Melbourne mates make $100k from lockdown gift box side hustle

These Melbourne twenty-somethings have made an extra $100,000 while also studying and working full-time on top of that.

Two Melbourne friends have made an extra $100,000 in a year after stumbling upon a lucrative side hustle during Australia’s nationwide lockdown.

Kiara Clemente, 22, and Emily Genoese, 25, met in 2018 while working full-time at an accounting firm and became fast friends.

The two used to spend their lunch break brainstorming business ideas.

But it wasn’t until Australia’s first lockdown in March 2020 that they realised they’d come up with a winner.

“The major moment for me was when it was my best friend’s birthday,” Ms Clemente told news.com.au.

“A few days ahead, I went onto the internet to try and find something but nothing could get to her in time (via the post).”

She also wanted something personalised so that it would be special for her bestie and be uplifting during lockdown. But there was nothing.

“I thought to myself, here’s another business to add to the list,” she said.

And so ‘All For Her Gifts’ was born – ready-made personalised gift boxes that especially cater for people stuck in lockdown.

RELATED: Melbourne mates make $7m in six months

Kiara Clemente and Emily Genoese have been friends for three years.

RELATED: Sydney man saves lolly shop by going viral

Ms Genoese told news.com.au “I’d just gone through a break-up which allowed the little idea to snowball into something big.

“I had so much free time in lockdown, and Kiara was a little bored, so we both put all our minds into it.”

While holding down their day jobs and also studying full-time – with Ms Clemente finishing off a double degree at Monash University and Ms Genoese beginning her chartered accounting exams – they also started the business.

“We sort of knew the steps to start a business because of our degree,” Ms Clemente said.

The gift boxes cater for all kinds of special occasions including birthdays and upcoming Father’s Day.

They also cater for engagement parties and weddings.

At first, they floated the idea with friends and family members and received a positive response.

They then got together $10,000 to start investing into the business.

Ms Genoese had recently bought a car and this pretty much cleared out all her savings.

Using the money, they registered their business name and bought a website domain.

The rest of the cash was spent sourcing products to add to their gift boxes.

The two young women put an emphasis on buying from small businesses in their local area recovering from lockdown.

It wasn’t until Victoria’s second lockdown hit in June, which would last for 112 days, that they finally had the time and demand to officially launch All For Her Gifts.

They launched on August 10 and immediately noticed their sales gaining traction.

As part of their launch, the girls sent 30 boxes to social media influencers, hoping their product would be advertised on their platforms.

And it worked.

“It was pretty instant,” Ms Genoese said.

“In our first month, we were averaging around 60 orders a week.

“Packing all those orders is quite time consuming.”

The friends often woke up at 6am and wouldn’t go to bed till midnight trying to fill their orders while also juggling full-time work and study.

“We had many sleepless nights,” Ms Clemente admitted.

They even enlisted their parents to help keep up with their order numbers.

The women both studied and worked full-time while also running the start-up.

Earlier this month they broke through the $100,000 mark.

In September, just two months after opening their virtual doors, business really started to boom.

“We made $24,000 in one week,” Ms Clemente said.

“From there we thought, we have something good here.”

In all, they’ve sold more than 1,000 boxes and have made just over $100,000 in revenue.

“It’s all reinvested back into the business to try and scale it as much as possible,” Ms Genoese said.

“We literally haven’t taken out anything for our personal selves.”

The friends also sold the products at pop-up stalls in between that state’s six lockdowns.

Emily Genoese’s personalised cocktail glass.

With their business founded on the premise of people missing out on rites of passage during lockdown, their products have a focus on celebratory occasions, such as birthdays, house warmings, baby showers and engagement parties.

Customers can choose between cardboard, acrylic and perspex boxes, which range in price from $22 to $39.95.

Personalised items that can be added to the box include DIY candle kits, flowers and stationary.

Ms Clemente’s favourite gift is the personalised cocktail glasses.

“I know I use mine all the time,” she quipped.