A leading company in virtual transformation studies.
The coronavirus pandemic has affected the design industry, as mandatory orders to hit the house and social distance have disrupted giant meetings. But all hope is never lost now that video conferencing programs like Zoom have given rise to virtual parties.
Event planners Jared Reichert and Robbie Zweig were founded in New York, but made the decision to quarantine the coronavirus pandemic decisively in Palm Springs, California. As the parts were canceled or postponed, they temporarily learned that their departure from the industry was not the maximum to pass to the general for some time.
But some consumers moved their parties online. They sent a package of care to a client’s mother so that she too can pay carefully for her son’s wedding in Italy in Zoom. This led to his concept of responding to seismic transit directly to the virtual parties of the pandemic, by selling a “party in a box” directly to consumers and consumers.
Reichert and Zweig announced The Kiki Kit on April 10 and sold their first batch of boxes 18 days later. Since then, he has created special edition kits for Cinco de Mayo, Mother and Father’s Day, and Pride Month.
“Virtual can be just another viable option,” Zweig told Business Insider. “I don’t think the concept is like a big side block any longer.”
“You can create enthusiasm by connecting other virtuous friends online,” Reichert said.
That’s how the co-founders of their online business in their 40s and generated $32,000 in the first five weeks.
Reichert organizes the boxes imagining what his best friend dreams of in a party kit. Each includes a complete party setup for one or two humans with glassware, a cocktail blender, a decorative route, sandwiches, a serving dish, straws and a candle.
He is used to stocking up on luxury parts for his customers, but for Kiki kits to be available for a greater diversity of customers, Reichert had to combine his selections. “I started taking out all my favorite things and then I learned that a gigantic variety of my favorite things is very expensive,” he said.
The founders put the upfront costs on a spreadsheet, then contacted friends and looked for high-level quantities to minimize costs, without sacrificing quality. They went from glass glassware. Instead of a high-quality Canadian sail, they opted for a midpoint luxury sail from a native company.
“All we’re proposing is what we can get our hands on pretty quickly,” Reichert said. “A lot of this affects us in California.”
By supplying them they can also do so only from small local businesses, they also hoped to disclose consumers to those brands. “Then you can pass and acquire and upload those pieces to your non-public collection. So nothing is disposable,” Reichert said.
Reichert and Zweig use their years of industry experience and high-profile connections to elevate their latest venture. The founders met while working for Gucci, before Reichert started his own luxury and corporate event planning company called The Reichert Consult in 2017. Zweig still works in the fashion industry.
“We were able to install a wonderful organized list of other Americans looking to participate,” Reichert said. “Now it has become all phone calls and messages from other Americans who collaborate.”
The collaborations come with virtual parties with a vinegar from Long Island and the Dudley Stephens Polar Society.
Reichert estimated that about 70% of his applications were for orders of crop kits. They adapt a box to the needs of the client’s virtual party, from bavia showers to weddings and birthdays. A guest ordered 3 boxes to send to his guests and one guest asked for a Kiki kit for his fifth birthday in France.
When Reichert and Zweig first arrived in California, they only brought their carry-on luggage in the hope of returning to New York after more than a week. They never think about the birth of a startup. Uncertainty has been a catalyst and its greatest challenge in the birth of a home-founded business.
As an artistic brain, Reichert said that holidays were a must for his inspiration. Being quarantined with your friend and maximum productive collaborator for 6 days was a primary departure from being on a plane 3 times a month. “The challenge for us is to stick cheerfully and think outside in the box now, as I’m really respectful of a box,” he said.
Zweig is the pragmatist who loves to plan things, whether it’s through a spreadsheet, an economic plan or a calendar. The pandemic challenged him to be more flexible when things don’t seem to go as planned. “He taught me that it’s nothing I expect,” he said.
“We’re circling,” Reichert said. “Are we more New Yorkers or are we Californians now? We don’t know.”