Halloween is a time of year when people are more likely to spend money on costumes, decorations, and candy. But what about the businesses? Can they also capitalize on this holiday? Yes!
Yes, you can operate a scary successful Halloween business. You just have to know what to do.
The Fallenstein family began manufacturing and renting a dozen Halloween costumes out of their garage in Mankato, Minnesota, and the tiny company generated a lot of attention. Years later, the creators decided to sell costumes online and expand the company.
The seasonal company grew from a few workers in a garage to 100 year-round employees and 1,000+ during the Halloween season in only a decade.
Tom Fallenstein, president and CEO of HalloweenCostumes.com, agreed to give us some advice on how to establish and develop a seasonal company.
1. How did your company develop from a tiny garage operation to a company with over 1,000 seasonal employees?
Moving from a garage-based company to an online ecommerce platform allowed us to reach out to consumers in ways that a purely brick-and-mortar retail presence could not. Thousands of consumers may purchase on HalloweenCostumes.com at any one moment because of our internet presence.
We’ve also adopted a small-business approach to almost everything, aiming to be both creative and efficient. We sell costumes as if we were buying them for ourselves, and we enjoy it. This, I think, has a good effect on our company and distinguishes us from our rivals.
2. As an online-only company, how do you interact with customers?
HalloweenCostumes.com currently has a big warehouse in Minnesota where it operates.
As an online-based company, one of our greatest challenges is to continue to expand our audience while keeping a highly personal experience for our consumers. We actively recommend and encourage customers to communicate with us through their chosen manner.
Hundreds of knowledgeable workers are eagerly awaiting consumer feedback. Long after the purchase is completed, it’s not unusual for a customer care person to continue talking with clients about a program, a movie, or a superhero. If a client does not contact with a live person, we have a “thank you” video that appears on the web after they have completed their transaction and provides a short overview of who we are as a business.
Our company is unusual in that we don’t simply advertise our goods; we actively engage with people in innovative and entertaining ways. Our blog material, which focuses primarily on DIY costume projects, and our YouTube videos, which offer entertaining and helpful information such as cosmetics tips, are both instances of this.
3. As a Halloween-themed company, what challenges do you face?
The seasonality of a Halloween company poses a number of difficulties, especially in terms of manpower. HalloweenCostumes.com is based in North Mankato, Minnesota, which has a population of about 55,000 people. During the month of October, it may be challenging to find and keep seasonal employees. Some of these obstacles have been addressed by working with local TV and radio stations to advertise job openings, as well as streamlining our recruiting and training processes to get individuals on the job fast.
4. What’s the sexiest Halloween costume you’ve ever seen? Why do you believe it is so well-liked?
Movies have always played a major part in predicting which costumes would be popular, and Disney’s “Frozen” has unquestionably grabbed the lead as the year’s most popular costume theme. There will be many adults and children dressed as Elsa, Anna, and Olaf the Snowman this year. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and “Maleficent” have also inspired some of the year’s most popular costume designs.
The new iPhone 6 inspired this outfit.
Every year, there is a certain amount of emulation of pop culture figures and events, and this year is no exception. Apple’s flexible iPhone 6 gaffe, Beyoncé/Nicki Minaj/Iggy Azalea concerts, and even the Ebola epidemic have all inspired costume designs in 2014. (something we strategically did not promote).
5. What applications or software do you use to run your company?
Throughout the year, our in-house programmers keep the HalloweenCostumes.com website and mobile site operating smoothly, but we’ve also used third-party technology to guarantee that we’re reaching and engaging our consumers.
For example, we offer our goods on Amazon, eBay, and via affiliate networks in addition to our website. We’ve worked hard to build our brand by producing original and interesting material for our blog, which we then post on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Google+, and others.
6. What are two particular pieces of advise you would provide to someone considering establishing a holiday-related business?
If at all feasible, try to diversify your company. We run Fun.com, Shirts.com, and many smaller costume sites in addition to HalloweenCostumes.com to guarantee that we optimize our sales throughout the year.
Invest in your workers and encourage them to participate. We’ve spent a lot of time and effort making our business stand out as a distinctive and enjoyable place to work. We believe that our warm and close-knit culture fosters loyalty throughout the year, allowing us to push ourselves as a team during our most difficult and exciting season, Halloween.
Do you have a holiday-themed company? What advise would you offer to other holiday-themed company owners or entrepreneurs interested in starting one? Please let us know in the comments section below!
The halloween costume ideas is a successful business that can be operated by anyone.
Related Tags
- halloween date
- best halloween costumes
- costumes near me
