GENYE IN A BASKET, founded in 2004 in South Orange, New Jersey, is a company that provides Corporate and personal gift baskets for every occasion. Themes include gourmet gift basket, get well gift, baby gift, love and romance, birthday gift, and spa gift basket. In the beginning, Paul and NaTasha introduced the gift baskets to retail stores and weekend shoppers at a kiosk in Livingston Mall. Selling gift baskets and flowers at an affordable price, GENYE IN A BASKET was born over a six month period that resulted in 150 new customers.
Paul says his biggest advantage as a small business owner is “the ability to offer personal ongoing service to customers and faster response time to customer needs. Customers trust businesses that offer them sincere personal attention, and they respond well to businesses that know their names and remember details about former transactions. There is no greater selling advantage than to have the president of the company look at a customer in the eye and say, “you have my word that you’ll find that right gift for every occasion and be happy”
Since its beginning, GENYE IN A BASKET has survived ups and downs, including a devastating flood and fire. But like many small business owners, the Anthony’s have shown resilience over time. As NaTasha says, “We’ve been in business for over 4 years while maintaining profitability and treating all of our employees and customers right. Although we aren’t wealthy yet, we’ve derived a great deal of satisfaction out of making our work life rewarding.”
So what has Paul and NaTasha learned as a small business owners? Sell high, buy low, collect fast and pay slow. Whether you are profitable or not, if you run out of available cash, you are dead.
