To get into the Christmas spirit, you might want to try making your decorations bigger. Holiball does just that. The company sells inflatable Christmas decorations that are huge but affordable. Founders Kristy Moore, Jennifer Couch, and Amberly Hall took their startup to Shark Tank and landed a deal with Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran. As of 2024, Holiball has a market cap of $1.5 million.
About the Founder
Christy, Jennifer, and Amberly are all cousins who grew up in Houston, Texas. Christy, the leader of the three, was a stay-at-home mom before becoming an entrepreneur.
Jennifer has more business experience, having started her career as an intern architect at MetroNational. The real estate company eventually promoted her to Director of Interior Design. She then became the owner of DC American.
Like Jennifer, Amberley tried her hand at real estate. Jennifer also worked as a teacher and traveled around the world, but after becoming a mother, she focused more on raising her children.
Founding of Holiball
The three cousins lived close together and spent a lot of time developing common interests. They all loved giant Christmas decorations but found them too heavy to carry around.
They wanted to be creative and came up with the idea of inflatable Christmas balls. After researching the local market and finding that there were no similar products, they began producing Christmas balls.
The company was founded in early 2019 and achieved sales of $171,000 in its first year. The only factor limiting its revenue is insufficient inventory. Before the outbreak, wholesale business accounted for 70% of its revenue, so it had to transform through online business.
Shark Tank Appearance
They were invited to compete on Shark Tank Season 12. These two confident ladies walked into Shark Tank seeking $150,000 for 10% of the equity. That’s an ambitious valuation!
The founders made a very compelling pitch and showed how their product would work. The sharks didn’t like seasonal businesses, but their profit margins and projected sales looked healthy. Barbara was the first to make an offer, and she didn’t want them to hear other offers.
A bidding war soon broke out. Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran teamed up to offer $150,000 for 20% of the company. Daymond John and Lori Greiner offered the same price but wanted 25%. The ladies chose Mark and Barbara for 5% less, but Lori would be a great partner.
After Shark Tank
After the Shark Tank, Holiball saw a huge increase in Christmas sales that year, but the business has had a tough time in 2021. In Season 13, Holiball aired a follow-up episode in which it was revealed that the company had suffered a cybersecurity hack. It is likely that one of the founders clicked on a link in a phishing email.
The hack cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars because their bank information was changed and funds were reallocated. They also didn’t get any of their money back. Despite the huge setback, they built a new distribution center to help them manage their inventory levels.
Holliball is now a top-selling holiday decoration in more than 200 stores internationally. The product is available online through Amazon and TheHoliball.com. Most variations of the product have an average rating of 3 stars and above. In 2021, the Christmas-themed company expects sales of $800,000 and is valued at an estimated $1.5 million. In 2022, Holliball should see revenues approaching $1 million.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: svlsf.edu.vn