBox, a deliciously healthy online company that delivers lunches to busy Brisbanites. Here, Sheldon discusses her inspiration for YummBox and how her Pozible campaign is going to help her help others…
Hi there, Sheldon. First up I’d like to know, who exactly is Sheldon Hikaiti?
I am a chef, food-obsessed weirdo, with a passion for nutrition. Completely inexperienced business woman, however I am learning!
In a nutshell, what is YummBox? How does it work?
YummBox is an online-based delivery company that specializes in organic, gluten-free and vegan-friendly meals. Our main focus is making life more convenient for customers, by giving them more time to spend on the important stuff, rather than having to make or find a great, ethical meal.
Simply go on our website, select which meal you want on the corresponding day, order before 3pm, and we deliver it to you!
YummBox sounds like a cool idea. What inspired you to take the plunge into this project? What do you think makes it worthwhile?
What inspired me to launch it was the complete absence of anything like YummBox in Brisbane. There was such a gap between having good organic meals and convenience, so I wanted to fill in the missing piece and bring something easy to people! And my knowledge and background made it a natural step to take in my career. 🙂
I think what makes it worthwhile is that we are here to solely please our customers, and offer them an ethical choice with what they are eating. We are organic, vegan-friendly, local, eco-friendly, and we support our community with our Pay It Forward Program – which is a special program where our customers get to donate the cost of half a meal, we match the donation, and give the sponsored meal to a homeless shelter or crisis centre!
What a wonderful program! I wish I lived in Brisbane. What are you planning to spend the Pozible money on, provided your campaign reaches its goal?
Hopefully we reach our goal!! If we reach it, we hope to buy new equipment to make the production of meals more efficient, buy uniforms, splurge a little on advertising, and use the remainder to contribute to a delivery van.
The goal is that once we invest in what we need, we will receive an steady influx of customers, and profit, which can then be put into more resources to grow the Pay It Forward Program.
Last question: Why launch on Pozible? If Pozible didn’t exist, how would you be funding YummBox?
To be completely honest, if Pozible didn’t exist, I am not sure what I would do. Most people think that once you start getting busy in your business, that you are immediately making profit, which is sometimes true. However, in YummBox’s case, we are at a point where we can’t expand any further without a large sum behind us. So I probably would have tried to get a bank loan, which small business owners often have to do, especially if you’re not earning a consistent profit yet.
That’s why I decided to launch with Pozible: it is a great outlet for businesses to share their ideas with the world, and to give the public a means to support them as well.
Check out the YummBox Pozible campaign here. And if you live in Brisbane, head to the YummBox site to order tomorrow’s lunch! You should also check out the other amazing projects featured in The Brisbane Edit, and share the love via #thebrisbaneedit on Instagram and Twitter!
