Easy Lunchboxes: How Kelly Lester Started a $1M Business

Kelly Lester is an actress and singer who has appeared in numerous productions on both the East and West Coasts. She also had a role in the movie J. Edgar directed by Clint Eastwood. However, for 12 years, her acting career took a backseat to raising her three daughters–now in college, high school, and middle school.

While she took a break from acting, Kelly created a company, Art Plates, Inc. She produced handcrafted light switch plates, but she sold that business in 2006. Three years later, frustrated while packing three kids’ lunches using a myriad of mismatched leftover containers (only to have to more frustration in the evening when she had to wash up to 18 different leftover containers and lids), Kelly decided there had to be a better way.

She found a three compartment lunchbox container with a lid at the dollar store, and with only 6 pieces to wash in the evening, life was good, until the cheap flimsy containers broke and she couldn’t find any replacements.

Figuring she wasn’t the only mom dealing with this daily struggle, Kelly set out to create her own, more durable lunchbox containers, and the very successful EasyLunchboxes business was created.

EasyLunchboxes has been in business for three years. What are your annual sales?

We nearly hit $1 million in 2012; we will definitely hit $1 million in 2013.

What is the secret to your company’s explosive growth?

There are several factors. First, I created a business to fill a demand. In general, parents are frustrated with lunch-packing, but my products make it easy. I offer colorful coolers to hold the lunchbox containers as well as the containers themselves, and even my small dip and sauce containers. Everything fits together nicely, and evening clean-up is easy because there are only a few pieces to put in the dishwasher.

Second, I priced these items right. Unlike some lunchbox sets that run $40 or more for one child, mine are reasonably priced. If you have three children as I do, you could buy three coolers (one for each child) and one set of lunchboxes, and you only have to spend $38 for all three kids!

Third, and this is very important, I spend much of my time supporting my fellow lunch packers: bloggers who regularly write about the EasyLunchbox system and take pictures of the lunches they pack in their EasyLunchboxes. I don’t have to advertise because my fans and supporters are “advertising” for me. I share their posts and yummy lunch pics with my audience, which brings them additional traffic to their blogs. Win-win for all.

EasyLunchboxes began selling on Amazon in 2011. How did that help your business?

Amazon has been incredible. Not only can customers receive free shipping through Amazon, but Amazon has also featured me and the EasyLunchboxes system on their home page, which was very good for sales. Within two months of selling on Amazon, EasyLunchboxes were the number one best-selling lunch boxes on Amazon.

Pinterest is a huge part of my success. EasyLunchboxes sales quadrupled after I created a presence on Pinterest. People respond to the visual immediately. It is all about the pictures!

You manufacture your product in China. Have you run into any difficulties with overseas production?

Well, I learned about overseas production from Google, and through a Google search, I discovered the company China One Imports which serves as a sourcing agent working as a bridge between the Chinese factory and the American business. I knew I wouldn’t be able to go to China and oversee operations, so China One Imports has been wonderful.

However, there are glitches like the time China didn’t have enough energy to keep the lights on in residential areas, so they just cut the power to many factories for a period, which delayed production significantly.

Now, another problem is anticipating how strong future sales might be and putting in a large enough order so we can meet the demand months from now. Of course, the money has to be there upfront to pay for more product before you make money selling the product, which is always tricky.

How do you balance work and family life?

There is no balance! I work 100 hour work weeks, and I am lucky to have daughters that are old enough to be self-sufficient as well as a husband who is very supportive. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have their support.

Having said that, I am trying to step back a bit and realize I don’t have to do everything anymore. I can take breaks, and my business will continue to function.

What advice do you have for women considering launching their own business?

Only put your time and energy into things that matter. For example, I see so many women entrepreneurs spending money and time pursuing, say a patent (before they’re even sure their product has a market), when that may not even be necessary. They might be better off spending their resources building a better website, or focusing on a myriad of ways to engage the consumer. Moreover, spend your time on the things that have the greatest impact and then capitalize on them. My success is purely a result of positive word of mouth. You can’t really buy that, but there are a lot of free ways to grow that.