Search
Close this search box.

We’ve helped thousands of entrepreneurs. Here are some of their

Success Stories

ALL SUCCESS STORIES

Happy Trunk

Who doesn’t like getting fun mail? The Happy Trunk is an ecommerce, subscription based company that delivers monthly “Smiles In A Box for Kids”. Vinnie Bhushan, owner, architect, and interior designer by trade, got her first inspiration for The Happy Trunk from her children. When they were in elementary school, she decided to volunteer as an Odyssey of the Mind Coach. “As an Odyssey of the Mind Coach at Flagstaff Academy in Longmont, CO, I got a first hand view of what open ended activities, questions, and projects can produce in kids,” explains Vinnie. That is what got her thinking about a home delivered, craft/project box targeted at kids ages 3-11yr.

Vinnie launched The Happy Trunk in August 2012, with the intent of inspiring creativity and curiosity in children. She offered busy parents a packaged convenient solution. Vinnie hired a professional PR firm to help her promote the website and timed the promotion effort with the approaching Christmas season. Her subscription model gave her the ability to cash flow her inventory and the orders began building rapidly. To help her keep her ideas fresh, she assembled a team of informal consultants (teachers, a child psychologist and some moms) to help her brain storm ideas for themes and open ended gender neutral crafts and projects. Her crafts and projects are all taken for a test drive by a group of kids to ensure they are box worthy. By enabling customers to provide feedback on her website, she has received valuable customer insights that have helped her continue to refine box themes and content over time. Her revenues tripled in 2013, and she is anticipating solid growth in 2014. She now employs two part time moms to assemble her “trunks” which are shipped across the US. Recently she added on online store to sell individual craft boxes for birthday party favors or “rainy day” fun.

Vinnie sees the Boulder County SBDC in partnership with the Longmont Economic Gardening Program (LEGI) as being instrumental in her success. She met with SBDC consultants early on and after her launch, she enrolled in the Leading Edge Class. Vinnie says that, “The Leading Edge class gave me a good perspective on my business and business financing. The Leading Edge consultants helped me with financing, forecasting, pricing and accounting. I discovered the amazing breadth of consultants that the Boulder County SBDC has to offer and was able to network with other businesses.” Through the LEGI program, Vinnie received market data and analysis that helped her with forecasting and developing her market strategies. She also took advantage of almost all of the LEGI sponsored SBDC classes from “Start Up Essentials” and “Social Media Marketing” to QuickBooks classes.

“I am so grateful for all the help that I received through the SBDC and the LEGI program that I want to find ways to give back,” says Ms. Bhushan. Vinnie has a lot of business wisdom to share, so look forward to hearing more from her on a future SBDC -facilitated panel. We celebrate with Vinnie that to date, The Happy Trunk has been featured on both The Today Show and Good Morning America and we all look forward to more great things to come for The Happy Trunk!

  • 303-578-9562
Black Swift Technologies

Boulder-based company Black Swift Technologies was founded by three PhD students from the University of Colorado. The three men were inspired to start the company from their work in the field during their studies. At CU, they learned how to chase storms and collect data using old military equipment, which is relatively complicated to use. They set out to simplify the process with unmanned aircraft systems and Black Swift Technologies was born. Although they are

Read More »
Flight Deck Grill

One day, after leaving her full time job, Diann and her husband were at the Vance Brand airport in Longmont for flight class. She really just wanted to sit down at the end of the day and have some good food and cold drink. She realized that the Vance Brand Airport in Longmont, CO had a lot to offer except a restaurant. That desire and realization was the birth of The Flight Deck Grill. Over

Read More »
InDevR

InDevR is a small, privately held biotechnology company in Boulder, CO. Founded in 2003, by Dr. Kathy Rowlen, Dr. John Birks and Dr. Laura Kuck, InDevR employs a highly motivated team of individuals dedicated to the development and commercialization of innovative technologies that will help fill gaps in the current paradigm for virus-related diagnostics. InDevR develops advanced life science instrumentation and assays for analysis of viruses and other microorganisms. Their goal is to revolutionize microbiological

Read More »
Boulder Acupuncture and Herbs

Boulder Acupuncture and Herbs is a small business that is founded, run and owned by Norah Charles, an acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist. What makes Boulder Acupuncture and Herbs unique is that Norah works primarily with patients over 70 years old. Norah treats senior clients with a host of difficulties, including chronic pain, depression, and isolation. In addition to her acupuncture, Norah uses over 300 Chinese herbs for distinct wellness purposes. Starting a business is not

