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Confoti
http://confoti.com/
(This article was autotranslated from French)

The photographs of Edmond in form of confettis animate our starting pot of California. It is the work of Confoti.com. A promising start-up which carries out 40.000 euros of monthly sales turnover after only 18 months of existence… it is the festival!

Among the guests of our cocktail, the founder of the site makes the proud one. At 35 years, Corinne Wayshak is at her second company. It smells the good idea with a gift of birthday which her husband arranged to her. Photographs cut out in form of confettis. The sales of cameras numerical increase by 20% per annum. But, the impression of the photographs is expensive and imperfect. To start, it takes three months of vacation maternity. A luxury in the United States, where the legal period is fifteen days. It joins two séniors of Silicon Valley and starts in its garage, like wants it the legend.

“Confoti.com, that has the simple air, but it is difficult to produce” explains Corinne. First problem: the adequate printer does not exist. Corinne and her associates will invent it. Impossible to see the machine. It is classified signal secret… and protected by three patents. Second problem: under. Corinne starts her search for financing just after September 11, 2001…. It is hard, but she finds 450.000 euros. Third stake, facility of use. Fortunately, one of the associates was responsible for Internet design at Apple. To test the site, China places an order. It is very simple. It chooses five photographs of Edmond, pays 15 Euros, and receives a bag of 800 confotis four days later. Result, the company goes well. It is already advantageous, with 45 orders per day and 2000 customers. In majority, private individuals who prepare a birthday, a marriage, or a birth. Malignant, Corinne prints her Internet address  behind the confotis. Result, a third of the new customers discovered the site at the time of an event. The companies start to adopt this original tool of communication. And the market of the gifts of companies weighs 18 billion Euros. The business of Corinne became very large confetti.

Founded in February 2001, the company has been making revenue since its tenth month. It has significant partnerships with Kodak, 1-800-FLOWERS, and the Wedding Channel. Its commercial customers include Anheuser Busch, HBO, Veuve Clicquot, NBC, Disney, and Stanford University. Some 20 percent of its customers make repeat purchases within 12 months. The company’s products have a better than 55 percent margin. And the company is on track to reach operational profitability by the third quarter of this year.

Filed under: Success stories - online biz