Send Me supplies, part 1
The first month of the COVID-19 pandemic was emotionally devastating for me. I could not handle the prospect of zero social interaction. The daily news of COVID cases and deaths depressed me with joy, and I found no purpose or drive in my daily life. After one month under isolation, I decided something needed to change. I wanted to help myself and determined the best way to do this was by helping others. So, I opted for a complete lifestyle change under COVID-19; thus, Send Me Supplies was born.
From then on, I would start my morning by hearing the “ding” chimes on my phone at 6 am — these are my daily sales. I would climb to my desk, open my website, and prepare for the morning action on SendMeSupplies.com. These sales mean more to me than just the entrepreneurial rush when you have a business. These sales indicate that I am bestowed with the opportunity to give back and help others. Between 6-8 am, I email responses to customers, prepare packages, and advertise on social media. My emails typically answer questions about products, delivery ETAs, and inventory allocation. Avid communication with my customers allows me to connect with them. Given my 31.9% customer return rate, I have established a community with my small business. When I came up with the idea of starting my venture, I did not anticipate all the challenges I would face. While developing the website was relatively simple, where would I go from there? How was I supposed to acquire customers? Would people trust a 13-year-old boy? How can I use Send Me Supplies to help other people?
During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Los Angeles desperately struggled to access basic (medical) supplies like masks, gloves, disinfectants, toilet paper, and more. There was an influx of ridiculous scams on the market, and my website was even ripped off at one point. I made it my mission to help the community by allocating and distributing these essential supplies on Send Me Supplies.com. I started marketing by traveling door-to-door around my neighborhood. I left flyers on people’s doorsteps and started posting on neighborhood chats. My message was clear: I was here to help. The feedback was astounding! Most people were shocked that my prices were fair, and my purpose was not to make a profit but rather to extend these supplies out to people who needed them and donate as much as I could to first-line workers and people experiencing homelessness. When I received my first order on April 21st, 2020, I was thrilled. I packaged up the order immediately, wrote a nice note in the box, and shipped it out. That was easy! But as more orders started coming in, with increased advertisement and popularity, I recognized that I needed a more organized system in place. I turned my bedroom, closet, and much of my home into a warehouse; I organized my inventory in different aisles and recruited my then 9-year-old sister to help me out, too. By the end of May 2020, we were packaging and shipping out 50 boxes a day, and I was spending 70 hours a week on my venture as a 7th grader without school. Then, in early June, I received an email from an executive at Wells Fargo. The executive needed to place a gloves order to fifteen branches in Southern California and she wanted to set up a call to discuss this possibility with me. I recall my heart skipped a few beats because I was unsure how to handle a phone call with an executive. I was worried that she would lose interest as soon as she discovered my age, but I had to face the challenge. I set up the call and altered my voice to make it as deep as possible. Surprisingly, she admired my work with Send Me Supplies and did not veer away because of my age. She then referred me to another large customer, E-salon. These big orders paved the way for me to connect my sales to philanthropy. I then contacted Upward Bound House, Friends Helping Friends, Pasadena Union Station Homeless Services, local fire stations, police stations, and schools. My weekly commitment to my company has not stopped today, as I continue to sell and donate. More recently, I have become certified by California’s Department of Health Care Services as a Narcan distribution platform, where Send Me Supplies is currently shipping out free Narcan through our website. Overall, I am pleased that I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to give back to my community, expand my entrepreneurial skills, and pull myself out of the emotional downward spiral that the COVID lockdowns gave me.