Read More »
"The Take Action Marketing Series was invaluable for me as a small-business/non-profit director. Catherine McHale brought such helpful insight and expertise to these workshops, and she’s an empathetic and astute facilitator. I walked away so much more knowledgeable and confident in my approach to marketing, and armed with practical skills and strategies that I could begin to implement right away. I highly recommend!"
Joanna CaganWOW! Children's Museum
"The small business support from Colorado SBDC is phenomenal. The consultants are of the highest quality, high integrity, trustworthy and incredibly helpful. The time savings and ability to take on more work is facilitated by having this kind of support available to the small business, particularly in the technology sector."
Helen PetachRatiocinative Engineering Services LLC
"Dan, thank you for your efforts to help us get our EIDL. When I reached out to the SBDC, Sharon got back to me the same day and let me know that the SBDC would do what it could to help. By the end of the next day, Dan had put together a summary of the issues we were facing and sent it to his contact at the SBA. Just four business days later, our loan was approved! There is no shortage of challenges faced by small companies as they work tirelessly to succeed in a very competitive world, so it's great to know that there are organizations like the Boulder SBDC that we can turn to for help."
Michael DulbergSherpa Chai, LLC
“Thank you for organizing this great informative session on the PPP utilization part. I have been in conversation with Dan King and want you to know that you guys are doing a great job in helping small businesses like us. Thank you for all the work you guys do!”
DURGESH SINGHMagswitch Technology
"These [webinars] are super helpful and I can’t thank you and the [SBDC] for all your help for our small Colorado businesses. These are such hard and scary times - being connected does a world of good. Please thank all the panel participants as well. They’ve been fantastic! Best wishes to you and your colleagues and hope you’re all staying safe."
JacqueJourney's Aviation
"A big shout out to Dan and the staff of Boulder SBDC and the SBA from Mustards Last Stand. Thank you for your assistance in helping Mustards resolve a technical issue with our application for our second round funding of the PPP program. Without your assistance I would probably still be on hold listening to maddening music over and over and over again, while worrying the whole time. We appreciate the support from you and everyone else in this community that makes us proud to be an ongoing part of Boulder's business community."
Dan PolovinMustards Last Stand
“Thank you so much for your time! Besides the great information, your energy and support were priceless! It is so good to feel you are not alone in this journey.”
LAILA MARZALLTSM Microwave
"After almost two months of messing with Chase Bank, Susan got us the PPP loan filed and approved in about 8 hours. I hesitate to celebrate until money is in the bank, but it’s looking good and Susan was absolutely amazing. Of course, I’m wouldn't even be talking to Susan if you hadn't made the connection, so chalk up another small business success to SBDC. I see why you’re the best on the country. This loan was crucial to our success at a critical time in the world. All I can say is thank you."
Jeff S.Earthvisionz
“As a new resident in rural Colorado I was truly at a loss about the tech community out here until I attended the SBDC TechSource event in Salida. I was truly impressed by the quality of the content at the event (compared to similar events in Chicago), was able to make some great connections within the local community, and was able to sign up for additional services as well. SBDC assisted us with market research which helped expedite our focus in Colorado and helped connect us with funding sources to expand. Beyond that they were quick to respond, a pleasure to work with, and went above and beyond with their services. I would absolutely recommend SBDC TechSource to another tech company, especially for companies outside of the front range that are looking to connect and grow rapidly. “
CHRIS MCLAUGHLINVital Command
"I just wanted to send a quick note and let you know how helpful Brian Ormsby has been. He responded to my query about a week and answered a bunch of questions about the EIDL, and then we talked again to day about the PPP. I’ve asked several other resources about my PPP questions and he was the first person to answer them. I can’t stress enough how nice it is to be able to talk directly to someone who can answer questions about all of these programs. So thank you very much for making him available...!"
David PAccuer, Inc.
"I'm not sure if this email goes through, but I just wanted to say thank you so much for hosting this webinar. As a small business that is running because of the SBDC, I am so appreciative of what you do for business owners. I went to film school and I'm only successful in my business because of the years of support I've gotten from the SBDC to help me get a business mindset and navigate the crazy waters of running a company. In all of this uncertainty, it's felt like I couldn't find good, solid answers on our PPP loan, and this webinar was so helpful and the tool of the PPP Loan Forgiveness Estimator is so comforting to get some answers. Keep up the good work, and stay healthy out there. With much appreciation."
Shawna M.FX Media
Previous
Next
Facebook-f Twitter Envelope Youtube Linkedin-in

Sign up to stay in touch!

Sign up to get relevant news and updates regarding small business delivered to your inbox.

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Boulder
1500 Pearl St., Suite 300 (physical)
1500 Pearl St., Suite 302 (mailing)
Boulder, CO 80302

Longmont
528 Main St.
Longmont, CO 80501

303-442-1475
admin@bouldersbdc.com

boulder-sbdc.png
SBA-PoweredBy-large-FINAL-large.jpg
asbdc-logo__original-logo-of-website-header
CONSULTANT PORTAL

The Colorado Small Business Development Center Network is a partnership between the State of Colorado, Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, the Small Business Administration (SBA), Colorado’s institutions of higher education, local economic development organizations and local chambers of commerce.

We are working towards ensuring all of our web content is accessible to all users, including those with sensory, cognitive, and mobility disabilities. Please contact us at admin@bouldersbdc.com or 303-442-1475 to request reasonable accommodations to access the services we provide.

Skip to content