Enabling Bubbles & Bows! to accept sales on the go.
When Christy Overman got furloughed from her executive position as a district manager with Banana Republic due to COVID-19, she got busy recreating herself – and the entire community of Medina, Ohio, is the beneficiary.
What started as a fun idea to celebrate her twin grandchildren’s second birthday blossomed into Bubbles and Bows!, a custom balloon design company that specializes in imaginative creations that go way beyond traditional offerings.
“For my grandbabies’ birthday, I wanted to do something fun, unique and unusual for them to celebrate versus just blowing up balloons,” Christy says. “I started exploring Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube and self-taught myself the business. I immediately fell in love with what I was seeing. It was so happy, fun and inspiring, and I knew that this was something that I wanted to bring to life not only for my grandbabies, but for my community.”
She opened her storefront on August 8, 2020, and despite the onset of a global global pandemic, it’s been thriving ever since. Christy has been delivering on her business motto of “bringing joy on purpose” with every special balloon creation.
“Our customers love our signature bubble product, which is what the store was named after,” she says, “because it is personalized to say whatever they would like. They select the colors, and we bring their idea to life. The expressions on our customers’ faces when they pick up their balloons say it all.”
Business challenges
While learning how to make inspired balloon creations came easy to Christy, she admits that the complexities of starting and running a small business have been challenging.
“I could have never imagined how much there is to learn about being a small business owner. It’s one thing to manage large corporations’ businesses, but it’s a whole new ballgame being responsible for every piece of your own business.”
When it comes to processing payments, Worldpay helps Christy succeed by enabling her to accept cards via the SwipeSimple solution, which turns a smartphone, tablet or computer into a point of sale device.
“I had no way to accept credit cards. I was running the business with just checks and cash, and then everybody stopped using cash due to the pandemic,” she says. “I thought, ‘How are people going to pay me?’”
“It’s so incredibly simple – I just run it all through my iPad,” she continues. “I love it so much that I already referred it to friends for their businesses. As the saying goes, when you do something you love, it doesn’t seem like work – and that is exactly where I am!”
At a Glance
OBJECTIVE
Accept payments in ways that meet the needs of the business to help increase sales and grow.RESULTS
In the initial few months following the opening of her brick-and-mortar Bubbles & Bows! store, business grew so steadily that Christy went from managing orders with family assistance, to hiring three employees, and is now up to eight employees.Impact
Business for Bubbles & Bows! has increased through many repeat individual customers, new corporate clients and via many happy referrals.
I had no way to accept credit cards. I was running the business with just checks and cash, and then everybody stopped using cash due to the pandemic. I thought, ‘How are people going to pay me?’”
It’s so incredibly simple – I just run it all through my iPad.”